Too Much of a Good Thing?

“Americans are drowning in a sea of very bad nutrition information” – T. Colin Campbell, Cornell University.

Dr. Campbell couldn’t be more accurate in his assessment of the western diet, and athletes are no more immune to commonly held misconceptions about diet and nutrition than the morbidly obese.  There are countless topics one could take issue with under the umbrella of nutritional habits of athletes, but I would like to focus this discussion on the most sought after macronutrient in the the sports world- PROTEIN.  I readily admit that there are many aspects of the Great Protein Debate that are well beyond the scope of what I am discussing here.  Methods such as protein intake during prolonged endurance efforts, or exact post-training protein requirements are better left to those much more qualified than I.

Often I am asked how much protein one should be getting to adequately support athletic pursuits; from the weekend warrior to the serious runner logging 100 miles a week, and I am shocked at the wide range of assumptions people hold about the ‘right’ amount of this misunderstood nutrient.  Based on my experience, the most prevalent thoughts on protein in the endurance sports world seem to be:

a)      Protein must be consumed after all workouts

b)      As a general rule, more is better

The best way to combat misinformation, rumors, and ‘hype’ produced by magazines and for-profit supplement companies is with unbiased science.  Here are some known truths about daily protein requirements.  The current Dietary Reference Intake for protein is 0.8/g/kg/day for adults- regardless of physical activity status.  This standard satisfies the protein requirements for 97% of all American adults, but is probably not exceptionally relevant to this audience.  The American Dietetics Association (ADA) recently put forth revised protein requirements for recreational and competitive athletes, (but what might come as a shock to those slurping protein shakes daily) the dietary protein needs of athletes are not all that different than those of society at large.  The ADA Sports Nutrition Manual for Professionals (4^th Ed; 2006) advises the following (male & female):

Individual Demands	g/kg/day	Approx % of Daily Energy
Sedentary	0.8	8%
Endurance	1.2-1.4	9-10%
Strength	1.6-1.7	14-15%

   

Based on the above model, a 154 lb (70 kg) male endurance athlete consuming 3800 calories daily should be striving for 84-98 grams of protein a day.  With a diet rich in whole grains, legumes, fruit, vegetables, and fish or some other animal source, reaching 85-100 grams of protein is a fairly easy task…WITHOUT the aid of protein bars, shakes, excess meat or supplement consumption.  More is not always better! 

GRRRRR! Man muscle need truckloads of protein!

It also concerns me that many athletes think that after any training session/workout, protein is a critical and immediate need.  Yes, after a hard 2.5 hour brick workout or tough 3500 yards in the pool, glycogen replenishment (and a little protein) should be the first thing on your agenda.  Where most go wrong is in thinking that the protein bar is a necessity after a 35 minute recovery run or light strength training session.  If you are taking in small, nutritionally balanced meals throughout the day- hydrate and skip the extra calories, you might be lighter and faster for it on race day! 

The take home message here is that protein is not a magical nutrient that unlocks athletic potential. Although protein is a necessary component of the diets of athletes and non-athletes alike,  carbohydrates are much more critical to athletic function/success for endurance athletes.  The vast majority of endurance athletes eating a well thought out diet of minimally processed foods are meeting their respective protein requirements without the use of protein supplements.  Lastly (and most importantly), be critical of where you get your nutrition information.  Gravitate towards peer reviewed journals based in science, NOT health or fitness magazines from the local news stand.

Some great nutrition resources:

The China Study, by T. Colin Campbell (2006)

Sports Nutrition; A Practice Manual for Professionals, Marie Dunford (editor) (2006)

In Defense of Food; An Eater’s Manifesto, by Michael Pollan (2008)

Thanks for reading,

jw

A Few Steps in the Right Direction (Beaverdam Olympic Triathlon Race Report)

This past Saturday marked the start of the 2012 triathlon season for me, with the Inside Out Sports Olympic Triathlon at Beaverdam.  A pretty long name for an event that historically attracts less than 200 people- but this race always lives up to it's drawn out moniker.  For the past two years Beaverdam has served as my first S/B/R competition of the year, giving me a chance to clear the mental & physical cobwebs, while also giving some insight to the effectiveness of the past winter's training efforts.

