Carbs, protein and water!

Our man at Lucozade, Matt Furber, is back in the groove. This time it is post-run recovery. If you make it at all, of course.

Introduction:

The ability to recover fully from training and competition is important for all individuals. During periods of high training volume many people may train daily or even twice daily. Furthermore, there are a number of sports in which competition is divided into different periods providing short intervals for recovery, and there are other sports which require athletes to participate in different contests on the same day.

In such instances, recovery may determine the extent to which adaptations occur over time, whilst in competition it may define successful performance. Recovery can be defined as the period following exercise that allows the body (and its various components) to repair, regenerate and adapt for both short and long term gain. The three key nutritional areas for recovery include:

1. Carbohydrate to help replenish the body’s muscle glycogen stores.
2. Protein to stimulate protein synthesis aiding the manufacture and repair of muscle tissue.
3. Fluid and electrolytes to help restore and maintain fluid balance (hydration).

Carbohydrate:

The most important factor affecting the storage of carbohydrate as muscle glycogen is the total amount of carbohydrate consumed. When the recovery time between exercise is short (0-4 h) the immediate consumption of carbohydrate results in higher rates of muscle glycogen storage compared with delayed feeding. However, when the recovery period is longer, assuming total carbohydrate intake is sufficient; there is no further advantage of ensuring early carbohydrate consumption.

In these latter situations athletes can choose their preferred meal schedule according to what is practical and comfortable. Carbohydrate can be consumed as either a series of snacks or large meals, although more frequent intake of smaller snacks may be useful in overcoming the discomfort often associated with eating large amounts of bulky carbohydrate foods. When early carbohydrate consumption is necessary following exercise, consume moderate to high glycaemic index (GI) foods to stimulate the insulin response so critical to glycogen storage.

General recommendations for carbohydrate intake during recovery are provided below. However, these should be fine-tuned with individual consideration of total energy needs, specific training needs and feedback from training performance.

Current Carbohydrate Guidelines:

• Immediate recovery after exercise (0-4 h): 1.0-1.2 g/kgBM/h at frequent intervals
• Daily recovery: moderate duration/low intensity: 5-7 g/kgBM/day
• Daily recovery: moderate to heavy endurance training: 7-12 g/kgBM/day
• Daily recovery: extreme exercise programme (4-6+h per day) 10-12 g/kgBM/day

Protein

Protein is a key nutrient and its importance within the athletic diet has long been recognised, particularly in the area of recovery where protein is known to stimulate protein synthesis aiding the manufacture and repair of muscle tissue. Whilst the role of protein within the athletic diet is well established, there is some controversy regarding the amount of protein needed by individuals.

Currently, it is recommended that 1.2-1.7 g/kgBM/day protein is consumed (84-119 g for a 70 kg individual), with approximately 15-20 g taken within the first 60 min after endurance training. This protein requirement is generally met through the normal diet, although specialist protein products may be useful in the periods immediately after exercise to help promote recovery. More recently, it has become common place to consume protein in combination with carbohydrate.

Together carbohydrate and protein seem to have a larger effect on insulin, a key hormone influencing the uptake of carbohydrate in the muscle. The increased effect on muscle glycogen storage seems to be restricted to when carbohydrate intake might be below the threshold for maximal storage or feeding intervals are more than 1 h apart.

However, when taken together, it seems the effect on protein synthesis is greater following resistance exercise compared to protein taken in isolation. Consequently, it recommended that following high intensity training, or situations of high training/competition volume carbohydrate should be consumed together with protein. Consume 15-20 g of protein within 60-120 min of exercise, preferably in combination with 1.0-1.2 g/kgBM carbohydrate.

Hydration

The consumption of fluid before, during and after exercise is critical to help avoid dehydration and thus, the safe and effective functioning of the body. Following exercise, individuals should be looking to fully replace any fluid and electrolyte losses that might have occurred during exercise. This is best assessed by measuring body mass immediately before and immediately after exercise. For example, if you start exercise weighing 70 kg finish 69 kg then you have lost 1 kg in body mass as sweat (1 kg = 1 litre).

The main factors affecting post-exercise hydration are the volume and composition of the fluid consumed, whilst the aggressiveness of the strategy will depend on the amount of sweat lost and/or the timing of the next exercise bout. When rapid and complete restoration of fluid balance is necessary, plain water is not the ideal post-exercise hydration drink as it stimulates high urine flow and reduces the drive to drink.

Ideally fluids consumed in recovery should contain sodium as this the primary electrolyte lost in sweat, in addition to aiding the retention of ingested fluid, stimulating thirst and also enhancing the absorption of carbohydrate in the small intestine. Individuals are recommended to consume 1.5 litres (L) of fluid for each kilogram (kg) of body mass lost as sweat to help compensate for the inevitable urine losses that occur after exercise.

Hope this helps - keep on trucking!

Regards

Matt

Charming, to be sure!

