Many of you reading this will perhaps be contemplating this, or will have actually successfully completed this Ironman triathlon distance many times before.

Relative success in these long distance triathlon races will stem from the ability of the triathlete to oxidise macronutrients at high rates and to transfer this energy to the mechanical energy needed to power the triathlete around the race course.

Ask Yourself…

Do you understand the above statement fully? 

Of all the hours, weeks and months swim, bike and running do you miss one of the aspects that will determine relative success?  

Solving A Common Ironman Problem

I was contacted by triathlete Christian Isakson (@lukeninetwenty) who, having already completed 6 Ironman Triathlon, had never got his nutrition, this fourth discipline of triathlon, right.

Christian is not only an experienced triathlete, he utilizes his sport to raise awareness not only for his own charity The Taxi Initiative and is also involved with Pro Triathlete Chris Lieto with the More than Sport initiative.

Despite having competed the Ironman distance that number of times he was in his own words “still uncertain about the correct nutritional approach”.

As a triathlete, Christian had been “off the bike” and onto the run holding a Kona World Championship slot a number of times, only to find that GI Distress caused his run performance to be sub optimal and he lost the slot.

I worked with Christian to ascertain what practices would assist him to achieve the best performance. The final ingredients towards optimizing Christian’s, and any long distance triathlon performance, will almost certainly come down to an appropriate and trialed nutrition plan, in the form of carbohydrate consumption, and the chosen pacing strategy for nutritional intake.

When working with athletes I like to explain to people what is going on and why, and then we can take determine the appropriate info with regards to training, racing or nutrition. I like to educate from the ground up and not just dictate programmes.

I started by explaining to Christian how the gut functions in terms of blood flow, which is the important aspect.

On IM race day you push everything to the limit: muscles, gut and brain and I think it is important to understand what is going on.   As an experienced athlete we then discussed his current plan, and looked at why it didn’t work and what we could do to change it.  There is a science behind appropriate fuelling and one must ascertain a strategy that works for them. I’d not advise adopting any strategy wholesale, but the principles are the same for all.

Essential Download:
Ironman Nutrition Guidelines

I can not stress enough that testing the strategy, like you would test any piece of race kit, prior to the race and under similar conditions; intensity, pace, effort, temperatures and humidity levels is a must.

So using these evidence based IM nutrition principals, Christian and I worked to ascertain what he could specifically do to achieve an appropriate ingestion of fuel.  We knew what pace he hoped to hold and working within appropriate grams per min of carbohydrates and with the recommended carbohydrate type we could dial in his race nutrition strategy.

How did Christian do?

Christian not only raced a 9:51 Personal Best at IM Texas but went on to race the Epic 5 which is 5 Ironman Triathlons over 5 days on 5 different Hawaiian Islands. Get your nutrition wrong there and you’re in for a long week!

This August will see Christian line up for the 10km swim; 420.2km bike and 84.3km run that is known as Ultraman Canada.  Christian will be utilising the tenets here to ensure success – we wish him well!

]]> http://www.kinetic-revolution.com/ironman-nutrition-overcoming-gi-distress/feed/ 0 http://www.kinetic-revolution.com/ironman-nutrition-guidelines/ http://www.kinetic-revolution.com/ironman-nutrition-guidelines/#comments Wed, 08 May 2013 10:42:31 +0000 James Dunne http://www.kinetic-revolution.com/?p=9242 The rise in worldwide popularity of long distance triathlon racing comes with it an increased interest into how to train and prepare optimally for such an event. One important aspect of the physiological demands of long distance triathlon is the energy and fuelling requirements. With this downloadable guide, endurance coach Neil Scholes offers evidence-based Ironman nutrition strategies for maximising race day performance.

The harder you race the more critical Ironman nutrition and fuelling becomes. Intensity is one factor that determines the rate calories are burned and the composition of fuel used. To race Ironman successfully involves balancing that intensity with a tried and trusted nutrition plan to maintain effort throughout the race.

Successful long distance triathlon racing involves balancing intensity and nutrition to maintain effort to the finish. These events require prolonged durations of moderate to high intensity exercise, which mostly use energy from the oxidation of fat and carbohydrate in the range of 4,500 and 11,500kcal. During long distance triathlon racing, athletes should pace themselves by performing at speeds that resemble those practiced in training and by adhering to a pre determined and appropriate Ironman nutrition plan.

Todd categorises the two distinct different styles observed as ‘Gazelles‘ and ‘Gliders‘.

Which category do you fall into?

Gazelles vs Gliders Part 1

Gazelles vs Gliders Part 2

What About Age Group IM Athletes?