This year's Oly at Beaverdam didn't kick off until 9:30am on Saturday, and with the Falls Lake race venue only ~ 35 minutes away, I was able to grab a full night's sleep in my own bed.  The logistics of race morning are always a breeze with the FS Series Race Crew, and so by 8:30am I was checked in and ready to go.  Through trial and error I've found that you can easily get caught up in the nervous energy that abounds on race morning.  Regardless of the event size or distance, race morning usually has people hurriedly running, stretching, mashing away in the parking lot on a bike trainer, etc.  In terms of physical prep there isn't really much that you can do on race morning that will lead to improved performance, but jeez- you sure can hurt your performance with an over-cooked, frantic 'warm up'.  So after a light 10 min jog with a few pick ups, and 5-6 minutes getting used to the wetsuit in frigid Falls Lake, it was time to race!

The Swim

With an in-water swim start, I positioned myself as far to the left as possible to give me a straight line to the first turn roughly 400 meters out.  At the gun I went out as hard as I could for the first 2:00 to try to get ahead of the main pack, and I found myself on ETT teammate Dave Williams' feet.  I didn't expect it last long, but I told myself to hang on to Dave's draft as long as I could, with the hopes that he could pull us both into a gap in front of the others.  By some miracle I was able to stay connected with Super Swimmer Dave, and the first third of the swim course flew by.  The longest leg of the swim had us turn into a stiff wind in the center of oblong Falls Lake, which on race morning happend to have a few waves churning.  I swallowed more than my share of lake water with each attempt to sight, and I fought hard to stay connected to Dave.  Super Dave ripped up the swim, unaffected by the waves, and he pulled me all the way through in the process.  We came up onto the beach with a sizable gap to the next swimmer, and we both made quick work of sprint up the beach into T1.

The Bike

The rust showed in the S to B transition, and Dave Williams got out and up the road as I made a mess of getting my feet in my cycling shoes out on course.  Have you ever seen a cyclist kook tip over and fall while at a stand still?  I almost did that. Twice.  After I finally got into my shoes and in the right gear I was off to to see if I could get Dave back in my sights.  My one stated goal of the day was to leave it all out on the bike course.  Historically I give up some time to the eventual winners on the bike, and I faded badly on the bike at the Cary Duathlon three weeks prior.  Beaverdam has a rolling 43k bike course with a 3 or 4 short out of the saddle climbs.  Not much else to say about this ride other than that I buried myself.  I wasn't sure what kind of run would be left after going for broke on the bike, but I was determined not to lose this race to a soft effort on the bike.  Dave kept things interesting on the bike, and it was good fun as we continually overtook one another for the better part of an hour. 

Not only can Dave swim like hell, but the dude can flat out ride a bike.  Did I mention that Dave is recovering from a fractured pelvis from a bike fall in March?  He's not a guy who ever looks for excuses, and what he did on Saturday was just sick given the circumstances.  Really refreshing attitude, especially in light of some who are quick to reach for excuses after a perceived poor performance.  We all deal with adversity along the way, and I admire guys and gals like Dave who accept things as they come and try not to complain about the hand that they are dealt.  

I managed to gap Dave by a small margin late in the bike course, and I was super relieved to see the last turn into Falls Lake Park.  The Beaverdam bike course hurt me significantly more than I was able to hurt it, especially the last two successive hills leading into the park!

