– How you been my friend? Haven’t heard from you for a while! – Doing great, better than excellent? That’s Awesome! Glad to hear. – What you been up to? Wow, you achieved so much. You accomplished a lot! Congratulations!
You try so hard to sound happy. Don’t, or you will start shooting rainbows out of your ass. I don’t believe you. I know you too well to recognize the bullshit you try to feed me with. I see a tired person in front of me. Dark circles around your eyes tell the truth. Shaky voice and hectic body language proves the opposite. You are tired, you are exhausted… You desperately need some rest.
You learned how to push yourself pretty hard. You are the overachiever – “A type”. You mastered the skill of setting a goal and going after it. You are self-motivated, disciplined and hardworking. That’s all great, but there is no balance to it. All your achievements come with tax. What is your tax? Sleep deprivation? Poor blood works? Constant hunger and overeating? Anxiety? Moodiness? Loneliness? Muscle pain and constant soreness? Or maybe even suicidal thought from time to time? Tell the truth, let it out. What does it cost to live your lifestyle?
You need to rest. You have to take a break.
Sit down and listen to a little story about magical place – a Place of Power.
There is a place in Canada that has tremendous healing power. It is located in Huntsville – a small town, about 2.5 hours driving north from Toronto. This place is unique with its nature and people.
Two young birds live side by side in Muskoka woods. Megan and Sequoia live off-the-grid in a tiny cabin, right by Muskoka River, on the edge with Heaven.
Ask Sequoia about his plants. Feel the passion person has to his green friends. Feel the bright energy he projects out of his blue eyes when holding his tiny cactus. Don’t interrupt and listen. He thinks of himself as introverted person, but I promise, you never met more extraverted introvert before. He keeps a baseball bat in the forest washroom in case of bears. He own his second world war survival kit in case of zombie apocalypse. He is thoughtful and takes a great care of his partner – Meagan.
Let Megan be your guide into the world of Yoga and meditation. Don’t try to understand or rationalize the things she tells you, but sit back and let her explode your mind. A wise and strong woman lives in tiny body of hers.
Both are rare and unique species among human beings. Open minded, kind and bright people. Vegetarian, they will teach you simple meal recipes that not only taste great, but make you seriously consider going plant based eating.
Wake up in the morning and instead of checking your phone, go check the river. Celebrate new day by meeting sunrise at the beach. Take off you clothes and jump into the river from the tree.
Breathe in!
So many things to do here So much to explore
CYCLING
RUNNING
A State of the Art Running Track
SWIMMING
HIKING
CANOEING
This is the place where not only your mind finally gets rested, but also your body releases tension and stress that it held for so long. Your mind slow down, yous heart slows down:
Only one night of deep sleep in the tiny house will significantly drop your resting heart rate (RHR), and switch your body from sympathetic to parasympathetic mode.
Instead of staying at hotel or Airbnb, me and my brother Stepan, who is visiting me from Ukraine, decided we will more enjoy camping. The tent was set up at the Arrowhead Campground, which is about 15 minutes driving from the race venue. This is a huge campground and the campsites are not cheap. One night stay will cost you at minimum of CAD$48.31. Rather than price, we really liked the park. It’s clean, quiet and has toilets with showers. Not to mention a beautiful lake right in the middle of it.
A day before began from a nice and easy OWS in Arrowhead Lake. The water in lake is dark, but really warm. Had a small snack and went to the race venue to register for the race, before it got too crowded. The race expo was really small fit perfectly into the ice skating rink, leaving a plenty of unused space. It was really quiet and felt as I’m at a small town race. Right after registering went to execute my “mini brick“:
Checked in my bike and went back to the campground to prepare for the race and go to bed early. Stepan is putting up the tent while I stress myself out going through the packing list over and over again.
3:30 am wake up. Quick shower and breakfast at McDonalds parking lot on a way to the race venue.
Now, an hour before the start, T1 looks way busier than a day before. All checked in. Smile! Final photo before the start.
SWIM 38:13
Literally 3 minutes before my wave start I realized I put the wetsuit on the wrong way. I couldn’t believe… Take it off and put it back on.
Unlike all previous races, this one was not a “rolling start”. We proceeded to the lake and were guided towards the red buoy in the middle of the lake…I got confused. We swam up to it and had to float in water for like 3-5 minutes until we were given a command to start.
