Eating advice for everyday people

[Source: East Coast Cycos newsletter, in Tri-Rudy newsletter, May 27, 2009]

Bella pasta, the cyclist's best friend...

The large variety of diet options purported by so-called 'gurus' may become overwhelming for someone looking to shed a few pounds. Cycling Plus' Christine Bailey takes you through some simple steps to 'sharpen your edges' whilst keeping your nutrition needs smoothed.

No matter what kind of rider you are, it's all too easy to suffer from an expanding midsection. Not only can this hamper your performance, it can also affect your overall health.

The key to long-term weight loss is not merely counting calories or carbs, but instead following a programme designed to reshape your body, improving its composition and maintaining power.

Fundamental to this is balancing blood sugar levels, which is critical for losing fat, promoting muscle mass and hence boosting energy and performance. Adopting the following principles and eating plan will not only produce results fast, but it will also improve your performance and overall health.


Eat little and often
It's essential for cyclists to keep the body fuelled frequently with the right foods, which ensures a steady supply of glucose entering the bloodstream to be converted into energy. This reduces the insulin response as well, enabling the body to burn fat rather than store it, which means effective, healthy weight loss paired with constant energy levels.

Two to three hours after eating, your blood glucose levels drop, so you should aim to eat around every three hours even if you're not training. In practical terms, this means eating breakfast, a healthy mid-morning snack, lunch, another healthy snack in the afternoon and an evening meal.


During training sessions, or all-day rides, you may want to add an additional snack or two. Choose these with care - treat them like mini-meals and make them count nutritionally. You can pick various foods to suit different times, such as when you need to hydrate, aid recovery or provide your body with additional nutrients. Here are some examples:

• Pots of natural low-fat yoghurt, cottage cheese or fromage frais and fruit
• Pots of hummus, guacamole or fish pate with a handful of carrot, pepper, cucumber and celery sticks
• Nut and seed bars (no added sugar)
• Piece of fruit with 30g of hard cheese
• Plain popcorn, crackers or pretzels - combine with some protein
• Oat cakes or pumpernickel bread
• Hard-boiled egg and vegetable sticks
• Flavoured low-fat milkshakes
• Miso soup and lean ham/chicken
• Homemade trail mix - combine a variety of nuts, dried fruit and mini plain shredded wheat to snack on

Typical menu

• Breakfast: Protein boosting porridge made with porridge oats, milk or water and a half scoop of protein powder or ground seeds. Top with yoghurt and half a cup of berries or fruit.
• Mid-morning snack: One bit of fruit plus some nuts and seeds.
• Lunch: Mixed bean or chicken salad using half a can of mixed beans and at least five different vegetables, sprouted seeds and dressed using an omega-blend oil. One slice of rye or pumpernickel bread spread with pumpkin seed butter or tahini.
• Mid-afternoon snack: One protein shake
• Dinner: Seared salmon with steamed vegetables and half a cup of cooked buckwheat noodles. Use a palm-sized piece of fish and wide selection of vegetables.

Include protein
Many weight loss diets fail to work and also result in a loss of muscle mass, leading to a slower metabolism, less fat loss and even weight gain. This is where including sufficient protein in your diet can help. After all, your muscles are mostly made up of protein.

Including protein has other important benefits, too - it slows down the rate of digestion and the speed at which sugars are released into the bloodstream, helping you to feel fuller for longer and thus reducing appetite. Because your blood sugar doesn't vary so dramatically, you're also less likely to suffer from cravings and, as a result, overeating.

Not all proteins are as beneficial for your health as others, though: red meat and dairy foods contain a high proportion of saturated fats. While it's fine to have the odd steak, try to include more lean poultry, eggs, vegetarian protein foods and fish (particularly oily fish: a good source of anti-inflammatory omega 3 fats).

Quick tip: A portion is roughly 75g to 100g in weight, which is about the size of the palm of your hand. This is equal to two eggs or three egg whites plus an egg yolk. For beans and pulses, it's 125g/half a cup (cooked).

