#sports

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IRONMAN 70.3 | Lake Placid, NY | BIKE CRASH

Before the storm 

Ironman 70.3 Lake Placid, New York is the only race that separates me from my “A” Race – Ironman Panama City, Florida.

My goal for Lake Placid was to beat my 70.3 PR of 5:19:24 I set two months ago in Muskoka. In fact, I was more than confident that I can break the 5 hour mark with my brand new bike I bought just two weeks ago. Argon 18 E117 TRI+ with crazy expensive carbon wheels from “Blade”, rear – disk, front – three spokes.

I am ready!

7:00 am – Start-gun shot broke the silence.

GO! The race began

Swim

It was raining the entire night. Morning was cold and dark. Clouds on the sky gave no chance for the sun to break through.

Despite the fact that I zig-zagged a bit, I swam 2,125 meters in 35 minutes, averaging a 1:41 min/100. Exiting the water and seeing the numbers on my watch I was excited, felt strong and determined to give it all on the bike.

BIKE

It was cold, rainy and REALLY windy, definitely not the weather for shorts and sleeveless top I was wearing. And it was not the race to have the disc race wheels on… The farther I went, the more hypothermic I got. My vision started getting blurry and no matter how hard I pushed on the pedals, my HR would not go above 120 bpm. I am cold, really cold.

You’ve got to warm up buddy, it’s not safe anymore.
Spin your legs faster. Increase and keep the cadence high.
Put more sugar in your body. Have a gel or better two, have more water.
– Sasha thought to himself.

Bike course was really hilly with a lot of fast descends on the wet pavement. First aid station. Gatorade G2 – love it! Put a lot of fluids and fuel in my body, feeling better, however still cold. EXACTLY at the midpoint – 45 km into the race , I was going down a big hill and I was going FAST. Shifted to the highest gear I had and kept pedaling as hard as I could. The sound carbon wheels make, rubbing on off the road is hypnotizing. Laser focus, looking straight ahead, lean into the bike.

Cross wind hit from the right.

Holly shit that’s strong. Stay focused!

Cross wind hit the second time. Two-three wiggles… Feeling a hard hit on my head… Sky, ground, sky, ground… Dark and silent.

I reached the top speed of 47.3 mph (76 km/h). Side wind blew and my bike started wiggling. All I remember after that is waking up on the road and seeing a blue sky. I remember excruciating pain and not being able to stand up…

He’s awake! Somebody call 911! Don’t move! Don’t move! Call 911!
I heard people yell

      What do you mean don’t move? I attempted to get up
Hell no…

Excruciating pain won’t let me even lift my head up. It’s cold. My body starts shaking… Laying down on my back. Blue sky – what a blue sky. Finally the rain stopped…

After about 30-40 minutes the ambulance arrived. Paramedics and police officer(s) loaded my on the stretcher and slide into the truck. 45 minutes after I found myself surrounded by 4-5 people in Emergency Room of the hospital in Plattsburgh, NY.

Right clavicle comminuted fracture that is broken into three fragments
Broken 5th and 7th ribs
3.8 mm & 2.8 mm nodular areas in the right lung

Pain

Fear

Anger

Rejection

Frustration

Disappointment

Complete Uncertainty

Feeling sorry for myself

Feeling unworthy, not good enough

I failed. I failed miserably. Not only I wrecked a brand new bike, didn’t finish the race, wasted all the money and time, but also broke myself to the possible no-return point. I am a looser… All my plans, all my dreams of becoming a world-class triathlete will never come through. I won’t be able to swim as I used to with this shoulder. I am going right back to where I came from… I cried, yes I cried so hard. Not from the physical pain, I could endure that, but from the mental pain that was burning me alive from the inside.

You are DONE! It’s OVER!

….hey. Are you done crying yet? Let it all out, don’t leave anything inside. Whenever you finished this mental masturbation and ready to move on, let me know, I’ll be around.

I am ready

Okay, the first think I need you to do is STOP and take a deep breath. STOP, there are no things to do, there are no places to be, STOP.
Now listen, as long as we have each-other we will be okay. We ALWAYS find a way, always. Remember what you went thought, the challenges we been through, the hardships we overcame. We not only found a way out of each situation, but we came out stronger, smarter, wiser. The history shows – you flourish in times of crisis. Like a cockroach, you survive even after atomic war. Did you touch the ground? Do you feel foundation under your feet? Great, this is the bottom we will be pushing against to the way back up.
What is this? You can legitimately perceive it as a punishment, a fee to pay. You can also start blaming others, the weather, the bike, the disc wheels etc. Let’s not waste time on that. We both know that’s stupid, just a waste of time.
I suggest looking at this an OPPORTUNITY. The opportunity to start over, to try the things you could not have done before, to learn, to practice the skills that you already have. This is a challenge, a hell of a challenge. But, you are always looking for a challenge, don’t you? Here is one for you. Isn’t it, not hard enough? Embrace it.

But, it’s such a loss of time. I could’ve done so much, move so much further. Time lost in recovery is the worst. How can I take the most of this time?

Great question! Let’s brainstorm.
First of all it is not a loss of time if you don’t let it be so. You’ve got your brain and that is the most important part. Also you get about 20 hours a week more, otherwise spent in training. Not including the commute times to & from trainings.

What are the things you could not have done living the lifestyle you had before?

