This week and what I eat

As I write this post I think I can feel my body start to appreciate the effects of a recovery week. I've got to know what to expect from my body during the recovery week phase, the first few days I don't feel all that great but as I get towards the end I get the recovered feeling start to set in and a real hunger to start to smash myself again.

Nothing exciting came from this week on the training front, I felt it was a real struggle to get any sort of form or speed in any of my sessions but the promising part was I did start to come good towards the end of each session. The club race on Tuesday even though I lacked a bit of zip I really enjoyed and I'm kind of looking forward to the Criterium this coming Tuesday. Just a bit concerned about going around that many corners.

Well the general theme I got from the last post was that every one's interested in what I consume. What usually happens is that I open the fridge or pantry then I open my mouth and start shovelling it all in. Not Exactly but I thought it was the most amusing way to describe it.

I just follow a few rules when it comes to this topic.
- Any training session above 2 hrs I use sports drink, anything below just gets water
- During the early stages of a preparation I try to use real food on my long training rides and days. Muesli Bars, Fruit Bread are a couple of my favourites. I'm pretty sure that using gels and sports bars all the time can't be good for you
- Straight after big training sessions hydrate then get some protein in as soon as possible, usually in the form of a iced coffee protein shake or scrambled eggs
- Use specific fuel as I plan to in a race during long rides and big sessions as It gets closer to the event. I'm pretty lucky that I have a bit of a cast iron stomach and can handle pretty much any type of gel/bar/drink. But my current favourites are any berry flavoured gel, GU Chomps and Staminade (it contains magnesium, I found this has cured my cramping issues where drinks without it couldn't).
- Don't try to consume carbs when heart rates too high, the body can't absorb them (found this out about 32kn into marathon 1)
- I've also found that in between say a swim and a bike session if I have a short black and a little chocolate or a couple of milk coffee biscuits I get a much better session in.
- When it comes to the main meals I keep it as simple as possible and stay clear of any pre processed foods. It's pretty easy to create tasty meals from scratch with a good variety of fresh and dried herbs and condiments. I guess I've also increased the amount of carbs I consume now with the extra workload, trying to include a good serv with most meals. I would probably eat rice or pasta based meals at least 4 times a week now.
- I also use food as motivation (I'm just like a pet dog) during a long ride on a cold day nothing gets me through like the thought of a coffee and a bakery product when I finish. Or on a hot day the thought of a cold beer or icy cold coke is Gold (after re hydrating first).

Sorry if I'm not technical enough on this topic but it's just one of those areas that gets only enough attention to get me through. Will be a good area for me to look at in the future when looking for those extra few percent, so far I haven't had too much trouble in this area on race day. But I do know I get better with knowing what I need with every race, there are guidelines out there to follow which I used as a starting point but nothing beats finding it out for yourself what you require. I think at Shepp last year I got it as spot on as I've ever done so I'll be using that as my template from now on until I stumble across something that works better.

Toby