Diet and Training

Endurance athletes vary tremendously in their energy needs, depending on their size, gender, and the sport they engage in. No magic formula or foods exists, but all athletes can benefit from taking a closer look at the quantity and blend of carbohydrates, fat , protein in their daily diet.

Carbohydrate Intake:

Carbohydrates are critical for an endurance athlete. You can tap into the power of carbohydrates in four main ways.

• By eating carbohydrate –rich training diet
• Taking advantage of the ‘carbohydrate window’ immediately following exercise
• Loading up on carbohydrate rich foods fro three days before long events and races
• Consuming sports drinks and other carbohydrate rich foods during exercise.

Athletes who consistently eat carbohydrate-rich diet have greater muscle glycogen stores to draw on during training and racing efforts.

Remember, adequate muscle glycogen stores help delay the onset of fatigue as you pick up your pace, or exercise more intensely [such as in a 10k running race or a sprint triathlon], or when you exercise longer than 90-120mins. Another bonus is that workouts will seem easier to complete when you have enough glycogen on board to fuel the entire session.

Eating a daily training diet based on three to four grams of Carbs per pound of body weight [six to eight grams per kilogram] will speed your recovery from daily training bouts, so you can get out the door the next day.

You will also reduce your chance of being side lined. As athletes who exercise with low muscle glycogen stores tend to incur more injuries.

Poor training days, or feeling unusually sluggish or stale is often caused by poor eating habits.

WHY?

The effects of glycogen depletion are cumulative. If you do not replenish your stores daily you run the risk of digging yourself in a hole.
You will be forced to either back off or to take time out to recover completely!
It takes roughly 20hrs to replenish your glycogen stores – Refuelling after a workout is imperative to get the maximum effect of your training. – 15-30mins to start replacing.

Get into the habit of refuelling and recovering with a recovery drink straight after sessions. [Smoothie, yoghurt, fruit, bagel, baked potato,] whatever you can tolerate.