Doc Chalmers warns of some the nastier elements of ultra-marathon running...

I knew I shouldn’t have tempted fate and had a medicinal tincture last week. The 'Mighty Mariners' are now only 1 point above drop zone and knowing our luck Luton will somehow beat the 30 point deduction and stay in the league. Fair play to them; they deserve it after winning the Johnston’s Paint Trophy and showing promotion form...!

Enough football though, I also have a confession to make that no training was done this weekend - the ultimate shame! Somehow Gary, a fellow triathlete, and I ended up going to London for our joint birthday treat. The treat however involved sending the girlies and kids to a show, paying the train fares, buying all the food and drink and generally being a 'skivvy' by lumping the cases on and off the tube etc. To make it worse, although we got upgraded by the hotel and given complimentary cocktails, the girlies snaffled that as well! Nice one sided birthday present then. (Careful you don't fall into the same trap as Jonathon below...! - Ed)

On a more educational and sensible point we have touched on having a workable plan for fluids/nutrition. To really worry us all, there are worse things than 'bonking' i.e. running out of 'oomph' on the run...

Blisters are trivial and troublesome but soaking your feet in strong tea or pathology specimen fluid, if you can get it, will harden them up nicely. The pathology specimen fluid is superb though slightly tricky to acquire unless you a doctor like me, stinks and may damage carpets/floor so strongly advised to take care and avoid the Mrs when using! While I admire our Spencer I think it might be a bit late in the day for the toughening up trick. And looking at his choice of gear and all it’s rubbing points, he’ll need to soak himself in it! When I did FLM I kept passing 'rhinos', not realising that there were 10 on the course that year and I got a wee bit disorientated!

'Joggers nipple' is no laughing matter either and the tell tale circles of blood on a running top have stopped many before. Even lumps of Vaseline or corn plasters don’t offer 100% protection so train in your gear, and toughen them up!

'Joggers trots' is a charming loss of orifice control and is bad at any time, sober or otherwise and especially true of bottom control. A liberal dose of Imodium may be required/advised prior to racing...

'Hyponatraemia' - While the last 3 have a slightly light hearted element this definitely doesn’t and can be fatal due to central pontine myelinosis. I’ve seen a study that stated 13% of Boston Marathon runners had low serum sodium. I read that it was low but fortunately not low enough to hospitalise. The cause can be excess sweat, excess water consumption or both. Basically the longer you are exercising the more fluid you drink and the greater risk. To make it worse early symptoms can mimic dehydration so the natural inclination is to drink more water and it is more prevalent now there is increased popularity in doing long-distance events. Even doctor’s aren’t immune from it - I know of one doing an Ironman event and she stopped for a toilet break. On leaving the toilet she was so confused and disorientated she didn’t know which direction to run! She finished but “fitted” shortly after finishing and spent 2 days in intensive care. Please be warned!

On that happy, chirpy, positive note, off on the road bike!

Keep on trucking...!

Jonathon Ross is now making excellent progress;

I was very pleased with the interview I did with BBC South Today. I was slightly disappointed that they didn’t show much of it, they also omitted giving out the website details (!) and how to sponsor us. They did however give Project 65 some good coverage. So I guess something is better than nothing.

Training took a bit of a hit last week. My planned 30 miles last Sunday never materialised. I had to work on Saturday with my brother. He is a tree surgeon and he needed a hand with some rather large trees. He actually didn’t need a hand at all because I did all the lifting while he climbed and just cut large pieces off each tree. It was also my wife’s birthday. So by way of compromise I took her out for the day on Sunday. That meant Monday night I did another 22 miler home from work. A much improved performance on last time, thankfully! I then ran into work the next day and felt fine. My knees were screaming a little but I guess that’s as expected!

I was away on a course in Easingwald, York last week. What a beautiful part of the country! Managed to get out and run a couple of short runs through some very picturesque woods. Then on Sunday I managed 27 miles and felt pretty good at the end. I think I could have gone on for a good few more miles. For the first time I had some recovery drink when I finished and the improvement it made to my muscles and general feeling was immense.

I have a day off work this Wed and have planned a 35 miler....

With a little over 8 weeks to go, I have said to Sarah that I must focus on my training and make sure that I keep Sundays free from now on. She is happy with this as long as I have done all my chores beforehand! Unfortunately she read my blog on the mothers day issue and my win – win situation turned into a lost – lost situation with no remission!! Ha ha!! Schoolboy error allowing her to read it!

On a personal admin front I am happy with the set up I have for running now. I have a running belt with water bottle and a small bottle for gel. The belt has a large pouch for food, money etc. I also carry a 500ml water bottle in each hand when I am running. This may not be that orthodox but it works for me.

Best wishes to you all - stay fit and focused

Any ideas on how to combat chafing?!