Fill just over a third of your plate (30 to 40 per cent) with protein and combine this with a range of colourful veggies, which contain vitamins, minerals and fibre that help counter the acidity of protein-based foods.

Cut out the junk
Sugar comes in many disguises, whether it's sucrose, glucose, sorbitol, corn sugar, malt, molasses, golden, rice or maple syrup. All of these can contribute to unstable sugar levels, insulin resistance and weight gain.

Focus more on wholegrains (oats, barley, quinoa, rye) - the fibre helps to control cravings and maintain even energy levels when on your bike. Fast sugar-releasing fruits and juice are fine pre, post and during rides, but eat or drink them too often and it can send your sugar levels soaring. Mix them with slower releasing, antioxidant-rich berries, citrus fruits, apples and pears.

Eat essential fats: Get some fish in your diet

Forget low-fat, calorie-counting diets; eating the right type of fat is crucial for losing weight. The essential fats are those the body cannot make itself and so must be obtained from food.

Known as omega 3, 6 and essential fatty acids, they help your body to make hormone-like substances (called prostaglandins) that control your metabolism and reduce inflammation. This means that such fats are used by your body to help you burn off excess fat and improve the levels of both cholesterol and triglycerides in your blood.

The omega 3 fats found in oily fish such as salmon, trout, mackerel, sardines and herring, and some nuts and seeds, including flaxseed, hemp and walnuts, are typically lacking in the diet. Aim to eat oily fish at least twice a week and try to include a range of nuts, seeds and omega oils in your diet daily. Monounsaturated fat is also beneficial, so you can snack on avocados drizzled with olive oil.

Get supplementary help
To keep your blood sugar levels stable, it may be useful to supplement your diet. Start with a high strength multivitamin and mineral formula containing between 20 to 50mg of each of the key B vitamins (B1, B2, B3, B6) needed for energy production, at least 1g of vitamin C and an essential omega supplement.

You may wish to add other nutrients known to help stabilise blood sugar and burn fat - top choices for this include chromium, magnesium, alpha lipoic acid, conjugated linolenic acid (CLA) and protein supplements or powders. Getting the quantities right can be difficult, so it's worth seeking support from a nutritionist in order to tailor a program to suit your needs.

The perfect form

[Source: East Coast Cycos newsletter, in Tri-Rudy newsletter, May 27, 2009]

Running better, from head to toe.
By Jane Unger Hahn


Head Tilt
How you hold your head is key to overall posture, which determines how efficiently you run. Let your gaze guide you. Look ahead naturally, not down at your feet, and scan the horizon. This will straighten your neck and back, and bring them into alignment. Don't allow your chin to jut out.

Shoulders
Shoulders play an important role in keeping your upper body relaxed while you run, which is critical to maintaining efficient running posture. For optimum performance, your shoulders should be low and loose, not high and tight. As you tire on a run, don't let them creep up toward your ears. If they do, shake them out to release the tension. Your shoulders also need to remain level and shouldn't dip from side to side with each stride.

Arms
Even though running is primarily a lower-body activity, your arms aren't just along for the ride. Your hands control the tension in your upper body, while your arm swing works in conjunction with your leg stride to drive you forward. Keep your hands in an unclenched fist, with your fingers lightly touching your palms. Imagine yourself trying to carry a potato chip in each hand without crushing it. Your arms should swing mostly forward and back, not across your body,between waist and lower-chest level. Your elbows should be bent at about a 90-degree angle. When you feel your fists clenching or your forearms tensing, drop your arms to your sides and shake them out for a few seconds to release the tension.

Torso
The position of your torso while running is affected by the position of your head and shoulders. With your head up and looking ahead and your shoulders low and loose, your torso and back naturally straighten to allow you to run in an efficient, upright position that promotes optimal lung capacity and stride length. Many track coaches describe this ideal torso position as "running tall" and it means you need to stretch yourself up to your full height with your back comfortably straight. If you start to slouch during a run take a deep breath and feel yourself naturally straighten. As you exhale simply maintain that upright position.

