I lost hours in the grocery store this morning, reading the nutritional information panels on almost everything I picked up.This, in itself, is not unusual for me. What is strange is that I was looking for high carbohydrate content products. Suffice it to say, Tony Ferguson would have been having conniptions.
I've been thinking a lot about race nutrition this week because my digestive system struggled after Sunday's race - all because it wimps out with foods like bread and muesli.
Last week, I packed some of the food that I can eat - the kind with 'no dairy, no gluten, no point' emblazoned across the packaging. I'd also taken a risk and included some muesli bars. They didn't agree with me.
(Of course, I shouldn't have then had the bread roll at the bbq - but it was a bbq for pete's sake. You've got to have bread rolls).
Obviously, all the food you take has to have high energy value. Apparently you need to eat about 1 gram of carbohydrate for every kilogram of body weight, each hour of racing. Hence, my close attention this morning, to carbohydrate values.
Aside from taking the right stuff, the act of eating is not a simple thing during a race, for so many reasons. If you're eating properly then you're probably having something every 20 minutes and it has to be easy to eat and readily accessible.
Imagine trying to down a muesli bar while you're paddling a kayak (though Erin made it look easy), or scoff trail mix while you're peddling at 15 km per hour (or thereabouts - I was going to say 20 km per hour, but that would have been wildly ambitious of me). All the while you need to be keeping pace with your team and staying on course.
Thankfully, there are loads of products on the market that give you energy, protein, electrolytes and whatever else you need, in one quick snappy burst. I've picked up a few things to trial at tomorrow's rogaine, including some gels that are supposed to be easier to eat on the run. I'm hoping I can find the perfect potion!
t
No comments:
Post a Comment