There was a lot of wrestling in water. I got kicked in head few times pretty hard and about 100-200 meters before the finish someone’s arm hit me in a head and kicked my goggles off. Nice! Swam the remaining distance with my eyes closed. I’m glad it didn’t happen in the middle of the swim, or worse – at the start.
BEWARE OF CURRENT!
Below are few tips for you to keep in mind when swimming through the Fairy Lake. I got the following suggestions from the guy who lived over 20 years right by the lake, where the course goes through. He also raced this race a few times himself and is well aware of direction of the current.
After the second left turn, unlike most of the people, stick to the right hand side and continue swimming close to the shore all the way to the finish (current is stronger on the middle & the opposite side). Right by the finish, don’t cross the lake until it’s about 9 -10 hours on a left from you. Turn left to cross the lake and in a few strokes you will be exiting the water.
Below is the swim course map with directions I marked with red arrows.
Had a pretty fast transition, only 3 minutes. No help from volunteers.
Lessons Learned:
Make sure you put the wetsuit the right way.
If swimming in lake, beware of current.
Practice swimming without goggles, simulating them being kicked off.
BIKE 2:54:16
Did not feel strong at all. Right on the beginning, about 10 km, a deer:cyclist accident happened. The guy was laying on the side of the road with his bike beside him. Another similar accident happened around 12 km mark.
BEWARE OF ROAD CROSSING ANIMALS!
30 minutes into the ride I dropped my chain and had to stop to put it back. Grateful it didn’t get stuck in the wheel and didn’t cause more damage. Had to make another stop to use the restroom. I think I lost about 2-3 minutes of precious time.
A lot of rolling hills. A bit windy on the way there, but not much on the way back. Overall it is a fast course. Having a better (tri) bike would definitely help me shave off few minutes.
Overall I am happy with my performance on the bike. Also had a pretty fast transition, under 2 minutes.
Lessons Learned
Beware of animals crossing the road
Make sure the bike is perfectly tuned prior to the race
Probably worth looking into investing in a proper bicycle
RUN 1:42:03 ~Epic Finish~
First 30 minutes felt like crap 💩. Well that’s the way it always been for me, both in training and racing. “Embrace the suck and give it some time Sasha!” Spasms, tension and muscle pain traveled starting from my pancreas then to the liver and down to the legs.
“Breath deeply. You need to release the spasms before the body completely shuts down the absorption of any foods you are planning to consume. “
3-5 minutes of deep belly breathing, in through the nose and out through the mouth did the trick. Pancreas and liver spasms released, allowing me to continue consuming sugars for fuel ⛽️.
The course was great! We started and finished in Huntsville downtown. A lot of people were supporting athletes along the run course. A little boy ran a garden hose from his house down to where we were running and sprayed the athletes with a cold water.
Approximately 35 minutes into the run, I began feeling better. FINALLY!
I increased the pace and tried to clear my mind from any thoughts that were taking up my mental energy. I put all my focus on technique.
“Imagine your knee cups as a headlights of the car. Chin tucked in. Don’t run like you have a cactus up in your bum, stand tall and strong. Release the tension off your shoulders, move them down. Don’t swing your hands too much, keep them close to your torso. Find a rhythm in your breath. Breathe deeply: a long exhale and fast big inhale.”
Racing in Hawaii, Kona 70.3, specifically the running part though me a good painful lesson. I learned how painful it could be to run with the injury and how much it can actually slow me down. I learned the difference between the muscle pain and the injury pain. You can not manage the pain coming from the injured body part and it only getting worse as you go.
I was really hoping that my knee pain will not come back during this race allowing me to run up to my potential.
After the turnaround I continued feeling strong. No injuries, no pain that can slow me down. Everything hurts, but it’s a muscle pain, know the difference.
I slowly caught up with the guy in a blue shirt that passed me like a rocket 🚀 when I was struggling on the beginning. I remembered him because he had a number 53 written down on his ankle. Triathletes know what that number means – the age.
I caught up with him and expressed how impressed I was by his pace at the age of 53. We ran side by side, averaging the pace of 4:14 /km while keeping the conversation. His name is Shean and he’ve been running his entire life.
“There is a lady running upfront… She’s 52 and she is about to win her age group. I need to catch up with her.”, Shean told me.
5 km until the finish:
Aid station. Two water cups, one on myself, another in myself. Shean slowed down a bid, and felt behind. I increased my pace and continued running solo.
The pain was real, but it was a muscle pain. I pushed really hard and gave it all.
