The Path To Proper Endurance Fueling

I began my quest to become an endurance athlete with absolutely no knowledge of sports nutrition. I slowly began running and riding longer and longer distances without know what fuels my body would require. Over the past few months I have struggled severely with nutrition and blood sugar levels during endurance related events. I have now decided to become a student of the art of endurance sports nutrition. I don’t mean that I’m gong to go enroll at the local college and sit in a class room all day, no, that’s not for me. I’m going to start experimenting with different foods, techniques, and diets until I find the one that suits me best.

 

Last year my doctor diagnosed me with moderate hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia is defined as having abnormally low blood sugar levels. The symptoms can include trembling, hunger, dizziness, moodiness, confusion, and blurred vision. All of which I’ve experienced at one time or another during endurance events. Hypoglycemia is very manageable in my daily life but when I tax my body to the point that’s required to finish these endurance events it becomes very difficult to maintain my blood sugar levels. I’ve come very close to passing out numerous times on the course.

 

I’ve had the opportunity to discuss these issues with a few sports nutritionists including endurance mountain biker  Namrita Odea, who is currently working on completing  her masters in sports nutrition, and 3-time Ironman Champion and Nutritionist Melissa Spooner. I’ve also been given information about an entire diet that could help control my blood sugar levels during these severely taxing events. I’ve been given a lot of information and much of it is conflicting. Over the next few months I’ll be experimenting with some of the foods, diets, and suggestions that i have been given. With any luck I’ll find a combination that works for me.

 

Please post up if you have any suggestions or comments for me.

Read More

Weight Distrobution: Thank You Harvey Minton

I just had the best ride I've had in a long time. It was only 12 miles and it was on paved roads, but it was definitely the best ride I've had in months. Why was this ride so good? Well, I had my first bout with good weight distribution. That's right, I finally found a good spot to place my beer gut while riding.

A few weeks back I attended an advanced mountain biking skills class put on my the Swamp Club and taught by Harvey Minton. One of the topics he touched on was weight distribution. I struggled with the idea of having most of my weight on my pedals while still maintaining a little weight on my saddle and handle bars. I have always put my weight either on the saddle or the pedals, until today that is. For some reason while riding home today I started playing with my position on the bike and just happened to notice that I was picking up speed while riding into the wind fairly easily. I started paying attention to how my legs felt and then I noticed that a lot of the power was coming from my body weight, not just my quads and hammys.

I know this is very elementary but It's a big discovery for me. My average speed was significantly increased on my ride home even though most of it was against the wind. I'm excited to do some more experimenting with this.

Any tips or tricks on weight distribution that you would like to share?

Read More

Boeshield T-9: First Impression

For the past few months I’ve been using White Lightning’s Clean Ride to lube my chain and it has served me well. It wasn’t until about a few months ago that I heard about Boeshield T-9 for the first time. My friend and fellow rider, Luis, uses it and swears by it. So, I decided to give it a try. I called around to a few places and found a West Marine store that carried it. The only problem was that the store closes at about the same time I get out of work and I always seem to forget about it on the weekends. Fortunately for me Crowder Brother’s Ace Hardware in Bradenton also carries it. I was there last weekend picking up a few odds and ends for the house when I stumbled upon it. So, I bought a can.

 

Last night I removed my chain, degreased it to rid it of the White Lightening lube and all the crap that it had attracted, re-installed it, and applied the Boeshield T-9. I had heard rumors that it needs to set overnight to get the full benefits. So, I left the bike alone until this morning. I rode a 12 mile route in to work this morning and the lube seems to be working quite well. With the Clean Ride lube the chain would start to get a bit noisy around 10 miles but with the T-9 it was quiet sailing the entire 12 miles. The real test will be the ride home. I’m curious to see what another 12 miles and 80+ temperatures will do. I’ll follow up after a few weeks with a final review.

 

What do Y’all use and how often do you apply it?

Read More

Suiggy 6 Hour Failure

I participated in my first ever solo race on Saturday, March 14th. It was the Squiggy Classic 6 hour. I’ve participated in a few 50 mile challenges but this was my first real official race. Please note: I didn’t say that I completed my first ever solo race. Just that I participated.

The race was held at Morris Bridge Park near Tampa, Fl with a start time of 10:00 am. Prior to the start of the race all of the bikes were placed about 25 yards in front of the start line. The racers all lined up and waited for the signal to go. Once the signal was given everyone had to run to their bikes, get on, and start riding. I thought this was an interesting way to start a race, but then again, this was my first. The first couple miles were spent weaving in and out of traffic and “warming up”. Once I felt warmed up a little I started riding a little more aggressively. Aside from a pain in my lower back, the first lap went by without incident.

The second lap however was not incident free. The pain in my lower back was much worse than during the first lap, my feet fell horribly asleep, my hands were going numb more than usual, and my tire pressure was way high. To top things off I started having some serious issues with sugar and food. My motivation and morale began rapidly deteriorating. By the time I was half way through my second lap I wasn’t sure I was going to go for a third. Fortunately, while going past the judges table I saw the crowd cheering. This, of course, got my adrenaline going and persuaded me to head out for a third lap.

After passing the judges table I stopped at my self supported pit to refuel. I also dropped my camelbak and threw a water bottle on my bike in hopes of controlling my lower back pain. After polishing off a cliff bar and some water I hit the trail again. It didn’t take me long to realize that a third lap was a bad idea. My back pain seemed to be gone but my foot had been asleep for so long that I started experiencing extreme pain across the ball of it. My energy level seemed to be completely depleted and my morale had hit rock bottom. I had to stop every 1 – 2 miles just to rest and try to get some feeling back in my feet. After pulling into the judges area I threw my bike on the ground and sat on the edge of a fence trying to recover enough to walk over to the water table. This is when I had decided to pull the plug. Things just weren’t going my way.

After recovering enough to walk to the water table I drank some water and Gatorade then headed to the truck to put my bike away (the picture to the left was taken at this time). I changed, ate some food and hung out watching some fellow riders finish the race. It was a great experience but a horrible ride for me. I’m still undecided as to whether or not I’m going to participate again next year or just help out a fellow rider in the transition area.

Read More