Hips
Your hips are your center of gravity, so they're key to good running posture. The proper position of your torso while running helps to ensure your hips will also be in the ideal position. With your torso and back comfortably upright and straight, your hips naturally fall into proper alignment--pointing you straight ahead. If you allow your torso to hunch over or lean too far forward during a run, your pelvis will tilt forward as well, which can put pressure on your lower back and throw the rest of your lower body out of alignment. When trying to gauge the position of your hips, think of your pelvis as a bowl filled with marbles, then try not to spill the marbles by tilting the bowl.

Legs/Stride
While sprinters need to lift their knees high to achieve maximum leg power, distance runners don't need such an exaggerated knee lift--it's simply too hard to sustain for any length of time. Instead, efficient endurance running requires just a slight knee lift, a quick leg turnover, and a short stride. Together, these will facilitate fluid forward movement instead of diverting (and wasting) energy. When running with the proper stride length, your feet should land directly underneath your body. As your foot strikes the ground, your knee should be slightly flexed so that it can bend naturally on impact. If your lower leg (below the knee) extends out in front of your body, your stride is too long.

Ankles/Feet
To run well, you need to push off the ground with maximum force. With each step, your foot should hit the ground lightly--landing between your heel and midfoot--then quickly roll forward. Keep your ankle flexed as your foot rolls forward to create more force for push-off. As you roll onto your toes, try to spring off the ground. You should feel your calf muscles propelling you forward on each step. Your feet should not slap loudly as they hit the ground. Good running is springy and quiet.

What you need to know about knees

[Source: East Coast Cycos newsletter, in Tri-Rudy newsletter, May 20/09]

Cyclists have their fair share of knee complaints

Cycling is often touted as a recreation where participants can avoid the injuries common in other sports, such as knee pain. For some riders this isn't the case however, and ailments to the knees occur due to a combination of factors. Dr Giles P Croft explains how to recognise these factors and what you can do about them.

Professional riders such as Rabobank's Robert Gesink can experience knee ailments; the Dutchman finished third in last Sunday's Amstel Gold Race but had to miss the mid-week Classic Flèche Wallonne due to a knee complaint. But what causes these problems?

Knee conditions can be generally divided into three broad categories: cycling-specific, bike-specific and cyclist-specific. Specific overuse injuries usually arise from a combination of factors across all these three domains - the secret is to identify which is contributing the greatest offence and make a focused change for the better.

Cycling-specific
Unfortunately, our cycling enthusiasm is to blame for one of the most common causes of knee pain. You know the story - new season, new goals, a change in the weather or maybe a new bike. With renewed vigour we resolve to cast off the winter's sloth and get down to some serious riding - with scant regard for how our knees might bear up to the onslaught.

'No pain, no gain' only holds true within certain limits. It's no surprise that new studies cite lack of pre-ride conditioning as a risk factor for injury. Drastically increasing anything to do with our riding habits - distance, speed, intensity, tough terrain or tough gears - without gradual acclimatisation is just asking for trouble. That envelope of function is exceeded, and damage accumulates until the forces through the knee joint are reduced.

Even changing from long, steady winter base training to shorter, sharper rides in the early season can precipitate problems; if the body's not used to a specific type of training, it's interpreted as a drastic change.


Cycling-Specific Causes: Changes in training that exceed the body's capacity for normal function and repair

• Greatly increasing distance and duration of rides
• Sudden increase in training intensity
• Riding more hills than usual
• Using high gears and low cadence

Bike-specific
The same basic principle applies here; if radical changes are made to equipment and position, problems will very likely arise.

The key measurements affecting the knee are saddle height and setback, with crank length affecting not only the absolute saddle-to-pedal distance, but also the force required to generate one full pedal revolution. Longer cranks (essentially the equivalent to using stiffer gears) increase the forces transmitted across the patellofemoral joint (explained below) thus amplifying the likelihood of cumulative damage.

The patellofemoral joint - or 'PFJ' - comprises:

• Femur - the thigh bone, the biggest bone in the body, with the hip joint at one end and the knee at the other
• Patella - the kneecap, a 'floating' bone which sits in the tendon coming from the quadriceps
• Tibia - the shin bone, where the muscles of the thigh attach in order to lever the knee joint

If you're new to cycling, or to a particular bike, a lack of frame of reference can mean it's sometimes difficult to establish exactly where the problem might lie. There's no universally agreed correct way to set your bike up, but most reputable bike shops will provide advice, with some offering an adjustable bike-fit jig and several decades of experience.