Right by the finish line, as I stepped down on the red carpet, Shean showed up in my peripheral view. He really surprised me with his appearance and he was pushing really hard, trying pass me. Suddenly a finisher’s black stripe got pulled up at the finish line and the crowd went ballistic. I had no idea what was happening and the only thing I knew is that I needed to cross that finish line first.
I did it!
The feelings I experienced were so strong so I will remember them forever. I got so much joy and pure sense of happiness. I felt so much respect to Shean and all the athletes around. I experiences a sense of comradery and athletic fellowship. Wow! What a finish, what a race!
After we both caught our breaths, Shean said that he’ve been chasing me all the way to the finish and thanked me for pushing him so hard. Thank you too Sean! This is what the competition should be like!
Lessons Learned
All the hard trainings, pains and tears were well worth that short burst of emotions while crossing the finish line FIRST
I learned what the healthy competition should be like and I experienced a pure sense of athletic fellowship
I discovered few new shades of pain and pushed my body harder than I did before
NUTRITION
Luckily I didn’t overeat so bad the night before, as I did the previous times. Still should’ve eaten less to get a good night rest.
The race had great on-course nutrition: Clif Bars, Gatorade and RedBull. Even with such support, still pack the nutrition products you’re used to and have tried already in training. This is what I did.
Race Morning
Planned to consume throughout the race
Consumed throughout the race
Lessons Learned
Planned and actually consumed numbers were pretty close. Good job here
Gatorade proved once again to work well for me. Don’t shy away from it during racing
Coke gives me liver spasms. That’s a no-no, unless I’m 5 km or less to the finish.
Deep belly breathing help relieve the liver and pancreas spasms
Don’t overeat before going to bed the night before
RESULTS
Set a new PR by beating 70.3 Kona by 22 minutes
Repetition is mother of learning!
REPEAT AFTER ME:
You are doing triathlons because YOU CHOSE TO, not because you have to. Don’t forget that!
You do it FOR YOURSELF, no one gives a f*ck. Don’t forget that!
NO ONE FORCES you to train every damn day. No one, besides your ego or whatever motivation you have.
You can quit anytime you want. No one gives a fuck!
It’s your life, it’s your decisions. Don’t forget that!
Marbella race completely destroyed my expectations, flipped everything upside down. For about 3 weeks after the race I suffered from depressing thoughts and emotions. I got locked up in my head. I almost dropped out of sport of triathlon…
It was dark and I searched for help at different places. I was looking for someone to help me to stop my mental masturbation and make a sense of my thoughts and emotions.
My swimming and triathlon coaches, Bruce and Renee, my father – were able to find the right words and grounded me and kept me away from mistakenly turning my back on the sport. Thank you! I’m am grateful for you.
You can only lead the horse to the water, but you can’t force him drink. Still, all the mental work needed to be done. I had to re-evaluate and reassess the mindset I bring into the training and racing.
What role does the sport play in my life? What function does it have? Whom am I competing against? How do I see myself as an athlete, but more importantly who the Sasha is as a person? How do I evaluate my athletic performance? What expectations do I have for my body and how are they linked to the feeling of self worth?
I had to destroy and rebuild myself as an athlete. I bring a different mindset to this race, my expectations are different.
My goals for this race were:
SWIM: under 30 minutes BIKE: no specific goal here. Just give it all and see how it goes RUN: 1/2 marathon under 1:40 hr
RACE EXPO
NUTRITION
3 day before the race, starting Wednesday, I increased my carbohydrate consumption from typical 300g/day to 300g+. Wasn’t tracking anything so it’s hard to say what the actual amount was.
I give preference to low glycemic, complex carbs. I like to have my foods simple and I get most of my carbs from:
Oatmeal
Brown rice
Sweet potatoes
Previously, for Ironman Marbella, I was carb loading with solely with oatmeal. It’s a great option, however due to the high fiber it’s not the best option for a day or two prior the race. This time I am loading with brown rice. I am hoping that low fiber content will make it easier on my GI and prevent digestion issues on the course.
A day before, on Friday afternoon suddenly felt really bad hunger. Ate a lot of rice, oatmeal and chicken.
Opening a can of peanut butter was a mistake. After I got a taste of it, I literally lost control… I ate the entire jar myself. (About 3000 Calories). I wasn’t tracking anything, however my curiosity took over and I threw in some numbers into MyFitnessPall to guesstimate the amount ate.