  1. Nutrition…? Try different diets. You wanted to try, and now you can go vegan. Try a plant based diet without worrying about performance decrease and protein consumption. See how you feel.
  2. Writing. You have more time to research & write. You can move further with your book. Also add few chapters on eating for recovery and adjusting energy intakes for people who are limited in their physical activities.
  3. Radical lifestyle change? You are passionate about travel and was thinking about an RV, a camper-van? Why not now? There is no training to do, no stationary bike to ride…

Be a student. What a great opportunity to learn! Learn about your body, about healing process and physical rehabilitation. Experiment with new foods and find the ones that work for you better. Look around, and learn more about the people in your life. Who helped, who did not, who turned their backs on you or simply ignored? Without judgments or grudges, take notes.

Brain is a powerful thing and mental attitude is one of the main factors that contribute to recovery. You know it, so don’t let yourself self-limiting beliefs and negative thoughts.

I can do it!

We can do it!

IT’S ALL GOOD… MENTAL TRAINING

Ironman 70.3 Lake Placid Bike CrashDownload
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SPARTAN RACE TRIFECTA: ONTARIO 21KM BEAST

Spartan Racing is not my specialty and often compromises my performance in triathlon, but still I do it.
Why?

  1. To spice up my life and training by doing something different and fun. 
  2. To get a sense of competition.  
  3. To get outdoors and explore new places, new cities, meet new people.  
  4. To get an extra mini-achievement under my belt, which also brings experience. 

At the beginning of this year of 2019 one of the goals I set was to obtain Trifecta Medal. 

What is Trifecta?

It’s a special medal that comes in three pieces. A member of the Spartan Trifecta Tribe has to finish three Spartan races distances, a 3 mile Sprint, an 8 mile Super, and the 13 mile Beast in a calendar year, anywhere in the world.

By this point I have completed the first two distances and even managed to come in first in my division at the 13 km Super. The Beast is what stands in between me and Trifecta. 
My last opportunity this year to do this race is on September 1st, in my home province of Ontario. 

I didn’t skip on this opportunity and Trifecta is mine!

Below is the picture of how it look like. It’s a combination of three magnetic pieces that combined make up the medal:

Triathlon is my main area of focus. Specifically the Ironman 70.3 races. I dedicate all my time, money and effort to getting better at swimming, cycling and running. 
Ironman 70.3 Lake Placid, New York is my next endeavor and it’s coming up in a week, on September 8th. 6 days separate one race from another. For the past couple of months I’ve been training my bumm off for this race and I really want to do great. 

I signed up for the Spartan a few months ago, but the closer to the race I got, the more hesitant to do it I became. 

21 km with 30 obstacles?… 
Are you kidding me? 
There is no way you will have enough time to recover after Spartan “Beast” and perform well in Iron. 
Cancel the freaking Spartan Race and focus on your main goal Sasha!

Reasonable Sasha spoke

… but I will not push too hard. 
I will just do it for fun. 
It will be a good cross training…

Ego interrupted

I didn’t push too hard on the beginning and was running at about 70% of my max. I passed a lot of people at this point and felt pretty good mentally. Until I caught up with two men on the course… I am alway down for a healthy competition.

200 lb of lean muscle were pushing ground away and in instant something flipped in me. I got a taste of competition, my ego got challenged.
The other Sasha woken up and took over. I was chasing these guys for about 5 km and when I passed them, I never let them pass me.

NUTRITION

I wanted to touch a bit on nutritional side of the race and express my opinion on something I see a lot, especially at OCR Races. Fueling (eating during exercise) is extremely important in sport of triathlon and I learned a lot from my own experience.

You don’t need that backpack.
I see so many people wrapping their bodies around with all kinds of backpacks, hydration packs etc… You don’t need it!
Take off this extra weight, unload all that cookies your mom cooked for you and other crap you set yourself to eat on the course. Running the race does not give you permission to eat all that crappy foods guilt-free. You don’t need it!

DROP THAT COOKIE!

There are usually enough hydration stations along the courses. I’ve been racing in such hot climates as South Texas, Arizona, California and yes, you might want to bring your own hydration, but c’mon we’re in Canada. It’s okay to get thirsty, you won’t die. There is also no need to stuff yourself with your protein bars, trail mixes and other simple sugars. They won’t make you faster! Trust me.

You should’ve been paying attention to your nutrition and more importantly hydrations days and days before the race. On a day of the race it’s already too late. Even the night before is too late.
Have one Shot Energy Gel 10 minutes before the start and another somewhere halfway through. And yes, I am speaking about longer distances only, such as Super (13 km) and Beast (21 km).
There is absolutely no need to munch of your favorite cookies during such short races as sprint, or even Super on my opinion.

DO THE WORK FIRST
EAT AFTER

My nutrition strategy was simple:

A big carb-dominant breakfast, with no fiber and proteins (1.5 hours before).
I prefer rice, potatoes or some fruits.
And of course a COFFEE! But be careful to not overdo the caffeine, otherwise you might learn where adrenaline is coming off, on the race course =)

One Cliff gel somewhere at the midpoint during the race.

RESULTS

First my age group and second overall.

I have no idea how that happened, but I’ll take it. I am really proud of myself and grateful for my body that allow this to happen. Remembering where I’ve been two years ago physically and now proves once again that EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE!

You, my friend, reading this post should never doubt your abilities.
If you don’t believe in yourself, then no one will.