Bike-Specific Causes: Changes in equipment or a position on the bike that the body's not used to

• Saddle height and saddle setback
• Length of cranks
• Cleat position or excessive wear

Cyclist-specific
This refers to our own individual biomechanics and make-up - they are intrinsic causes, rather than extrinsic. As such they often manifest quite stealthily, contributing to the two categories above, such that our training load reaches a particular threshold, at which point we are suddenly troubled with knee pain.

The knee joint

Anatomical differences, such as leg length discrepancies, may contribute to problems in one particular leg, but in reality we all favour one leg over the other (it's the one with the thigh closest to the seat post when pedaling), in part explaining why knee pain seldom affects both legs equally.

Each individual's body has also had to respond to a lifetime's knocks, scrapes and more serious injuries, which it does by moving in subtly different ways, initially to protect the injury, and then, once healed, because it's got used to these new movements as being normal.

Damage to your knee could be caused by you, your bike or the way you cycle: damage to your knee could be caused by you, your bike or the way you cycle

But the cumulative effect of all of these can upset the fine balance of forces the knee has to deal with. This dissipation or 'coping' with energy transmitted through the joint is done largely by the muscles and their tendons, so it stands to reason that tight, inelastic muscles can indirectly contribute to increased forces through the PFJ.
Summary of causes of knee overuse injury.

Cyclist-Specific Causes: Biomechanical (intrinsic) abnormalities that compound cycling- and bike-specific causes

• Anatomical discrepancies (e.g. leg length)
• Legacy of old injuries
• Inflexibility & muscle tightness
• Muscle weakness (including core muscles)

Cycling-specific solutions

These involve unloading the problem area, most often the PFJ. This means easing back on your training until you've redressed the balance. Carrying on blithely, hoping it will go away is only likely to set you up for longer term problems.

This isn't to say you have to stop riding entirely. Only you can know what you're capable of, but a rule of thumb is to exercise painlessly as much as possible. Lower distances, fewer hills and lower gears can all help you maintain fitness without destroying your knees, while you make concurrent changes across the other two domains.

Of course, prevention is far better than cure, so make only gradual increases to your training (no more than 10-15 percent more each week) and watch out for the transition between low and high intensity where hours may remain static (or even decrease), masking a sudden change to training. Keeping a diary of your rides is essential to get to the bottom of this type of problem.

Bike-specific solutions
Again these revolve around making small changes when they are required in order to prevent problems from occurring in the first place.

Always note down the measurement of anything before changing a component: saddle height, setback and cleat position (the easiest way is to draw round the old ones with a felt tip pen before removing them).

Cleats with 'float' (small amounts of rotation when engaged) are a good idea, and consider swapping those super-long cranks for a pair of 170mm ones.

Cyclist-specific solutions
These are possibly the trickiest to tackle. Having said this, general measures such as hot baths to loosen tight muscles, followed by regular stretching of large muscle groups (quads, hamstrings, adductors and gluteal muscles) can increase flexibility to cope better with pressures across the PFJ.

Specific stretches for specific problems will be tackled next time, but the practice of pre-ride stretching has not been shown to reduce the likelihood of picking up an overuse injury. This further reinforces the message that vigorous stretching of cold muscles is at best ineffectual and at worst potentially damaging.

The role of core muscles should also not be overlooked – the abdominal, back and especially pelvic muscles all contribute to taking the strain off the major leg muscles.
How do knee problems occur?

This requires a basic explanation of the anatomy and biomechanics of the knee. In simple terms the knee is a hinge joint between the femur (thigh bone) and the tibia (shin bone), acted upon by the large muscles of the thigh.

At the back, the hamstrings flex the knee, as well as helping the gluteal muscles to extend the hip joint. At the front, the quadriceps extend or straighten the knee by attaching to the tibia via your patella (the kneecap). This has its own articulation with the thigh bone - the patellofemoral joint, or 'PFJ' - which often plays a lead role where knee pain is concerned, since bending the knee compresses the joint.