This is almost triple the amount of food I usually eat. Damn, I’m so full! I hope this extreme caloric excess will provide by body with the energy to unleash on the course tomorrow. Stopped eating at 6 pm, went on a 30-40 minute walk around the block. Planning to wake up at 4 am, which will give my body about 10 hours to digest all the peanut butter I ate 😅 I hope I won’t feel this full tomorrow morning.
RACE MORNING
Did not sleep well 😔 Had night sweats and woke up to the restroom 3-4 times. My usual resting heart rate went up from 40-41 to 55 bpm. Really bAD headache upon waking up.
Breakfast: Sweet potato (~300g) Oatmeal 50g 4 tbsp of peanut butter 1 tbsp of honey Banana Coffee
RACE VENUE: T1
T1 transition opened up from 5-6:15 am. I arrived at 5:30am and faced a huge line from cars. We were not moving at all. I heard one of volunteers saying that they’re already full and there are no parking spots left. Well, great! People were leaving their cars everywhere, on the side of the road, on the hills, anywhere they could find a spot. I was not an exception and left my car on the side on the road. I had 20 minutes left until transition is closed.
Clean transition. This means that you can not leave anything on the ground. All your bike gear has to be off the ground.
Walking down the isles of bikes with my wetsuit hanging over my shoulder I’ve been getting weird looks from other athletes. I a few minutes I realized why. My bike rack neighbor, when saw the suit on the ground, said: “Nice wetsuit, man! Is it legal to swim in suit?”
This is when I realized that NO ONE had a wetsuit , besides me 😆. Went back to the car to drop it off.
I was very disorganized. I couldn’t focus, I could think straight. I felt I was in some sort of mental fog 🌫 On top op it, since waking up this morning I had a REALLY BAD HEADACHE.
SWIM [00:43:42]
slow but enjoyable
Idiot brought a wetsuit.
My wave, 25-29 was starting 25 minutes after the official start. First, they let older folks get wet and slowly moved downtown to the younger athletes. Each wave was separated by one minute time.
10 minutes before the start had a half of Cliff Energy Gel.
Despite headache, felt ok through the swim. It was not as crazy as Marbella start and I found out that I was competing with only 42 athletes, my age group.
It was hard to sight. Because of waves and small size buyees. Another thing was the sun. Being a left side breather I was constantly blinded by the sun, zigzagging throughout the course.
There were a lot of space between athletes. Because of wise separation between age groupers, there were enough space for everyone to swim at the comfortable pace without getting kicked in the head or pulled by the feet.
The swim course was absolutely beautiful. The water was so crystal clear, that you could even the tiniest fish swinging around the corals on the bottom. Turtles foot steps could be seen on the white sand. I almost wanted to slow down, just to watch the wildlife.
The last turn, straight to the finish line, sun was hitting right in the face. Couldn’t see anything, so I was jut following other folks.
Exiting the water, you’ve got to run up the hill to T1. It was about 2 minutes run that would bring your HR up.
Approaching the bike, I had a volunteer by my side offering to hold transition bag and help to lift the bike. The young kid was really nice.
Headache is getting worse.
BIKE [02:50:27]
challenging but fast
At the *mandatory pre-race meeting, organizers made a big emphasis on drafting rules and penalties. At least 6 meters between front wheels. Two penalty tents on the course. Yellow card – 30 seconds, blue card – 60 seconds if I recall it correctly.
T1 was quick. No need to take the wetsuit off, just put your shoes, helmet, sunglasses on and fill your pockets with nutrition, previously prepared.
The Course:
First 20 km flew by fast. It was a bit windy here and there, but nothing crazy. Approaching the hill is when the wind started to pick up. The higher we went, the stronger the wind blew. About 10 km to the top of this monster hill the wind was BRUTAL. Rocks and sand flew into my face. Along the route I’ve seen quite a few flats and respectively frustrated athletes. Unfortunately you can not prevent it, but you can prepare. “Every hill has a downhill”, I kept repeating in my mind and oddly enough this hill was not an exception. Halfway through the course, on top of the hill you turn around, grab your G2 and fly downhill. I felt I could use a higher gear ⚙️ but my cassette did not carry any. With gravity and wind working for you, not against, second part of the ride was definitely more fun and enjoyable.
Nutrition: Aid stations were offering Gatorade Endurance at each tent, so I planned to rely solely on it. Brought only one bottle of electrolyte solution, leaving the second bottle cage empty for G2. Also only aid station#3 had GI gels.