I really like the concepts that Todd presents in the videos above. Clearly the Pros are generally moving somewhat faster than the majority of AGers, but there are definitely elements we can all take onboard and learn from.

Among  the many Ironman athletes I work with, some of the more naturally gifted runners tend to show Gazelle traits (to use Todd’s terminology), while the majority of AGers seem to be more Glider-like in their running style. The most common problem I tend to see could be referred to as a Broken Glider.

The ‘Broken Glider’

Watching Todd’s videos above and the discussion therein, you’ll notice that one major trait of the Glider is to run with a very high rate of cadence (stride frequency). Some of the pro athletes in the video are running well into the mid 90s SPM and above at their IM marathon pace. This high rate of cadence enables them to maintain the desired race pace while keeping the flight-time to a minimum and almost all the propulsive effort driving them forwards.

In contrast to this, I regularly meet AG Ironman Athletes who exhibit the low foot carry of a Glider, and open hips at toe-off (as per the video), yet they barely make it into the mid 80s SPM with their running cadence at IM marathon pace. These athletes almost always need to work on their cadence, focusing on increasing the rate of turnover. Are you a Broken Glider?

Read Todd’s Original Discussion on Gazelles and Gliders

The Studies

Most scientific studies show that in order to increase red blood cell mass, maximum VO2 and performance, athletes should go to altitude for a minimum of 3 weeks. Most high performance athletes need to train at an altitude of between 1800 – 2500m to realise this effect. This is because for every km of altitude height, an athletes VO2 max deteriorates 7.7%. At 5600m an athletes breathing rate would be double what it would be at sea level. Studies (Bonetti and Hopkins, 2006) have shown that at 2-3000m and for a stay of a minimum of 3 weeks, controlled groups on returning to sea level will improve their performance by between 3.7 to 4%. Thus a 1hr 30min half marathon becomes a 1hr 26min result. This will occur assuming the athlete is fit and healthy, is at the correct altitude and has stayed for the minimum recommended time.

When Is Best To Train At Altitude?

When the decision was made to go to altitude, as a coach I sat down with the athlete to decide what benefits we wanted to obtain from the stay.

For example if one wants to be able to handle greater volume in training and improve recovery on return to sea level then the typical Northern Hemisphere athlete’s preparation phase of October/November would be the time to go.

If one wishes to achieve fitness levels ready for higher intense training and quality work they should go towards the end of the specific preparation phase.

If however the goal is to improve competitive performance on returning to sea level from altitude then one should go about 6 weeks prior to the competitive phase depending on the timing of the pre-chosen competition. If finance allows then going on all 3 occasions will maximise performance and training.

What To Do When You Are There

Once the athlete gets to altitude during the 3-week period their training should be broken down as follows:

It is important to note that the intensity levels of the training sessions will be lower than at sea level. Similarly recoveries between reps will be longer than at sea level for that phase of training. The following are comparisons for the same sessions at both altitude and sea level for an elite 10,000m runner.

So approximately a 3% drop in performance and a 50% increase in recovery time.

What About When I Get Back

On returning to sea level, in order to get the optimum benefit, a few days of re-acclimatisation should be had before high intensity training for approximately 10 days. This would be followed by 8-10 days of developing high performance levels for racing. So it is realistic to look at the Race Performance to be within twenty one to twenty eight days after returning to sea level. It is however possible to achieve a good performance within one to seven days of returning if the athlete frequently visits altitude. However, generally the worst time to race is within the seven to twenty one day window.

Important Factors To Consider…

Athletes are individuals. They all respond differently to altitude, some athletes don’t respond at all.

In general, high performance long distance runners tend to adapt quickly, particularly to high volume training loads. This is because their low lactate levels (typically 80-85% of their VO2 max) and their quick return of heart rate to a lower level after tempo or lactate threshold sessions. They do not however respond particularly well to high intensity anaerobic training, usually due to the higher percentage of slow twitch muscle fibres.

Medium responders tend to be 3000 – 10,000m runners with a reasonable mix of slow and fast twitch fibres, higher lactate percentage levels of VO2 max, a reasonable response to high intensity anaerobic work and a moderate response to high aerobic volume of training.

The slowest responders are typically the 800-3000m runners.

Therefore it is very much down to the individual and their coach to determine whether altitude has a benefit for them or not. If they feel there is a benefit to be gained (or if your national federation is funding it, or you can persuade your significant other that Mammoth Lakes is the ideal holiday destination) then you need to decide where to go, when, what height to stay at, for how long and how often you will go. The more often you go the quicker you will readapt and the longer any potential re-adaptation will last on your return. You can benchmark test your performance before you go and retest a couple of weeks after your return to note any change in levels, speed or economy.