Looking at knee pain structurally

Those 'large muscles of the thigh' can get very large with regular two-wheeled activity, and this is where problems start.

The normal movements of the knee are finely balanced, and with different muscle groups pulling at the patella from slightly different angles, it doesn't take much to upset things. Add to this tight muscles restricting normal motion, varying saddle heights and feet firmly planted in angled cleats, and it's amazing we don't all cycle with fixed grimaces.

Every pedal stroke flexes and extends the knee joint, yet never fully extends it. The powerful push (extending) phase starts with the knee flexed to around 110 degrees, reaching about 35 degrees before flexing back through the pull phase. It can all add up to years of relative imbalance between those powerful muscle groups and unnatural forces about the knee.

Who suffers from overuse knee pain?
Overuse injuries arise from repetition. The accumulation of excessive loads over time exceed the body's ability to dissipate energy, leading to damage on a microscopic level which, if not given chance to recover, sets up a chronic cycle of improperly healed inflammation and tissue degeneration, experienced as pain, weakness and stiffness.

What else can be done about knee pain?
It sounds awful, but the good news is the vast majority of these injuries improve with simple non-operative interventions, the key being to rehabilitate within the boundaries of the body's natural capacity for repair, or what's been termed the 'envelope of function' in the Sports Medicine & Arthroscopy Review.

Whatever the nature of your knee pain, it's crucial to listen to your body and react accordingly. Occasional pain while on the bike means you're just outside the limits of your body's capacity for repair. Consequently, any adjustments needed are likely to be minimal, with little upset to your training. On the other hand, pain that's present every time you cycle and persists when you're off the bike implies your body's crying out for respite.

You may wish to enlist the help of a physiotherapist - those within the specialties of sports and manipulative physiotherapy - and it's worth remembering that family doctors are generalists but many have a specialist interest. Ask at your local practice whether one of the GPs has an interest in musculo-skeletal and/or sports medicine - they may even run a specialist clinic at your practice.

Eat the right fats

[Source: East Coast Cycos newsletter, in Tri-Rudy newsletter, May 20/09; from the April 2009 issue of Runner's World]

A 2007 study found that a diet rich in monounsaturated fats can help prevent weight gain.
By Leslie Goldman

Dieter's Strategy: Eat low-fat foods.

Runner's Strategy: Eat the right fats.

Though the fat-free craze peaked in the '90s, many dieters still avoid oils, butter, nuts, and other fatty foods. Their logic: If you don't want your body to store fat, then don't eat fat. Many dieters also know that one gram of fat packs nine calories, while protein and carbohydrate both contain just four calories per gram. Dieters can stretch the same number of calories a lot farther if they eat mostly carbs and protein in place of fat.

But the notion that having fat in your diet isn't a bad thing is catching on again. "I think it's a pretty antiquated thought now that we need to eliminate fat to lose weight," says Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., author of The 150 Most Effective Ways to Boost Energy Naturally. In fact, studies have shown that eating moderate amounts of fat can actually help you lose weight. The key is to make sure you're eating the right kinds. Saturated and trans fats are unhealthy because they raise your levels of LDL (so-called "bad cholesterol"). Trans fats may also lower your HDL (or "good cholesterol") levels and increase your risk for heart disease—not to mention weight gain. But unsaturated fats (which include mono- and polyunsaturated) have important benefits. Here's why runners should include these fats in their diet.

1. Keep You Satisfied: Unsaturated fats promote satiety, reduce hunger, and minimally impact blood sugar. That's important because if your blood sugar dips too low, you may experience cravings, brain fog, overeating, and low energy, making it "fiendishly difficult to lose weight," says Bowden.
2. Protect Heart Health: Unlike trans-fats, monounsaturated fats found in vegetable oils (such as olive and canola) and avocados have the added power to help lower LDL and reduce your risk of heart disease.
3. Reduce Injury: Unsaturated fats can help stave off injuries, such as stress fractures. A 2008 study in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition found that female runners on low-fat diets are at increased risk of injury—and a sidelined runner can't burn as many calories.
4. Decrease Joint Pain: Bowden adds that omega-3 fatty acids—which are a type of polyunsaturated fat found in fish (particularly in salmon), walnuts, and ground flaxseed—possess anti-inflammatory properties that can help soothe knee, back, and joint aches and pains that plague many runners. Translation: You'll hurt less and run more.