The Run

Heading into T2, I had a small lead that I didn't want to give up.  I had hoped to get out onto the run course quickly to stay out of sight of anyone who might be close behind.  WRONG!  I did put together a pretty quick transition and was mentally patting myself on the back as ripped up the hill out of T2, when one of the FS Series race directors cheerfully pointed out that was missing my run number.  Cursing myself all the way, I blew back into transition to grab the offending bib belt, before I was back out on the run course with a self imposed 70 second penalty.  I ran the first ten minutes pretty angry with myself for such a bonehead move in transition.  Embracing the anger inside while trying to channel it into effort on the pavement, I ran hard.  I told myself over and over that I started with the first swim wave that morning, and while I the virtual leader on the course, there were probably more than a couple fit guys from later waves who were in contention.  The run course was a rolling two loop 10k through Falls Lake Park, and a few of the other runners out on course had me crunching numbers and calculating splits to balance out the hurt put on by the hills.  I was able to cross the line out front with a 39:10, two transition 10k.  

Great race put on by the FS Series crew.  These guys are class acts that put on professional events with a friendly, local feel.  Awesome venue, awesome course.  Thanks to Inside Out Sports for supporting this event and its participants, and to the coaching (and competition!) from Triangle Multisport.  Also thanks to Fleet Feet Sports in Carrboro for helping this dude along the way...

Thanks for reading, I hope you didn't fall asleep in the process.

jw             

    

 

Greenville Duathlon Race Report

My stoke level increased by a factor of at least 10 this past weekend, as the 2012 race season is officially here!  I’ve been following the early season pro race reports on Slowtwich.com for a couple of weeks, but the upcoming triathlon season became much more tangible for me on Saturday when I hopped in the FS Series Greenville Duathlon.  The different races put on by the FS Series crew are ALWAYS well thought out events.  I was excited to be there, and I’ve been ready to mix it up with local competition to see just where my fitness stands.

The weather in central North Carolina on Saturday morning looked to be a little more than questionable, but we lucked out on race morning.  The duathlon was largely unaffected by the storm clouds that hung thick and dark just above our heads.  The first leg of the race was a two loop, three mile off road run covering the high school cross country course at Boyd Lee Park.  Dirt path, soccer field, cinder trail, and even a few feet of sidewalk; we covered it all as rain threatened overhead. 

With the relatively short nature of the race, my plan was get out with the lead pack, and press on hard without much concern for pacing.  Off the gun I got out front quickly with two other dudes I wasn’t familiar with.  It wasn’t  long at all before one of these two put :15 seconds into me and Dude #2, and he ran comfortably up ahead while Dude 2 and I pressed on behind.  Dude 2 turned out to be Richard Bailey, a Triangle Multisport-Inside Out Sports Triangle Tri Team member I hadn’t met yet.  I immediately learned that Richard is a) FIT, and b) a competitor.  We jockeyed hard and banged elbows for position on the trail for two miles before RB made a move and pulled away in the last 1k.

When I hit T1 Dude 1 was already through, but with a quick transition I still had contact with Richard as we got out on the bike course.  I tend to be a ‘second half’ rider, usually getting a little stronger the longer the bike leg lasts, as it takes me a few miles to find a rhythm.  This is certainly not something I consider a strength, and working on bike strength will continue to be a priority.  I wasn’t particularly concerned with RB pulling slowly away from me early in the bike leg- although it turns out I definitely should have been!  I’ve always thought the FS Series guys put a lot into course design, and the Greenville Du was no exception.  The 14 mile bike course was on smooth country roads, and was set up to be fast.  I pressed on pretty hard, feeling good about my bike legs that morning.  I rolled into T2 having averaged just a touch under 24 mph for the 14 mile bike split, but RB and Dude 1 had each put 2 minutes into me- which was not at all insignificant in a short course race.

I blasted out of T2 with another pretty good transition (usually not a strong area for me) and resigned myself to running at absolutely max effort for the 1.5 mile run leg to see if I could get back in the mix with the two ahead of me.  I was pleased with my run, I felt strong and poised from a full winter’s worth of interval running that Coach Dave and Triangle Multisport have pushed me through.  In the end, it wasn’t in the cards, and I never had contact with 1^st or 2^nd place, who were much stronger on the day.  I crossed the line in 3^rd with a time of 1:03:07, a full three minutes behind Glen Thompson and Richard Bailey.