As with any training it goes without saying that you should be in good physical condition before you go seeking medical advice if required. A discussion with a health professional may be required with potentially a blood test to measure for example iron levels are adequate. Once there, the athlete should follow a pattern of training as described above. When doing any higher intensity work one must realise that recoveries need to be longer than they would be at sea level for the same session. Finally athletes and coaches alike must understand that altitude training is not a panacea that will make you great on it’s own, more it is part of a coaches strategic plan to improve the athlete progressively through sustained hard work.

With all types of training – altitude, training camps, warm weather – that take the athlete out of their normal training environment and regime, judgements have to be made by the coach and athlete about the benefits and non benefits of fitting these types of training into the overall plan. Similarly whether to include testing procedures and which ones is a judgement call that only the athlete and coach can make. However whatever they include, it must be based on experience and sound judgement, and be of benefit to the athlete’s overall goals.

Although it might not feel like it right now, training for a marathon should be an enjoyable and positive experience! With a good marathon training plan, there should be clear progression week-by-week (recovery weeks excluded), giving you a satisfying end result as you cross the finish line, either setting a new personal best time, or simply with the accomplishment of completing a new challenge.

There are a number of common pitfalls that marathon runners encounter, impairing their ability to perform to their potential come the big day. Below I’ve listed a number of the key pieces of advice I give runners who are looking to embark on a new marathon training block, be it their first or fiftieth race over the 26.2 mile distance.

There are of course many different facets of sports nutrition, but today’s video post focuses on the importance of having a nutritional strategy in place to facilitate optimal recovery after each of your training sessions. The better you recover between workouts, the more quality training your body can handle.

Coach Greg McMillan (@GregMcMillan) has produced the great video below describing the important 30min window for post-run nutrition, and specifically what to refuel with in this time-frame immediately post-workout.

1: Understand What Causes Running Blisters

Most people think friction causes blisters. But friction is only part of the blister story. Blisters are caused by shear. Shear is the stretching of skin and soft tissues. Too much shear causes micro-tears to occur just under the skin surface. These tears fill with fluid which results in a blister.

Shear is influenced by three things:

• Skin characteristics
  Making some areas of the body, and some people, more prone to blisters than others.
• The movement of the bones
  The more the bones move relative to the skin, the bigger the chance of shear injury.
• Friction
  Friction is not rubbing. Friction is the force that keeps two surfaces in stationary contact with one another. Foot blisters occur when high friction keeps the shoe, sock and skin stuck to one another while the bones move back and forth causing stretching of the skin and soft tissues in between. This is what causes blisters; shear not rubbing!

Once the cause of blisters is understood it allows for a purposeful approach to blister prevention. The flowchart below identifies factors relevant to blister causation and the opportunities for prevention.

2: The Role of Cushioning

Pressure is a factor that enables friction to become blister-causing. Therefore cushioning and other methods of pressure reduction, like Sorbothane insoles, Moleskin and silicone gels, can be helpful in preventing blisters.

But many runners will acknowledge that cushioning alone is not the holy grail of blister prevention. Also the more cushioning you add to your shoe, the tighter it becomes and pressure increases elsewhere. So try cushioning and pressure deflection by all means but be aware it may not be enough.

3: How Taping Works

Sports tape does not necessarily reduce shear. Very slippery tape like Gaffa Tape might, but traditional brown sports tape is much less likely to. Yet sports tape remains a very popular blister prevention method used by runners. Why?

The answer is it reduces the nasty effects of rubbing: abrasions and chafing. The previous video showed that you do not need rubbing to cause shear (and therefore blisters). But the two often occur at the same time. When rubbing occurs over a blister, it de-roofs it and you’re left with a red raw sore. Tape provides protection to the skin so that the blister roof is more resistant to rubbing. The blister will still form, but at least the top won’t get rubbed off. There is no doubt that’s a good thing; a de-roofed blister is not only painful but at risk of infection. But sports tape often doesn’t prevent the blister, a fact that many athletes know from bitter experience.

4: Indiscriminate vs Target Friction Reduction

Friction is necessary to walk and run. Without it, the lack of traction would make the foot slide around too much in the shoe making it difficult to keep your balance. And it would make propulsion all but ineffective. Yet many runners, in their efforts to reduce friction, take it too far with lubricants. Lubricants like Vaseline applied all over the foot has this very effect. Black toenails and bruising are common consequences. Yet, as the lubricant absorbs and disperses over time (after one hour) friction has been found to increase above baseline measures.