Real Runner: Abi Meadows 37, San Antonio

"As an ultramarathoner, I run high mileage and for years had no problem keeping weight off. But after five kids and a hysterectomy, I put on 20 pounds that wouldn't budge. Cutting calories didn't work—I was trying to train for 100-milers on a measly 2,000 calories a day. A nutritionist suggested I up my fats. Although hesitant (I ate low-fat cheese and fat-free dressing), I added salmon, avocados, walnuts, and flax to my diet. The results were unreal: Over the next six months, the weight came off, and I noticed a huge jump in energy. My cravings for ice cream and fries dropped—and I'll never eat a rice cake again."

Breaking down the Ottawa Marathon

[Source: Tri-Rudy newsletter, May 19, 2009]

by Frank Guay

I recently wrote this article on how to run the Ottawa Marathon course. Having raced the marathon course and trained on it hundreds of times I hope that some of my insights might help some of you get ready for the challenge this coming Sunday. See you Sunday.

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On Sunday May 24th, over 4500 runners will challenge themselves by running the Ottawa Marathon. There is no doubt that the best way to face any marathon is to be prepared by having put in the hard miles and to come in to the race healthy and with a goal marathon pace firmly established. But racing any marathon also involves knowing the course, its hidden secrets and how you can apply your strengths during the race. So let’s take a closer look at the Ottawa course.

The Start (kilometers 1 to 2)

The Ottawa marathon starts right downtown. As you look up from the start line, you can see the majestic War Memorial and the Parliament buildings. Surrounding you, the trees and plants are in full bloom, exploding with color and smell. Make sure you arrive early and settle in to the appropriate corral and try to find the pace bunny so that you can settle into your pace more easily. The race bunnies are also quite knowledgeable about the course and are eager to share their knowledge with you. As you glance up from the start line, note that the start is uphill, nothing severe but still uphill. Limit your enthusiasm early and keep your body from going into lactic acid shock too early by running well within your means here. You have lots of time to test your limits later on the course. Once the gun goes off many runners with their adrenaline in overdrive will start much too quickly and pay a very high price indeed during the later stages of the race.
Tip: Start slower than your established marathon pace.

Mini Coaster (kilometers 3 to 9)

Two years ago a longer Hull loop was added to the marathon course and some of my training partners have affectionately given it the mini coaster moniker. Most people think the Ottawa course is flat and yes overall it is but the Hull portion is dotted with many uphill’s and downhill’s and reminds many of a small child’s roller coaster. So as you cross the Eddy Bridge and take in the old industrial walls of the mill, prepare yourself to stick to a conservative pace. Beware the marathoner who decides to go out too fast on this portion of the course as by 30K they will have learnt a valuable lesson not to underestimate the smallish hills in Hull. The crowds are small but very enthusiastic along this stretch and the hills if approached strategically will be a welcome change from the later monotonous flats.

Tip: Run at or near your established marathon pace. Start getting into a groove. For some reason this portion of the course can be a bit windy, so if the wind is evident, try to latch on to a pack of runners that are running your pace.

In the Money (kilometers 10 to 21)

As you leave la belle province behind and cross into Ottawa via the Interprovincial Bridge, the crowds are thick, especially at the 10K timing mat located near the National Gallery. You can glimpse Louise Bourgeois’s large spider statue effectively known as Maman as you trot on by. Hopefully she will provide you with good fortune and strength as you amble pass. The course is fairly stunning along this stretch as you run parallel to the Ottawa River, pass the prime minister’s residence and head into Rockliffe Park. The mansions are beautiful as are the tall majestic trees that border the marathon course. Other than the climb up Princess Drive most of this stretch is very flat. This stage is perfect for picking up the pace slightly, making up those few seconds per kilometer you may have given up on the earlier more difficult stretches of the course. But careful now, don’t let it slip away as you head into Edinburgh where there are many long seemingly endless stretches where th! e wind sometimes seems to mysteriously appear. Hold yourself back as you hit Sussex once again and spot the half way marker up on the hill near the old Ottawa City Hall building. Soon you will be in the Byward Market with its teaming populace and quaint stores.