Our little Trooper gives his update to go with the picture below:

Another interesting week for the FLM training:

Not much to report on the running side. I still have a niggly groin issue (make all the comments you like) but I can still run (plod). On Monday I had the local papers in again for the FLM Stormtrooper run. It went ok. I found even more areas that rub in the outfit and it is not getting any easier to run with the full face helmet on.

Afterwards I examined the damage on the inside of the legs. Looks like I have been Paintballing. Never mind... rather find out now than later on!

Thursday was the first time out on the roads. A bit of a mixed reception really. On Thursday I train with a local running club (Sutton Runners). So it seemed a good opportunity to get the Armour on the road. The club liked it, which is always a good thing. I managed to get 2 of the girlies to tie my laces for me because I cannot bend over enough!! Then out on the road.

Road was completely different to the running machine. A bit more air movement so I didn’t heat up as quickly, but after a while I couldn’t see anything with the lenses steaming up, so going to have to look for a solution there. I did take out the lenses which improved much needed ventilation.

Running on the road caused many people to cheer, beep the old horn, stop and take pics, but the worse one was a group of kids in a car throwing things at me. Great huh, you try to do something different and someone is always there to mess it up!!

At the end... I discovered even more new areas of rubbing! So a big learning from all of this, is the old ZINC oxide tape. It’s great to stop the rubbing, but getting the b@$tard off is another thing. So any advice on that is greatly received!

Going to try for a 10 miler in it this week so I’ll let you know.

CWP

The Sutton Guardian Strikes Back!

Nut-job Spencer Rolls is doing things in a slightly eccentric fashion.
The article can be viewed here.

Nine weeks to go...

Rob Starbuck is counting the days.

9 weeks to go and all is well – we hope that is the cry from all the runners!! I noticed it was 9 weeks this morning and a mixture of nerves and excitement surged through my veins.

Project 65 represents a unique challenge, regular runners mixed with those who have an emotional link with the events of 1944 alongside those who feel compelled to stand up and meet the challenge head on.

9 weeks to go so by now we all should be able to do a 40 mile training run. Yeah, right, hands up those that are there yet?!? I plan to do a 5 – 6 hour training session this Sunday. Just now a case of working out the route and deciding if I can run with a ruck-sack full of food and drink!

Oh, the joys of a long distance runner !

God, I love sport!

The atmosphere in The Silver Surfer's house continues...

Well, it is a slightly better weekend this weekend. Grimsby (aka 'The Mighty Mariners') have won 3 in a row and move out of relegation places for the first time in weeks. I can hardly contain myself and indulge in a hopefully not premature medicinal tincture. Needless to say by Sunday normal service was resumed at The Silver Surfer's house. My eldest was still getting the 'deaf and dumb breakfast treatment' for omitting a Mother's Day present the previous week (the fact I’d skived off on a 3 hour run was fortunately overlooked!)

Her misdemeanors paled into insignificance when our chocolate Labrador decided that the recently delivered load of horse manure destined for the vegetable plot was a tasty snack or something to roll in! I was then instructed to dig the remaining horse manure into the whole vegetable plot completely and hose the dog down before even daring to think about pulling on my running shoes! 3 hours of digging and a soapy smelly dog wash later I needed a fortifying cup of tea. I then realised I still had my long run to do. As the old adage says 'no pain, no gain' so slow change and off we trundled. My youngest daughter initially decided she wanted to avoid the 'atmosphere' and join me, however 1 mile on the mountain bike was enough and she preferred the 'atmosphere' leaving yours truly to plod on for another 17 miles on his own.

I note another blogger will discuss recovery soon but we mustn’t forget even pacing for such distances. It is also helpful to assess the effort expended becuase if you 'red line' it you won’t be going anywhere! The posh way to do it is one of those clever 'Garmin' things. However they can be in the order of £400 for a super-duper version including distance covered, heart rate, cadence if on a bike, downloadable analysis etc. (though they are brilliant for personal usage).

Next, monitoring heart rate during exercise. Much cheaper but you need to do some simple maths to work out your training zones. I have an “idiots guide” if anyone wants it via Ed. Effectively this will help ensure quality training and avoid just “plodding” for plodding sake. Hence I didn’t feel too bad when I spat my dummy out and did that 10k recently as I still had some speed in my legs (completed at a smidgen over 7 min/mile pace)

The final and most entertaining way to asses pace and effort is to run and see if a) you can sing b) you can talk sentences c) you can talk words d) nothing, eyes on stalks e) blue/purple collapsed in heap at side of road. Obviously the running and singing version is close to the speed we will need in June...!

Possibly in better news, spring is here and the summer racing bike was dusted down, polished and serviced prior to the first 'duathlon' of the year (a run, bike, run combination event) The best bit is the last run off the bike, when your legs want to go in circles rather than running forward. The feeling is a bit like watching Mr L Majors running in the 6 Million Dollar Man series of years ago, oops showing my age now! The only thing is I don’t run at 60 mph, its just my legs feel like it, as they are completely 'wibble'!

God, I love sport.