Planned to consume & Actually consumed:
Pretty close to what was planned. Sugar in Gatorade accounted for the rest. Also G2 endurance tastes good. I loved it.
Headache continued chasing me through the entire bike leg and followed into the run. I could feel the veins pumping on the sides of my head.
Quick Tip: in hot climates like this, solid foods most likely will melt. If you don’t want to drink your protein bar, pack gels or liquid sources instead.
RUN [01:58:05]
hot and painful
REALLY-REALLY HOT🥵 is the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about the run part. Right the second I dismounted off the bike, sharp pain 9/10 hit me behind the left knee. I could not even walk…
“The race is over!”, flew through my mind. Somehow I limped up to my running bag and put on my gear. Again, volunteers were really helpful and helped me with my bike. Thank you!
First 5 km were painful to even step on the leg. However I felt a little bit better 30-40 minutes into the run and slightly picked up the pace.
Run Course:
We were running along the golf course, often on the grass. Wild goats were starring at people from the side of the road. They were more confused than us, having no idea what was going on.
Two loops with 7 aid stations on each. Gatorade, water, coke and ice. In addition there were ice sponges, GU gels, oranges and bananas. Very well organized and setup.
Planned & Consumed through the run:
Twice as much as planned.
15 km into the run, really fast and sharp pain hit my knee again 8/10. Ever since it never went away and rapidly increased to the point where I could not resist it anymore… I suffered each step I took. However I did not walk. I was slow, really slow, BUT I did not walk! and it took a lot.
Dropped my race belt, which I later lost. I also found it much more painful to run downhills rather than uphills.
Suffering was real, especially for the last 5 km.
“It’s all good mental training Sasha!!!”, I keep repeating in my head. My mind crossed the finish line, not the body.
Total consumed through the race:
According to carb consumption formula (0.33 x body weight (150 lbs)) x 5 hr 40 min = 277 grams of carbs were required to cover energy expenditures.
Looks like I’ve done a pretty good job with my fueling and it’s almost gram to gram precisely close to what formula suggests.
RACE RESULTS
LESSONS LEARNED
I tend to binge eat the night before race. I don’t repeat such behavior during regular days. Could be due to stress and anxiety, could be out of fear of coming into the race under fueled and bonking, could be because of deeper psychological issues I am not aware of.
Overeating before bed will not fuel up your glycogen stores, but will compromise your night sleep. You will wake up exhausted and feeling like crap.
Do your homework and carefully research on race rules, requirements and regulations. Failing to do good research made me bring the wetsuit into the event where it was not permitted.
Rice and sweet potatoes are better alternatives to oatmeal for pre-race meal. Consuming low-fibrous foods reduce the chance of GI distress during the race.
Gatorade Endurance G2 is a great hydration tool. If possible, use it in the next race or hard training.
Some gels can cause your liver to spasm. Don’t experiment with unfamiliar fuel on the course. If got a spasm, deep balled breathing: in through the nose, out through the mouth.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
Absolutely gorgeous race course!
This is definitely the race to remember and experience worth all the money I payed.
I did not perform as I wanted to. I suffered a lot.
I trained my mind. I experienced 50 shades of pain and will be more appreciative of pain free body.
I enjoyed the race!
I’ve been there, I’ve seen the fish and felt the warm water on my skin. I smelled the melting road and enjoyed the cool breeze of salty air on my sweaty face.
I put my all, physical and mental. It’s all that matters.
Special thanks to Volunteers along the course! You guys were EXTREMELY NICE AND HELPFUL! You were one of the highlights of my experience.
REPEAT AFTER ME:
You are doing triathlons because YOU CHOSE TO, not because you have to. Don’t forget that!
You do it FOR YOURSELF, no one gives a f*ck. Don’t forget that!
NO ONE FORCES you to train every damn day. No one, besides your ego or whatever motivation you have.
You can quit anytime you want. No one gives a fuck!
It’s your life, it’s your decisions. Don’t forget that!
Since the Paris marathon which I did on January 6th this year I decided to focus entirely on triathlons. Despite my coach’s concerns in regards to racing frequency, I set myself ambitious goal to do 5 IRONMAN Races this year. Four of them are 70.3 and one full distance, to close the season.
4 months I’ve been training specifically for the first race of the season – IRONMAN 70.3 Marbella. It’s also my very first IRONMAN Race.