After you done coming up with excuses and feeling sorry for yourself, pick yourself up and do the work!
Don’t think of the future, focus just on what’s in front of you.
One day at the time!
Small steps.

This is how I did it, and you can. I am no better than that thousand people behind. I have the same body, made from bones, blood and a bit of poop. The only difference is that I am persistent. I put in the work day after day, that’s it. I know what I want, and you should too.

Win the race and win your life. The skills you acquire in training and racing essentially impact all aspects of your life and the lives of others.

Get to the podium.
Stand on top and take it all without guilt. You deserved it with your hard work!, sweat and tears!
When the ceremony is done and you filled your cup, step back down and help others.
Give back!
Share your energy, knowledge and experience.

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SPARTAN RACE: OTTAWA 13KM SUPER

Had a great night’s rest the night before. It was so nice to sleep in a tent , under the stars, on a fresh air.
Woke up as always at 4:30 am, went on a 10k hike followed by a leisure swim in lake.
Registered for the race and went back to the car to take a nap. My brother Stepan asked me: Are you nervous? Are you worried? I was neither nervous or worried, I was really calm and felt asleep like a baby.

Going into the race I had no agenda, no goals to achieve, nothing to prove.

I drove 5 hours here to enjoy the race. I spent my money and time to have fun, to have an experience. This is all I was after.

Indeed I did enjoy the race! It was not an easy one and my heart was flying out of my chest on that hilly course. I pushed hard, as I always do. I remained cheerful and joyful throughout the entire 16 km run. I helped 3 people to climb over the 8ft wall and I didn’t forget to cheer up the folks I met along the way.

I finished with a great smile on my face. It was not a “fake” smile, but a genuine one. I enjoyed the race, I enjoyed my body. As a bonus, I got notified that I also finished first in my age group and 7th overall. Wow! I definitely did not expect that and thought there was a mistake. But no mistake was found and I remained on the first place.

I am so grateful for this win and my body that made it possible. I am grateful for the experience and a great amount of joy I got out this race. I am grateful for my brother Stepan and Blake who were at the finish line, cheering up for me.

Anyone can cry when it hurts.
Anyone can quit when it gets hard either physical or emotional
Anyone can complain and blame others when shit hits the fan and things fall apart.
That’s all easy, anyone can do it.

Listen, you are more than that. I believe you are way better.
You are the HUMAN – the ultimate bio machine that was ever created.
You are in control of your mind! You are in charge of your life!
You are designed for BATTLE, you was created to EXPLORE! YOU ARE THE WARRIOR!

Are you hurting? Great! It means you are still alive. Endure the pain. Dead don’t hurt. 
Don’t ever think about quitting Boy! Did you hear? Don’t even let the thought of quitting visit your mind. Keep pushing!!!
Take full responsibility for your life and be the owner, not just a participant. 
Enjoy! Enjoy the day, enjoy the people around, enjoy the pain, be cheerful and stay positive. 

8ft wall is not that tall if you approach it with a smile. 
40 lbs sandbag is not that heavy if you carry it with a positive attitude. 
Trust me, I know.

Change your default settings and shred in pieces your limiting beliefs. 
YOU ARE THE WARRIOR!!!

….or not…..
you decide

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Race Weight Cut

There are so many ways to loose weigh: fast & slow, simple and overly complicated, cool and “sexy” & long, boring…
People find motivation from all sorts of things and reasons that are uniquely different for each individual. We are not going to explore the infinite world of weigh loss psychology, dietary restrictions or any other topics of such matter in this chapter.

Being an athlete, you are motivated more by performance rather than just the looks. It’s obvious, the lighter athlete is, the less weigh to carry, especially in sports like cycling or running.
The ideal weight is the weight, where you perform at you best, WHILE staying healthy. “Race weight” is not to be kept year round and achieved only for short periods of time during competition season or major athletic events.

In this post you will find the information with real life examples to teach you simple and basic approach to a short-term weigh cut. This technique is slightly adjusted to meet demands of high energy expenditures of endurance training, however it can also be adopted by non-athletic population.

This example uses 150 lbs athlete who tries to loose few kilos to meet his/hers ideal race weight prior to major competition.

Starting Weight: 68 kg
Goal Weight: 65 kg
Time: 3 weeks
Loss Rate: 1 kg/week

1. Determine your Energy Intake

First of all, you need to determine what’s your current energy intake level or “maintenance level”. To do so, you will record everything that goes into your mouth for one-two weeks.
There are numerous phone apps and online calculators that will allow to pull up foods nutrition data and estimate energy equivalent of the foods you eat. You need to have a very good idea of how much you eat on a daily and weekly basis.
Below is example of 150 lbs athlete daily energy intake:

Such energy intake allows this athlete to maintain his current weight with current level of activity.
Multiply by 7 and get the following number:

Weekly Calorie Intake : 21,042 Calories

IMPORTANT NOTE:
Calories consumed during exercising (sports nutrition, energy bars, gels, chews, isotonic drinks etc) are not to be included in energy intake calculations.

2. Determine you Energy Expenditure

Now that you have a good idea of how much you eat in terms of numbers, next step is to calculate how much energy you expand. Modern fitness trackers, such as FitBit, Garmin, Apple Watch etc. allow you to guesstimate your energy expenditures during your trainings. Keep in mind that this number is far from being precise, however is used consistently it will allow you to get a general idea of what your body expands and have a rough number of calories used to fuel your trainings.

