so, i mentioned nutrition in the last post. let me elaborate.
Ben's nearly-there. He's off the back of the guys in the points, but sitting in well with the pack as a whole. We're needing to find the one key to get him over the top, and short of having him quit his job and train full time next year, it's going to be little tweaks. What he consumes is a cheap and easy way to try to get a little boost. (I honestly think I spend more time thinking about this stuff than he does... but I guess that's good, since his job is to ride his bike, ya?)
It's been water all morning, switching to a sports drink a few hours before the race. Then, some sports drink after the race and a product that has some protein in it. That's about as specific as we've gotten, and we're making it all up with a little help from magazine articles, books, and selected trustworthy interwebs sources. like, i know he needs post-race protein. it's just... broad brushstrokes when we should be down to brass tacks.
I think about myself and my running, and how I go faster when I down a caffeinated gu packet. Should we try that for him? Is a race where you've dropped buxx on flights and registration and hotel rooms the time to try things? Should he take it at the start line or shove one up his shorts leg for 30 minutes in? You may recall his faaaaaantastic performance at Montrose last year, and we tend to think that was fueled by a starting line Cheer Pack, which made him twitchy and a little too aggressive on (and off) the bike. So we're a little hesitant...
I registered for this workshop hoping that maybe we could quit making it up quite so much, but we'll see.
It's just hard, watching him line up with guys who are full-time riders, who have a team of pro coaches, nutritionists, mechanics, managers... but we're scrappy and we'll make it work. we just have to keep in mind that while those dudes were winning national championships and racing the World Cup, Ben was... um... racing cat 4? Werd.
Ridden and Reviewed Kona Libre CR
8 months ago
7 replies:
Julie, I am no Pro, but I think a Hammer gel pre-race and a muscle milk after the race might help a lot. You can get the muscle milks all ready to drink, I get them at Walgreen's, Sam's, regular groceries....what can it hurt?
muscle milk light is good too! powder form, so no need to refridgerate/carry around an ice chest. two scoops'll do ya
I've always done a gel 30 minutes prior to my race and been told that's the best time for your body to process it and be able to use it in race.
soupy: i hear that, but gu packs last ~30 min and his race is a 60 min effort. i'm afraid that if it wears off at 30, it'll make the second half seem even harder...
hmm, someone needs to come up with a 'cross specific gel "patch" that lasts an hour! hands free nutrition? unlikely to happen, but it would be kinda cool if such a thing existed and actually worked.
or, how about a carbo-electrolyte embrocation!
or maybe you, being a runner, can run beside him and administer that second gel pack in the last half of the race... just kidding.....
p.s. i am having really good luck with carbo-pro. it's a powder. you mix it in with liquids and it has no taste. I used it on my 19 miler in the woods and it works really well.
I found the key to 'cross is pre-hydration -- make sure you're well enough hydrated that you can last the hour. And then during warmup, 2 gel packs -- one at 15-20 minutes, after your body starts processing carbs, and then another 20-30 minutes later with a full bottle of water, to be timed to be ~15-20min before the race. You'll have to adjust your drinking beforehand so you don't have fluids in your stomach, but I found this keeps me going ... And I've given up on caffeine except my normal intake in the mornings, and only after every 4 hours of enduros. Caff gel packs make you wig out, and your HR goes skyward!
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