NUTRITION
Pre race 1-2 days:
This crazy trip didn’t allow me properly eat prior to the race. However I am really happy that I was thoughtful enough to bring three lunch boxes with food. No problems with security checks at the airports. Just make sure there is no meat and it’s secure in transparent container.
Night before the race I went nuts and really overate going to bed stuffed like a pig. The reason of such overeating is partially due to my exhaustion from the trip. It was really, really stressful and I used the food to comfort myself. Guilty of that.
I had a lot of oatmeal (250-300g) + 1/2 cantaloupe +3 bananas + 2 sweet potatoes. 1 scoop of protein and some BCAAs to sprinkle onto the oats. Listening to my friend’s suggestion, I totally eliminated any sort of meat or fish.
Oatmeal before the race is a good choice. You can find it at any grocery store around the world. I actually like the way it tastes. It doesn’t spike your blood sugar; slow burning carbs. It fuels you with glycogen and does not cause diarrhea or any GI problems. The only issue I see with it is that because of high fiber concentration it takes a while to leave the body. Don’t eat too much of it right before the race or exercise.
Try not to overeat, especially before the bed, especially the night before the race.
Have a gel 10-15 minutes before the swim.
Take at least 2-3 lunch boxes with you on a trip. Plane and airport foods are horrible. You will thank yourself later.
Don’t leave your nutrition in transition area, you will have access to it in the morning. You can then throw all extra stuff into transition bags and setup bike water bottles.
Coke might cause the liver to spasm. Drink, but be careful. Not a bad choice for the last 5 km.
SWIM
15 Minutes before the swim found 1 gel laying on the sand. Ate it =)
Overall pretty happy with the swim.
Right from the beginning felt strong, however remembered Renee’s guidelines and pulled myself back from going too hard.
The crowd was crazy. Got hit in the head 3-4 times. Some people were literally pulling me back by the ankles. Drank a bit of salty water, however didn’t panic and stayed calm throughout the entire swim. Didn’t sight at all on the beginning, however began to close to the end. The ocean was cold, so my feet almost cramped 2-3 times… reduced kicking, focused more on a stroke. I found it to be really hard to keep good technique in such crazy environment.
Came out of water feeling strong. Got pleasantly surprised with the time. No dizziness or fatigue.
Lessons Learned:
Don’t swim in the middle, stick to one of the outer sides.
Blue Nike googles are good, don’t switch them. Wear them under the swim cap.
Have a gel 10-15 minutes before.
Don’t underestimate your swim time and instead of 40, go into 30 minutes swim wave.
If the water is cold – less kicking, so you don’t cramp.
BIKE
The course was absolutely amazing. Views from the top are outstanding.
A lot of climbing. A LOT. In addition, strong head facing and side winds made the bike part a real challenge.
Dropped one of my water bottles right on the beginning. I was surprised of myself that didn’t get upset or mad and simply let it go a second later. In fact, loosing a bottle was not such a bad thing. Isotonic drinks at the aid stations were pretty good and I had an empty bottle holder to carry them in. Also they didn’t taste like they had any calories in them.
Found myself being pretty good climbing the hills. I was rarely passed while going up, however I felt like I could’ve used a higher gear on the downhills and flat segments. Fighting the hills I was constantly passing guys on fancy aero bikes, catching their eyes on me. However when the downhill time came they would fly by, leaving me in th dust.
I didn’t eat as much as planned, however it didn’t affect the performance. I stopped once just to pee. I also saw some guys pee on a bike, right in front of me. Because of the winds urine would fly right on the people behind. Disgusting.
Last 20 km were really fast, all downhill. Trying to be as aero as possible I was even passing folks of carbon bikes. Strong side winds and sharp turns made it pretty dangerous to ride at such high speeds. By the end of the ride I felt pretty fatigued, however not too much.
Lessons Learned:
Expensive, carbon/aero bikes are worthless on a hilly course. Hold on to buying a new bike.
Take only one bottle on the bike. Keep the room for on course hydration.
Adjust the speeds on your bike so you can switch the highest gear.
Wear the race belt right away, underneath the wetsuit. Less hustle putting it on while transitioning into the run.
Bike position felt good. No need to change anything.
RUN
Right off the bike felt a bit dizzy.
First 5-7 km were a struggle. Wasn’t feeling strong and the distance ahead of me set the fascination in my mind. I did not feel like I could do it.