The example below used Garmin Fenix 5 watch and Garmin Connect App to determine energy expenditure:

Average Weekly Expenditure: ~20,500 Calories

Because the athlete consumes about the same amount of energy as what he expands, he is able to maintain his current body weight. To loose weight he needs to create energy deficit.

3. Create Appropriate Deficit

It is estimated that 3,500 calories equals about 1 pound (0.45 kilogram) of fat. Therefore we can make an assumption that you need to burn about 3,500 calories to lose 1 pound.
We also assume that cutting about 500 – 1,000 calories a day from your maintenance level, will make you lose about 1 to 2 pounds a week.
Sounds simple, isn’t it?

Below is example of adjusted energy intake with a goal of loosing 2 kg of body weight in three weeks.

Adjusted Daily Macronutrient & Caloric Intake:

Because of very active lifestyle and a lot of aerobic type training, given athlete needs to make sure he maintains proper glycogen stores in muscles and more importantly – in liver. The goal here is to keep eating as many carbohydrates as possible, while loosing weight. Therefore fats – is the first macronutrient that will need the adjustment.

Fats 25%

Healthy fats are really important for proper body function and hormonal health. About 10 years ago a healthy fat intake was suggested to be 1/2g per 1 kg of body weight. This is when “fat free” products became popular.
Modern guidelines suggest the minimal fat intake to be around 1g/kg of body weight.
For 150 lbs athlete, minimal dietary fate intake should be no less than 70g of dietary fats per day. It is really important not to go below the minimal amount as it can harm your hormonal health!

Proteins 25%

Healthy protein intake for active people is suggested to not exceed 2-2.5g/kg or 1g/lb of body weight per day.
For the athlete with weigh of 150 lbs (70 kg) its 150 g of protein per day.

Carbohydrates 50%

The rest, half of your calories, will be coming from carbohydrates. Again, such high carbohydrate intake is necessary to fuel athlete’s trainings.
Ideally carbohydrates will be coming from complex and low glycemic load sources. This is necessary to keep blood sugar within healthy levels.

Maintenance Weekly Calorie Intake: 21,042 Calories
Adjusted Weekly Calorie Intake : 17,010 Calories

Deficit:
576 Calories/Day
4,032 Calories/Week (21,042-17,010)

RESULTS

Energy deficit of 576 Calories/day made our athlete loose 3 kg in one week. Not all the weight loss came from fat, partially it’s a water weight. Anyways he reached his “ideal race weigh” three times faster than expected. This is a very rapid weight loss, not ideal scenario for long term health and performance. Such fast results could also have an impact on nervous system, making the person apathetic, demotivated to exercise and pessimistic about life in general.
In case if you loose more than 1 kg a week, you might want to slightly bump your daily energy intake by 100 calories. This will not stop the weight loss, but it will make it healthier and more sustainable in long run.

Meal Examples

Below are few examples of complete meals designed to fuel athlete’s body post-workout with weight loss goal in mind.
These meals come from organic and “clean” foods and contain proper amounts of macronutrients to fuel athlete’s body post exercise activity.

More detailed nutritional guidelines to proper fueling, types of foods and timing discussed in section solely dedicated to Sports Nutrition.

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1hr 30 min @200 Watts 70.3 Continuous Effort

Spent 30-40 minutes on the beginning trying to fix some technical issues with the KICKR. Power and speeds were way off.

Pre-meal: 300 Calories (74C/0F/6P)
Sweet Potato: 70g
Banana: 120g
Basmati white rice: 100g

Felt motivated going into the workout.

Fueling: 700 Calories (116C/18F/31P)
Cliff Energy Shot
Cliff Bar
“ONE” Protein bar (zero sugar) – don’t like it.
Medium Banana

Workout was hard.
Barely held 200W.
1 hr into the ride had to lower power down to 180W as I found it really hard to continue holding same output. Really challenging workout. Glad to be done… sore and exhausted.

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Nail the Basics

Your body’s engine is a hybrid, it can run off two different fuel sources: fat and carbohydrates. These fuels are stored in separate “gas tanks”:

FAT STORAGE: Adipose tissue (100,000 calories)
CARBOHYDRATE STORAGE: Muscles (500-2000 calories) + Liver (100-400 calories) + Blood Glucose (25-100 calories)

First a little bit of background.
In 1853 Claude Bernard discovered that the liver secretes your body’s main carbohydrate glucose by observing that the blood flowing out of the liver of fasted or meat fed animals contained glucose while the blood flowing into it contained little. When a cell takes in glucose from the blood it is modified by the process called oxidative phosphorylation (the major cell energy provider). This locks the glycogen molecule into the cell for future use. Only the liver can secrete glucose and it has the highest concentration of it. If you ever ate cooked liver, you know that it  doesn’t taste sweet at all. That’s because the glucose in it stored as glycogen and glycogen does not taste sweet.

Liver contains 100 to 120 grams of glucose as glycogen. Compared to the liver, skeletal muscle contain less concentrated glycogen. However, because there is  much more skeletal muscle than liver, we can they have much grated storage capacity. In total, your skeletal muscle contains 400 to 500 grams of glycogen. One gram of glucose produces 4 kilocalories of energy. Therefore the net energy stored in the liver is about 500 calories and about 1500 calories in skeletal muscle. Comparing trained and untrained individuals, more trained people are able to store more glycogen in their muscles and liver, however the difference is little. Average athlete might store 2000-2500 calories in total as usable carbohydrate energy in muscle and liver.