There are many runners using lubricants successfully. If you’re new to this strategy, I would suggest a more targeted approach by applying to problem areas only and for exercise duration of under one hour.

5: The Shoe-Sock Interface

The most widely used preventative measures focus on the area between the skin and the sock (skin-sock interface). The difficulties here centre mainly on the effect of perspiration; it loosens adhesive products and dilutes preparations applied. Skin irritation is also an issue for some.

The shoe-sock interface is an area that may hold more potential for longer-term blister prevention. ENGO Patches are used in this way. They are self-adhesive patches that stick to the inner shoe surface including insoles, orthotics and inside shoes, not the skin. The friction level when using ENGO is reduced by up to 80%. They are used to target high friction at problem areas only whilst maintaining normal friction necessary for efficient gait. They are thin enough to not affect shoe fit (0.38mm); durable enough to last 500km and the low-friction properties are maintained even in moist conditions.

Trust in Your Training

A solid, specific and consistent training plan is the core of every single world record, championship title, age-group victory and personal best. Without that solid programme for developing then maintaining your fitness, no amount of mental training will enable you to achieve your goals. However, most triathletes are rarely short on training. So trust in your fitness as you approach your race. Count on that fitness to take you through any tough moments. If during a race you feel like it is coming apart at the seams, try to remember a similar time in training and draw strength from the fact that you got through that and you’re racing today. You’ve put in the work, and it will fortify you with what it takes to do what you have set out to accomplish.

Try Visualisation Techniques

There are many forms of this simple technique. In essence, you want to go through your race from start to finish, creating a mental picture by seeing it happen just the way you’d like it to unfold. You can imagine you are watching a TV and seeing yourself perform but a more powerful method is to view the scene as if coming from your own eyes. This may take some working on and just like any new skill you will have to develop it. If a stumbling block comes up in this mental imagery of the race, figure out how you would deal with it calmly and deliberately.

Expect the Unexpected

With my long distance triathletes I often say to them “tell me exactly what is going to happen to you for 8/9/10 hours tomorrow and then see how that changes when tomorrow comes”. The point being that this is exactly the same as a race; you have a plan that says I’m going to cycle at X watts, Y heart rate and it will take be Z minutes however what happens if you puncture, what if it’s hotter than expected, what if you have GI issues. For every scenario you can create big races conjure up hundreds of others that could never anticipate. So have a race day plan but expect the unexpected and remain flexible to work through or around issues rather than letting them rattle your confidence.

Don’t Take it Personally

Racing is intense. That is the bottom line. If you wanted to go easy and not be challenged then stay at home and train in a controlled environment. Racing is testing you in controlled chaos. If your legs hurt, if your bike isn’t quite right, if you puncture, get kicked in the head in the swim, can’t find your transition bag, or if you are plain just suffering then don’t take it personally. The race, the weather, your competitors are not engaged in a personal vendetta against you. Just remember that no matter what the day throws at you that you have done the training. Every athlete from the race leader to the last finisher goes through similar mental challenges on race day so you are not alone out there. Draw strength from your fellow racers; you are all in this together.

STAY CALM!

This is one of the most important skills any athlete can develop. Keep your mind calm. You can practice this skill in training. We all know that positive thoughts are great but in the hours and hours of long course racing it is tough for anyone to remain positive. So practice just thinking about nothing. Associate with your power/hr/form/cadence or some element of the skill and if this is all in order then disassociate and keep your mind quiet. The next time you are out training, practice moving between these two states.

These are all skills you can work on and in my next article I will give you some more to work on. In the meantime consider these points and work towards achieving a mind/body union that gets the best out of your race day performance.

Although Lactate Threshold (LT) training is the most important type of training for distance runners, many runners don’t understand how to improve their lactate threshold.  The best way to do so is simple – train at, or slightly above your lactate threshold.  Although this may seem like a form of speedwork, it’s more accurate to view it as a determinant of ones endurance, the ability to maintain a pace for a prolonged distance.

LT workouts are of 3 basic types, all of which you run at the pace that coincides with your lactate threshold.  The objective of these workouts is to run hard enough that lactate is just starting to accumulate in your blood.  If you train at a lower intensity, there won’t be as great a stimulus to improve LT pace.

If you train faster you’ll accumulate lactate rapidly, which won’t train your muscles to work hard without accumulating lactate.  Training most effectively doesn’t mean training as hard as possible.