I was surprised that I didn’t have any GI problems up until half way through. Even when I did stop to use the bathroom, it wasn’t bad. It’s just the amount of food I ate days prior. Right after the bathroom use, the second breath opened up. I felt stronger and wasn’t struggling that much anymore. In fact 30-40 minutes into the run is when I began feeling better. Remaining half of the run I got to truly enjoy it. Loved it! Towards the end had some liver spasms, but nothing too painful.
Increased my pace for the last 4-5 km. Finished strong.
The course along the beach was fantastic. It was really, really cool and I got a lot of joy running through it.
Lessons Learned:
Right off the bike you might feel dizzy. That’s normal.
First 30-40 minutes you will feel like crap. Push through, you will feel better as the time goes on. Focus on technique and pace. Visualize the finish and appreciate a chance to do what you do and to be where you are.
RESULTS
Update (May 13):
I’ve had some time to think and this are the thoughts & conclusions I came up with…
Is it so much about the race and accomplishment or about the experience? Is it about the medal 🏅 or the person you’ve become to get the medal?
It’s about the lifestyle you’ve created to achieve your goal.
Training for triathlon makes me better not just in one but three spots: swimming, running and cycling. What other sport develops the athletes so broadly? How about the mental training I get during the process? How about invaluable lessons I learn from this sport that applicable to my work, business, life and relationships? Only so many people gained access to this knowledge and you can connect with them through the sport.
I know I won’t be doing triathlons for the rest of my life. However, when I decide no longer continue with the sport I will have a solid foundation of endurance, strength and health to bring into another pursuits I will choose to follow in future. Just think of all the adventures you can go on with your skills and fitness. You can follow a swimming path, and challenge yourself to do a cross lakes swimming or something that makes you excited.
You can go on multi days or weeks of ultra endurance running trough the beautiful forests of Canada or USA. You’ve got cycling fitness that will allow you to become professional cyclist or go on a crazy adventurous cycling trip across the state or country.
Essentially, triathlon opened up a lot of doors and opportunities for me. It give me options to choose from.
You are doing triathlons because YOU CHOSE TO, not because you have to. Don’t forget that.
No one forces you to train every damn day. No one, besides your ego or whatever motivation you have. You do it because you chose to do it.
You can quit anytime you want. No one gives a fuck!
It’s your life, it’s your decisions. Don’t forget that!
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 commonmistake 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.
Energy expenditure is extremely high in endurance sports and a lot of athletes are failing to adequately fuel their bodies. Under-eating is commonly seen among endurance athletes.
Hydration During Exercise
Hydration is a complex topic and deserves a special attention. Hydration before, during and after exercise is discussed in the post that can be accessed here: Performance Oriented Hydration Guidelines for Athletes. If you haven’t read it yet, I highly suggest you do so, before we move on.
To refresh your memory, the goal of hydration is not to completely stop your body from loosing fluids, but to prevent it from loosing more than a 2% in body weight from fluid loss.
Drink to thirst! Quite simple. BUT make sure you don’t over drink. There is such a nasty thing called hyponatremia (low sodium concentration in the body fluids). Over drinking during exercise can cause dilution of sodium which eventually leads to health problems and even death. Utilizing sodium in your hydration solution helps to maintain blood plasma volume and reduce the risk of over-hydration.
For high intensity and workouts longer than 60 minutes we begin to utilize hydration solutions or sports drinks. When choosing a isotonic drink for your workout aim for the following carbohydrate & electrolyte concentration:
Carbohydrates: 4% – 8%. To calculate it, divide the grams of carbs (sugar) per serving size by the volume of the serving size (in mL), then multiply by 100 . So let’s say you want to fill your bicycle flask of 500 mL with a 6% solution we will need 30 grams of carbs (sugars).
Electrolytes. Formula: 0.5-0.7 grams of sodium per 1 liter (34 oz) of water. So in the same 500 mL cycling water bottle you will need to add 250-350 milligrams of sodium.
Fat or Carbohydrate 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 just finish the race.
90 to 120 minutes are the short exercises and include sprint distance triathlons, time trials, some mountain bike races, 5-K, 10-K etc. What sets such events from longer-distance races is the high intensity.
The main focus is on hydration and the greatest nutritional need is WATER. Assuming adequate nutrition in the days and hours before the race, the athletes body is well prepared with glycogen stores. Taking in solid foods not necessary.