LIVER: 100-120g (500 calories)
MUSCLES: 400-500g (1500-2000 calories)

Carbs is preferred source of fuel for your body. They are easy to digest and provide fast energy. However due to the limited amount of them stored on board, you can easily deplete your carb storages just within 2 hours of moderate-intensity exercise.

75% of glycogen is used by the brain and central nervous system. For athletes, eating carbohydrates is like putting the octane in their engines. Consuming carbs will increase your blood glucose levels and help to fill your tanks before training or racing.

Glycogen is either created directly from food (glycogen synthesis) or through an indirect pathway (gluconeogenesis). When you eat a meal with carbohydrates, your body releases insulin, which takes glucose from the blood for energy into the cells. When the body gets excess fuel, the glucose molecules are linked together in a chain, producing longer units, called glycogen. As mentioned before, your body can store a limited amount of glycogen before it gets converted to fat.

FAT or CARBOHYDRATES for FUEL?

Adequate glycogen storage in your body is the key for optimal performance. Exercising at low and moderate intensities your body uses both: muscle glycogen and fat. The higher exercise intensity, the more carbohydrates are required to fuel your engine. Below is an example of how your body shifts from using fat for fuel towards running purely on carbohydrates. This is my VO2 test, conducted in professional laboratory:

Red column on a left is my heart rate (HR), measured in beasts per minute (bpm). Two columns on the right show the carbohydrate (CH) and fat (F) utilization related to heart rate. What we see here is that at lower intensities (<111 bpm) my body works primarily on fat as fuel. However the higher intensity of the exercise becomes, the faster my heart beats, more carbohydrates are being burned. Approximately at 111 bpm my body’s engine works as a pure hybrid, utilizing about the same amount of fat and carbohydrates for fuel. As the intensity increases, less and less fat is being used to fuel the exercise, until my body shifts completely to using carbs for fuel at 163 bpm.

Maintaining optimal carbohydrate stores is essential not only for good performance, but for protecting your health. Your nervous system, and brain primarily use carbohydrates for fuel. When glycogen stores get depleted and blood sugar level is low your brain will do anything to stop you from continuing exercising. You “hit the wall”. Pack your bags buddy, cause you are not going anywhere at this point. Consider yourself lucky if you finish the race.

What restores glycogen?

When the body experiences glycogen stores depletion, it takes about 24 hours to refuel (i.e., to ingest, digest, and convert food into glycogen). It is understood that carb-containing foods will help replenish stores the most efficiently. When food is digested, glucose is created. The pancreas recognizes this and produces insulin, a hormone that regulates the amount of glucose present in the bloodstream. Any glucose that isn’t used at this time is directed to the liver to be stored as glycogen.

There are two commonly used methods among athletes to store large amounts of glycogen is through carb loading and “training low”. We will get into these methods more in depth later in a book.

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MARBELLA 70.3

Key Sessions

  1. 2 hr 15 min Bike + 15 min Run. February 16, 2019 
  2. 2 hr 45 min Bike + 15 min Run. February 23, 2019 ~Bonking~
  3. 3 hr Bike + 15 min Run.March 2, 2019 ~Strong like a BULL~
  4. 3 hr 30 min Bike + 20 min Run. March 9, 2019 ~God’s Mode~
  5. 4 Hour Bike + 15 Min Run. March 16, 2019. ~Mind over Body~
  6. 2 hr 45 min Bike + 30 min Run. March 30. ~Bonking~
  7. 3 Hr 15 min Bike. April 6, 2019. ~Bonked… Again~

8. 1 Hr 30 min Bike + 30 min Run. April 11, 2019. ~Bonked~

It can not continue like this
 What can I change? Where was the mistake made? At this point I believe it’s fair to say that

my preparation for IronMan 70.3 Marbella has failed

For the past month I was constantly failing on my bike workouts. Such failures pushed my confidence to the lowest point it ever been. I feel insecure and begin developing negative associations with cycling. Before I was excited to see a bike workout on my schedule, now I am not looking forward to it. I approach the bike with fear of physical and emotional pain caused by self judgment and mental fatigue. It’s not a plato, it’s degradation.
There is something very wrong either with my Training Program or Recovery (Nutrition, Sleep, Health) or all together. I keep on hitting the wall over and over again. I slowly kill my passion for sport and self-confidence.
I reached a peak of performance 3-4 weeks ago and now it’s falling down a cliff.

9. 2 Hr Bike + 45 Min Run. April 13, 2019. ~Getting Outside. Hills & Wind~

Why do I train so much?
Where is the FUN?
How are you feeling, how are you performing? Does the training data reflect that? Is there is a correlation between objective and subjective measures?

My hobby has become my second job. Every workout had to be perfectly executed. Pass or Fail. I approached every big workout was with anxiety and worries. Pass or fail, win or loose.

“Analysis paralysis“. I got drawn into obsessing over daily workout metrics. Never look at individual session to measure the level of your improvement. Stop seeking for validation of performance improvement from each daily session. Great performances does not require perfect training! No one has perfect training!