I headed back to Carrboro Saturday afternoon pretty happy with the experience- great event, great competition, and a great race pace effort banked for future battles.  Congratulations to all finishers, and a big thanks to FS Series, the race volunteers, Triangle Multisport, and Inside-Out Sports for sponsoring the event.  Race results can be found here.     

Quick Training & Racin' Update

I'm really stoked to say that this year I am joining the Triangle Multisport-InSide Out Sports Triangle Triathlon Team.  Yes, that is a mouthful.  Most of us just refer to it as TMS-IOS.  Hefty name or not, I'm super excited to be mixing it up with this great group of age group and professional triathletes in 2012.  I can't say enough how thankful I am to both Triangle Multisport and Inside-Out Sports for the support they providing this team as co-title sponsors.  As part of my commitment to TMS-IOS this year, I will be a big part of the local race scene, hopping in local events early and often this spring, before settling in to focus on some larger races later this summer.  My 2012 race calendar can be found here.  

As we wait for the water to warm up a little here in the Mid Atlantic, I'll be racing at the next two stops in the Inside-Out Sports Duathlon Series in April.  A few more local events in April/May, before heading up to Connecticut for Rev3 Quassy on June 3rd.  The second half of the year is still up somewhat for discussion, but I am without a doubt focusing on ending my season with strong efforts at both Rev3 Anderson and Rev3 Florida in October.  

Thanks for reading,

jw

It's in the Details....Part II

My last post highlighted some of the ancillary details outside of actual training sessions that can have a huge impact on long term fitness-  in a positive or negative way, depending on the actions of the athlete.  I’d like to expand on that topic further.  Training and competing at a high level demands that no compromises are made with respect to training.  High level endurance performance truly IS found in the detailed decisions one makes with regard to training.  The previous post focused on the athlete’s emphasis on recovery, this post explores the approach to individual daily sessions. 

Whether you’re an recreational triathlete or an elite post collegiate runner- I’d like to assume that all athletes are dedicated to their craft, and would like to see the maximum benefits from their sweat equity.  First and foremost; every day of training logged is important to advancing your fitness level- there are no ‘throw away’ training days.  The last statement isn’t going to be earth shattering new to many, but have you ever thought about how slight variations in an individual's approach to training sessions can drastically alter their effectiveness?

Sacrificing effectiveness for convenience-  I have a couple of very talented training partners who I see compromising the effectiveness of what they are trying to accomplish by opting for convenience more often than they should.  There’s no denying that a treadmill can be a useful tool, but how much of your total weekly mileage are you logging indoors?  Used too often, I see treadmills as sort of a security blankets.  A treadmill insulates the user from any training variables they might encounter out on the roads.  Given two athletes of equal talent, who is going to end up the better runner over time: the one who logs all of his/her miles in a controlled climate on a plush treadmill, or the one who charges up hills as they come, mixes it up with other talented runners, and learns to adapt to adverse weather conditions in training?  I’ll take runner #2 every time.  If you think that logging the mileage is the only variable that matters, you may be cheating yourself.    

Timing matters-  Sometimes the timing or placement of training sessions within the day can have a huge impact on the effectiveness.  Ultimately, putting in the effort is most important- but if you make a habit of stacking sessions close together to save time you are compromising the effectiveness of the training!  Each session is key, and should be treated as such.  Immediately following up a hard group swim with an interval session on the bike because you hope to take the evening off may diminish the benefits of either session.  In this case, respect what you accomplished in the pool.  Rehydrate, take in a quality meal, allow your sympathetic nervous system to take a deep breath, and for your muscles to enjoy a few hours of less rigorous demands before getting after it again.

My aim here is not attack anyone’s training habits, but rather to provoke some thought as you plan your training.  The above is nothing more than a few thoughts I chose to share, and I respect individual methods and ideas.  Maybe after reading this someone out there will reflect on what they are doing, and find a way to maximize the effectiveness of the hard work they are surely doing day in and day out.

Thanks for reading, and be safe out there on the roads.

jw