Nutrition, Racing and Getting Faster at 46.

This blog is the next chapter in my "nutrition" journey, and an update to the blog I posted about 11 days ago. It's just over 50 days now since I started on the nutrition program. I'm drinking shakes every day for recovery and as a source of additional protein (and nutrients), as well as eating 3 reasonably healthy meals each day. I take a few supplements as well, and I'm planning to do a 2-day "cleanse" within the next week, then once a month.

I've also had my first race since going on the program - the 3-Ring Circus. So what impact did the nutrition program have on my performance? Well I was nowhere near the podium, but I was faster than last year, and placed better, so that's positive. 3-Ring is a very competitive race - in most marathons the field is split between the 100km and 50km distances, with the really fast guys doing the 100, so it's a lot easier to get a top 10 in the 50km race. But at 3-Ring we're all in it together. My goal was top 20, having come 26th last year, and I came 20th. But what is probably more significant is how I felt. Apart from a few "twinges" where my quads threatened to cramp with 20km to go, I felt great. In fact I felt better as the race went on, got faster, and finished feeling pretty fresh. So it seems that I need to ride with more confidence now, and go out harder, knowing I will recover. It's probably one of the hardest things to judge in racing - how hard to go out so that you will last the whole race and not blow up. What I learned in this race is that I'm capable of going a bit harder. That's OK- better to leave a bit of room for improvement than to blow up during the race.

So what have I learned so far?

Recovery is just as important as training, maybe even more important. No surprises there, I know, but I'm really paying attention to this now.
You need to be consuming the right mix of protein and carbs to fuel recovery and get the most from your training. If you train hard then eat rubbish you're wasting time.
Supplements and recovery drinks are great, but the advice I'm getting is that the "cleanse" days are a vital and integral part of the program I'm on. Of course I can't train on those days, but it's a case of a small step back to make a big step forward. No matter how well we eat, our bodies are all toxic to some extent, and cleansing gets rid of the toxins and allows our bodies to perform better. Many cultures have embraced this philosophy for centuries, but it's not generally done in western cultures.

What impact has this program had on me after 50 days?

I'm a couple of kilos lighter, having lost excess body fat, and generally feeling a lot more energetic and stronger.
Despite being lighter I have slightly increased my lean muscle mass.
I recover a lot faster from intense efforts.
I'm faster on climbs/ Strava segments in general - Here's a good example:

Two days after the race (yesterday) I decided to have a crack at one of the climbs I use to test my fitness. About a year ago I had a go at this short climb/ Strava segment (Tables Ascent in Lane Cove National Park), and my time was 1:54. The KOM was 1:28 (set by a local elite rider), so I set myself a goal to do it in 1:45 - a 9-second improvement. I achieved that goal after a few months, then gradually improved to 1:39 by early this year, shaving off a second or two every couple of months. Yesterday I did it in 1:27. Now I'm not saying I'm fitter than the elite rider by any means, it's just about measuring my own improvement, and after months of working hard to shave off a couple of seconds at a time, a 12-second improvement seems pretty significant.

One more thing - I used a new energy product during the race. It's part of the supplement program I'm on, and is a caffeinated energy shot. I used two during the race- one on the start line and the second during the race - as well as eating dates and drinking Endura. I actually think the energy shots had a big impact, and were part of the reason I felt great all the way to the finish line. I will definitely be using them instead of gels in future races.

So that's the latest after 50 days. Next scheduled race is not til September (Kowalski), but I'm very tempted to fit another one in before that...