Taper: 12 days
April 14 – 26

10. 1:45 Hr Bike + 30 Min Run. April 20, 2019. ~Carb Loaded. Last Brick~

RACE DAY: APRIL 27

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Bike 3 Hr 15 min. April 6, 2019. ~Bonked… Again~

Hydration

Volume: (Average Sweat Rate 1400 mL x 3 hr ) = 4154 mL
Carbs: 120 g (3% Solution)

Fueling

Formula: 
min 0.25 – max 0.33 grams carbs per hour x body weight (lbs)
Or
min 1 calorie/hour x body weight (lbs)

(0.25 x 150 lb) x 3 hr = 112 g of carbs

Results

Prior to the workout had digestive problems that woke me up at 3:30 am. Had 200g of bananas + cup of coffee and straight on the bike.
First hour and 10 minute interval felt alright. It was challenging, but nothing crazy.

Began second interval at 1 hr 37 minutes. Wasn’t feeling strong.
2 mites later felt that strength is leaving me. I can’t freaking believe it… I am BONKING AGAIN! I can’t believe I am doing the same mistake I did last week. I won’t let it happen, I’ll push through! – I told myself.
My body was not listening anymore.
I reduced the resistance and pushed as long as I could. Nervous system shut down setting me into really dark place. I stopped for 10-15 seconds…
At the end of this 10 min interval my body completely shut down and I stopped sweating (1:46). The skin got dry in instant.

It doesn’t look pretty. This is what it feels like to go into serious training unprepared, under-fueled and sleep deprived. I didn’t learn from my previous mistake and I continue paying the price for it.
Do you want to feel and perform like this next time again?

Completed remaining of the ride to the best of my abilities. Had about 700-800 ml of hydration solution and Quest protein Bar.
Began sweating again only about 1 hour later at 2:35. Too late buddy.

Average Power 219 Watts
Average Speed 43.7 kph
Distance 142 Km
Energy Expanded 2.560 Calories

Total Failure

Pre-weight: 69.2 kg
Post-weight: 69.3 kg
Liquids consumed: 4,154 mL

Body weight loss: 4 kg (6%)
FAIL

Felling totally down. Disappointed, upset… Total failure.

What did I learn?

  • Eat sufficient amount of carbohydrate rich foods a day-two before the ride.
  • Sleep at least 8 hours prior to the ride.

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“Runner’s Trots” or Stop the Leak

You are a competitive athlete. You put a lot of hard work into your training days in, days out, completing every workout as prescribed. You are the workhorse, doing everything necessary to succeed in the sport you are in. You pay close attention to your nutrition and your kitchen has no place for Doritos and donuts. You fuel your machinery with high octane, nutritiously rich foods. While your friends are just getting ready to hit the bars on Friday night, you are in your bed at 8 pm. You sacrifice meeting with your buddies, because you know how important the quality sleep is for recovery. Everything seem to be in check and there is nothing that could possibly stop you on your way to your dream – a podium.
Nothing besides… diarrhea.

Discussing intestinal problems in athletes is not sexy. What’s even less sexy is shitting yourself on the course in front of other people and fellow athletes.

You are not alone

Gastrointestinal problems among athletes are more common than you may think. About 30 to 50% of endurance athletes experience GI problems related to exercise. The numbers go higher with the level of athlete and can reach 70% for elite class performers.

Don’t perceive GI problems as your personal flaw. Instead accept it as the opportunity to learn and grow. Your body is intelligent super-machine and it is trying to communicate with you by bringing up GI symptoms, which only cover the bigger underlying issues. Work with your body, not agains it. Understand that there is not a singe person in the world that will have exact same body as yours. People keep different lifestyles, eat different foods and have personal training regimens. It is nearly impossible to create universal “pill” that will help each and everyone. You must take initiative in your hands and experiment to find the root cause of your GI distress. Realize that you are the one who caused your body behave this way, and you are the one responsible to fix it. However you are not alone and I am here to help you and give you some tips on how to fix what’s leaking.

What causes GI distress?

There are many reasons why your tummy fail on you. We can place them into 3 buckets: mechanical, physiological and nutritional. Let’s break them down:

Mechanics

  • The mechanical causes of GI-problems are either impact-related or are related to posture. Running and jumping movements cause your GI track repetitively bounce, which can contribute to lower GI symptoms such as diarrhea and urgency. More severe case of lower GI issues is gastrointestinal bleeding and is common amongst long distance runners.
  • Posture of your body also have an effect on GI symptoms. Shifting to aero position on a bicycle move your body to more horizontal position and increase pressure on the abdomen, which can trigger upper GI symptoms.

“The frequency is almost twice as high during running than during other endurance sports as cycling or swimming and 1.5-3.0 times higher in the elite athletes than the recreational exercisers“, (Erick Prado de Oliveira, Oct 2009).

Physiology

  • Reduced blood flow and pre-competition anxiety fall under physiological causes of GI-symptoms. During exercise blood flow to the gut can be reduced by as much as 80%. The body redirect blood to the working muscles and compromise gut function to varying degrees.
  • Anxiety and stress mess up your hormone secretion which affects gut movement, compromise absorption rate and cause loose stool.

Nutrition

  • Fiber, fat, protein, and fructose intake increase the risk of developing GI-symptoms. Dehydration with body weight loss greater than 4% may also exacerbate the symptoms.
  • Dehydration. In an extensive literature review using an evidence-based approach, main factor for exercise-induced GI tract symptoms is shown to be dehydration (body weight loss > 4% during or after exercise).
  • Hydration solutions overloaded with carbs can also distress your stomach. Too much is >12 g /100 ml of carbohydrate as well as electrolytes (most sports drinks are around ~6 g/100 ml).