The 3 main types of Lactate Threshold running workouts are:

• Tempo Runs
• Lactate Threshold Intervals
• Lactate Threshold Hills

In all cases, LT workouts should feel comfortably hard.  This means that you should feel as if you’re working at a high level, but at a level you can sustain: if you were to increase the pace by 10 seconds or more per mile then you would have to slow within the next few minutes.  If you are stiff and sore the next day you have run too hard.

Tempo Runs

This is the Classic Workout to improve your lactate threshold and is a continuous run of say 20 to 40 minutes at LT Pace.  An example I give some of my athletes is a 2 mile warm up, 4 miles at half marathon race pace and a 2 mile cooldown.  The would do this workout on a relatively flat road or on the track.  At first it is a good idea to either do tempo runs on a track or with a GPS or accurately measured course in order to check your pace.  After a few tempo runs you start to get a feel for your true LT Pace.  Studies have shown that most runners can reliably reproduce this pace once they have learned it.  Low key (C Focus) races of 5 – 10k are a great substitute for tempo runs.  My coached athletes will do these without a taper and often at a given pace – some of them even manage to stick to this pace and NOT go too hard!  The key is not to get carried away and go eye balls out.

Lactate Threshold Intervals

Rather than doing a continuous tempo run, you can gain a similar benefit by breaking the tempo run into 2 or 4 segments.  These workouts were popularised by Professor Jack Daniels and are sometimes known as cruise intervals.  An example could be 3 repetitions of 8 minutes each at LT pace. LT intervals can be a good option if you tend to avoid tempo runs.  However remember most athletes do what they like to do not what they should do.

So if these intervals sound more up your street then the additional mental effort of a tempo run will help you when the going gets tough in a race.  A good coach will understand where you need to work.

Lactate Threshold Hills

A great way to increase your LT is to run long hills.  If you are fortunate (unfortunate) enough to live in an area with a number of good sized hills you can do LT workouts in a training loop concentrating on the hills.  An example session could be a 10 mile loop that includes 4 half-mile long hills and one mile long hill.  If you pushed the uphills so you are running at LT intensity you would accumulate about 20 minutes or so at your LTVO₂ during the run.

In my article on VO₂ we saw that your VO₂ max increases through training.  Unfortunately VO₂ max increases during your earlier years but tends to plateau, so if you’ve been training effectively for a number of years you’ve probably realised most of your potential gains in VO₂.  Lactate Threshold however continues to increase with adaptations occurring at a cellular level to allow you to run at a higher percentage of VO₂ max without building up lactic acid.  Studies have shown that the increase in lactate threshold occurs due to both decreased lactate production and increased lactate clearance.

For races longer than 10k, lactate threshold (LT) is the most important factor in determining running performance so include these in your weekly mix of sessions to see performance improvements.

Table 1  Examples of Lactate Threshold Workouts

Measuring Lactate Threshold

The best way to determine your LT is to be tested in an accredited exercise physiology lab.

During this test you run or cycle for several minutes at increasing speeds. The lactate concentration in your blood is measured by pricking your finger and analysing the drop of blood. A typical LT test might consist of 6 increasingly fast stages of 5 minutes each, with perhaps 30s between stages to obtain the sample.

The graphing of your blood lactate concentration at various running speeds allows the physiologist to determine your pace and heart rate that coincide with your lactate threshold. I have found this method to be the most accurate and is the one I would recommend. It doesn’t have to cost the earth; check out your local university sports science department or even volunteer for a student’s research project.

Estimating Lactate Threshold

If the above method is not available to you then a lower-tech method is to use your race times. If you are an experienced runner for example then your LT Pace will be approximately your Race Pace for a 15k to half marathon race. The rationale behind this is that it is your lactate threshold that determines the pace you can maintain for races of these distances. For shorter races you can exceed your LT and for longer races for example a marathon you will run under your lactate threshold. If the majority of your running experiences are with shorter distances then your LT pace will be roughly 10 to 15s per mile slower than your 10k race pace.

You can also estimate the appropriate pace to stimulate improvements in your lactate threshold based on heart rate. LT Pace generally occurs at approximately 80-90% of heart rate reserve, which is about 85 – 92% of maximal heart rate. As the relationship between lactate threshold and heart rate varies depending on genetics and fitness level, your 15k to half marathon race pace is probably a more accurate estimate. You can then determine the heart rate that coincides with that pace.

Even though LT training is the most important type of training for distance runners looking to enhance performances, many runners don’t understand how to improve their lactate threshold.

In the third and final article of this series, I consider the three basic types of LT running workout, their objectives, and examples of each type of workout.