During prolonged or high-intensity physical activities, blood flows out of the least important organs, such as gut to supply your muscles and skin for optimal performance. It impairs your gut’s ability to process and absorb the foods, therefore carbohydrates at this duration is best in a liquid form. Solid foods are better tolerated at very low intensities or exercising in cold-weather.
Don’t sacrifice your health and performance training in a low-carb states during competitive seasons or when the training load is high. Training in such way will reduce your body’s ability to utilize it’s preferred source of fuel (carbohydrates) for energy, which leads to the series of health issues: hormonal disturbances (low testosterone in men), injuries, sickness, sleep disorders, burnouts, mood swings (moodiness). Don’t work AGAINST your body, but work WITH it. Fuel appropriately and it will pay you back with those fitness gains you are chasing for.
The main focus is to maintain adequate glycogen levels in muscles and liver to delay fatigue and prevent “bonking“. Some research shows that including small amounts of protein may be beneficial in improving performance during endurance events. Protein requires additional energy to break down in your gut therefore it can be too much of a load on your digestion system, causing diarrhea and nausea. Test it on yourself!
Inadequate carbohydrate fueling during high-intensity and prolonged exercise can result in muscle wasting.
High glycemic index drinks with much greater maltodextrin or glucose than fructose are preferred. Caffeinated sports drinks or gels has been shown to enhance the utilization of the glucose in sports drinks. Be careful, too much coffee may cause you shit your pant, when intensity get’s higher. Distribute 200-300 calories per hour in equal chunks, ideally from liquid sources. As always, drink enough to satisfy thirst.
Marathon, ultra-marathon, half-Ironman (70.3), Ironman (140.6), cycling races like century rides, ultra-marathon cross-country ski and rowing events fall under this category.
Participating in such events your main focus has to be on your health. Such long exercises is a true test of your nutrition and hydration strategies. Longer durations give more opportunities to fuck up, either catching hypoanatremia, or bonking on the field, running out of fuel.
Typically intensities during such events are staying low, meaning that your body is going to rely on fat for fuel. It doesn’t mean that we don’t need carbs anymore, we do, but not as much as at higher intensities. As discussed previously your body is a hybrid when it comes to fueling the muscles and the ratio of fat:carbs being utilized depends on intensity of physical activity, therefore your heart rate.
“Fat burns in a carbohydrate fire”, meaning that if carbohydrate stored as muscle glycogen runs low, the body will gradually lose its capacity to produce energy from fat.
If the athlete is behind the carbohydrate intake versus expenditure curve, catching up is difficult and may be accomplished only by slowing dramatically or stopping the exercise. Carbohydrate must be taken in right from the beginning.
The highest rate at which an athlete can expand the energy is 1000 calories/hour. It is almost impossible to replace all of it during the exercise, therefore it is really important to eat enough carbohydrates in 24-48 hours prior to the event. If you did, you’ve got about 1500-2000 calories in form of carbohydrates stored in your body, which should last you for a good part of the race, depending on intensity and time exercising.
During 4-12 hours events:
1. Consume approximately 200-400 calories / hour equally distributed every 10-20 minutes. 2. Calories should be coming from carbohydrates, ideally in liquid form.
Formula: min 0.25 – max 0.33 grams carbs per hour x body weight (lbs) Or min 1 calorie/hour x body weight (lbs)
Therefore 150 lb (68 kg) athlete should aim on consuming no less than 150 calories per hour just from carbohydrates)
In addition, taking in some protein could help to the onset of nervous system fatigue. But keep in mind that protein requires extra hydration for absorption and digestion. Too much of it can cause nausea.
Use the guidelines above as the starting point and experiment. Every body is different, therefore go and test things out yourself.
If you’re up to something like this – you’re crazy and I wish you good luck! Nutrition is critical for such events Recommendations are the same as for the previous section, but in addition the solid foods now become necessity. It may include bananas, cookies, jelly sandwiches, fruit juices etc. Foods with higher glycemic index should be chosen. Don’t forget the protein, especially branched-chain amino acids.
That’s all I had in regards to fueling during the exercise. I hope you learned something new and implementation of it will improve your performance. Below I also attached a “cheat sheet” to be used as a quick reference for Pre, During and Post race fueling.
In addition, I uploaded the Race Pace Predictor, Fueling & Bonking Calculator for cycling, made by FASTFITNESSTIPS. This is a great tool to use while planning your race fueling strategy. Here are the video instructions of how to use it: Fueling Science! How to pace your cycling to avoid bonking.