“Association was reported between nutritional practices and GI complaints during a half ironman-distance triathlon with the intake of fiber, fat, protein and concentrated carbohydrate solutions during the triathlon, in particular beverages with very high osmolarity“, (Erick Prado de Oliveira, Sep 28, 2011).

Alright, let’s get practical…

Foods to Avoid before exercise

  • High fibre foods. (use the table below to learn about fiber content of some of the most common foods you need to stay away from)
  • Fermented foods. Wanna know where adrenaline is coming from? Have Kombucha as a pre-workout.
  • Coffee and tea. Hot fluids can stimulate gut movements while caffeine itself can have a laxative effect
  • Fatty and Spicy foods
  • Alcohol
  • Vitamin C in large doses

Are you Overtraining?

Below are the few possible underlying causes of runner’s diarrhea and other intestinal problems which are less obvious than the ones I described above and require your personal assessment.

Let’s dig deeper…

Food digestion is very energy-demanding process and requires your body to dedicate energy resources into it. When you overload your body and it can’t handle the external stress caused by training, it puts less priority on eating and digestion.

When the off-season is over, athletes are usually ramping up volume, intensity and frequency of their workouts. Total load on the body increases, while caloric consumption often stays the same. In addition, the amount of rest and downtime is not properly adjusted to support higher training load. This essentially leads to overtraining.

Overtraining can disrupt your liver’s ability to properly break down nutrients, which can lead to leaky gut syndrome, bouts of diarrhea or constipation.

You haven’t always had GI problems, however at one point in time something worked as a trigger and you started to experience them. Next time you find yourself on a toilet after another “incident”, ask yourself the following questions to narrow down the possible causes:

  • Do you remember when you began having the symptoms?
  • Did your training regimen change lately?
  • Do you experience any of the signs of overtraining?
    • Washed-out feelings (tired, drained, lack of energy)
    • Night sweats
    • Mild leg soreness, general aches, and pains
    • Pain in muscles and joints
    • Drop in performance (decrease in training capacity/intensity)
    • Insomnia
    • Decreased immunity (increased number of colds, and sore throats)
    • Moodiness, irritability, depression, loss of enthusiasm for the sport
    • Decreased appetite
  • Is your caloric consumption adequate to the level of energy you expand? What those calories are mainly coming from (carbs, fat or protein)?
  • Have you introduced any new sports supplements into your diet?

When all else fails

There is no quick fix for your health issues and there is no magic pill that will cure you once and forever. You must search for the answers by asking yourself the questions outlined above, you need to experiment with different foods, especially during pre-workout time period.
However racing season is here and you need something that could at least relieve the symptoms while you search for the root cause. Below is the over counter medicine that might temporarily stop the leakage:

Pepermint TUMS

Taking peppermint TUMS prior to hard efforts to decrease stomach irritation and diarrhea. 
Here’s how TUMS may help with your symptoms:
– Calcium works with the neuromuscular contractions and muscle metabolism
– Carbonate helps to coat the intestinal cells, reducing endotoxin release and the ensuing symptoms
– Peppermint is a homeopathic remedy for GI disturbances.

Imodium

Imodium help stop diarrhea by slowing the movement of food through your intestines. Many runners suggest that by taking a does prior to long runs or races could relieve GI problems. It can also take up to 48 hours to work, so if you’re trying it for the first time on race day there are no guarantees.

Possible side effects of Imodium include:
  • dizziness,
  • drowsiness,
  • tiredness,
  • constipation,
  • stomach pain,
  • skin rash, or itching.

Again, it should be considered as an option… not a solution. Figure out the cause, don’t mask it.

Lomotil

Lomotil (diphenoxylate and atropine) is alternative medicine to imodium and both are antidiarrheal medications used to treat diarrhea.

Common side effects of Lomotil include:

  • drowsiness,
  • dizziness,
  • headache,
  • tiredness,
  • restlessness,
  • blurred vision,
  • dry mouth,
  • nausea,
  • vomiting,
  • upset stomach,
  • loss of appetite,
  • skin rash, or
    itching.

SuperStarch

“Super Starch” mixes are used by many endurance athletes to fuel their workouts. Unlike sports gels and high GI sugary solutions offered on the course, super starch mixes don’t overload the system with a high GI sugar shock, which may prevent some gastro intestinal problems. If you tried eating real food of all kinds, various different gels (including all natural ones) and still have GI issues, you might want to try super starch mixes.

Summary

  • GI problems should not be perceived as personal flaw. Instead they should be used as the opportunity to learn and grow.
  • Mechanics, physiology and inadequate nutrition are main contributors to GI distress.
  • Reducing consumption or avoiding certain foods prior to exercise can help reduce or eliminate symptoms.
  • Overtraining can be the root cause of gastrointestinal problems.
  • There are over counter medications that can help reduce GI distress symptoms.

References:

  1. How much fiber is found in common foods? (2018, November 17). Retrieved April 3, 2019, from https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/high-fiber-foods/art-20050948
  2. Clark, N. (2012). Recognizing and managing exercise-associated diarrhea. ACSM’s Health and Fitness Journal, 16(3): 22-26.
  3. Masters Athlete. (2012, November 30). Retrieved April 4, 2019, from http://www.mastersathlete.com.au/2012/11/diarrhea-in-athletes-stopping-the-runs/
  4. Lomotil vs. Imodium Treatment for Diarrhea: Differences & Side Effects. (n.d.). Retrieved April 4, 2019, from https://www.rxlist.com/lomotil_vs_imodium/drugs-condition.htm
  5. Oliveira, E., De. (2009, September). The impact of physical exercise on the gastrointestinal tract. [Scholarly project]. Retrieved April 5, 2019, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19535976
  6. De Oliveira, E. P., & Burini, R. C. (2011, September 28). Food-dependent, exercise-induced gastrointestinal distress. Retrieved April 5, 2019, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3190328/
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Post-Exercise Fueling

The race is over. You’ve given all you had. You pushed your body to the limit. What’s next?

Recovery
Proper post-exercise nutrition as much important as the two previous stages pre- and during- exercise fueling. Show your body appreciation and give it exactly what it needs and deserves for the work it’ve done.
Learn about how to maximize your recovery through the lenses of sports nutrition.

First 30 minutes after the exercise stops are extremely important in recovery. There are five main goals we are trying to accomplish during this stage:

Replace expanded Carbohydrate Stores

Take in carbohydrates that are high on GI: potatoes, rice and grains are great choices.
Take in 1/2 – 3/4 body weight in grams of carbs within 30 minutes of exercise (ex: 150 lbs = 75 – 112 grams).
Liquid form is preferred.

Rehydrate

Take in 500 ml of liquid for every pound lost during exercise.

Provide Amino Acids

After carbohydrate stores get depleted in the working muscles, the body begins to break down protein structures within the muscle cells, cannibalising itself.
Protein, particularly BCAA should be taken in at a carb-to-protein ratio of about 4:1 or 5:1.
Best sources are Egg or Whey Protein (easiest to absorb).

Begin Replacing Electrolytes

 Electrolytes are critical for muscle contraction and relaxation.
Drinking juice or eating fruit will easily replace nearly all of the electrolytes, with the except of sodium.

Reduce the Acidity of Body Fluids

During exercise, body fluids trend increasingly towards acidity.
Fruits & vegetables have a net alkaline-enhancing effect (reduce acidity).

Below is the table of GL (glycemic load) and GI (glycemic index) of alkaline-enhancing foods:

(L. Cordain & J. Friel, 2012, p. 63)

Meal Examples

During this stage the emphasis is still primarily on the intake of solid carbs and proteins.
See the alkaline-enhancing foods table above to pick net-alkaline starchy vegetables with high GI that you might enjoy.

Good choices for carbs and proteins are:

CARBOHYDRATES
Potatoes, Sweet potatoes, Yams and Dried Fruits

PROTEIN
Fish, Shellfish, Egg whites and Turkey Breast

The protein intake is recommended within the same ratio 4:1 or 5:1 with carbohydrates.

The most common mistake here is to keep eating a high GI diet. Right after the exercise your main focus was on carbohydrates, and specifically the ones that are high on GI. Those foods are great for refueling your glycogen tanks, however they don’t bring much of nutrients. Now you need to shift you focus to eating more nutrient-dense foods, filling your body with minerals and vitamins. The more you demand from your body, the more important it becomes.

The optimal food choices here are:

Fruits
Any fruit is good so pick and choose whichever you prefer

Vegetables
Vibrant color ones: red, yellow, green and orange.
Stay away from white colored veggies

Nuts, Seeds and Berries
Macadamia nuts and walnuts are rich in omega-3.
Avoid beans and peanuts

Lean Protein from Animal Sources 
Rich in BCAA and essential amino acids:
Game animal and Free-ranging animal meats, Ocean or Stream-caught Fish & Shellfish, Turkey breast
High in Omega-3:
Cold-water Fish, Beef Liver, Eggs enriched with omega-3

Omega-3 Supplements
Fish or Flaxseed Oil

The five MAIN GOALS for this stage:

Maintain Glycogen Stores

Assuming you’ve done a good job eating enough of carbohydrates from good sources in the previous hours, less carbs are required to maintain your glycogen stores.
To maintain, aim for low GL fruits and vegetables.

Maintain a healthy pH

Fruits and vegetables reduce blood acidity protecting your muscles and bones from losing nitrogen and calcium.

Reduce Inflammation

Omega-3 have been shown to reduce inflammation.
The ratio between omega-6 to omega-3 should be approximately 2:1

Rebuild muscles

To prevent your body from cannibalizing itself in attempt to repair damaged muscle tissue, it requires optimal amount of branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) and essential amino acids.

Optimize body weight

The lower your body mass, the less to carry. Maintaining low body fat percentage, in most endurance sports can lead to improved performance.

Make It A Habit

Create a non-negotiable habit of fueling your workouts. You will notice your energy balance throughout the day is enhanced, training and racing performance improves, it will get easier to manage body composition and you will experience fewer cravings for foods later in the day, you try to avoid. 

Last Tip: Sleep Recovery & Protein

If your training load is heavy, you struggle to sleep, or simply want to maximize recovery and minimize stress, then begin and end your days with protein.

20 grams of protein before bed
20 grams of protein when you first wake up

Protein suppresses the negative effect of cortisol (stress hormone) and helps you to switch from fight-or-flight response to rest-n-digest.

References:

The Paleo Diet for Athletes: the Ancient Nutritional Formula for Peak Athletic Performance, by Loren Cordain and Joe Friel, Rodale, 2012, p. 63.

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