Tip: Focus on maintaining your pace or slightly faster and staying alert during the longer stretches.

The Lonely Stretch (kilometers 22 to 30)

Even though the early stages of this section of the course along the Rideau Canal are packed tight with spectators, this is where most marathoners will start to stray into their own little world. Your body is getting tired, you still have half the distance to cover and now pain and tightness is starting to seep into your calves, quads and buttocks making you reconsider why you wanted to run a marathon in the first place. It’s definitely at this stage of the marathon when you get a feeling of what kind of day you’re going to have. This is the location on the race course where you need to hold your pace or to pick it up slightly if you’re feeling good. Note I said to pick it up slightly, as everyone knows the marathon does not start until about the 30K distance and on the Ottawa course, let’s say it’s more around 33K (more about this later). It’s easy to fall off pace near Carleton University where there are very few fans and the course is ever so slightly uphill. This is wher! e your doubting demons will try to pull you onto the dark side, that of slowing down. Pay no heed to those rambling voice and cross the 30K marker with resolve as you turn left onto Hog’s Back and make your way to Riverside Road.

Tip: Maintain your pace or pick it up slightly.

The Heron Hump (kilometers 31 to 32)

Those who have run the course will tell you that in practice the Heron hill is nothing more than a smallish hump but after 32K and the depressing little loop near Vincent Massey Park, it looms as large as any Heartbreak Hill in Boston. It seems to be there to try and shatter your willpower, embarrass your tired muscles and shred all the remaining confidence you may have left. Stay strong as this test will soon be behind you.

Tip: Remember your training, be alert and do not give in.

The Farm (kilometers 33 to 35)

After the hump, the Experimental farm operated by the National Capital Commission comes in to view and if a marathon runner is to buy the farm anywhere on this course, this is where it will happen. This is where the Ottawa marathon truly starts, you have conquered the early stages, you have braved the longish stretch of the canal, did the redundant little loop and surmounted the Hump but what do you have left the demons ask. Did you really train well enough to carry thru? Do you have enough to push beyond the Farm? On the positive side if you reigned in the horses during the early stretches, this is where the PR possibilities come in to play. It’s a lonely stretch of road that meanders left and right and slightly up and then down. Fan support is near non-existent and if the running demons have not cornered and quartered you by now, you can run the race of your life. Try to hook on with someone going at your pace or faster. So stay focused, on pace or faster if you have it i! n you as the dividends will be well appreciated as you near the finish line. Attack the tight turns of the little loop at the Arboretum with gusto and ignore the complaints from your aching legs as you get squirted back out at the traffic circle. From here it’s downhill to Dow’s Lake and the last part of your marathon journey awaits.

Tip: If feeling okay attack the course for a new PR or re-evaluate to other goals.

Dow’s Lake to Pretoria (36 to 41K)

You’re on the home stretch but before you can start celebrating, remember you still have over 6 kilometers to go. Even though this stage of the course is flat and fan support is excellent, it will be a tough grind as your mind tries to overcome what your body is trying to tell you. It’s very easy to fall off pace here so keep reminding yourself of all your hard work in practice and suck in all the goodwill along the way. As you go under the Bronson underpass, admire the stately embassies, go under Bank Street and stay focused on your end goal and stick to the pace. As you near Pretoria bridge you will pass the Canal Ritz where early risers will be enjoying brunch and or breakfast. The smells may make your stomach woozy or make you wonder why you’re not on the verandah enjoying bacon and eggs. Soon you will see stately Pretoria Bridge and you will know your journey is almost at its end. The pain may begin to be overwhelming at this stage but try to remain calm and loose and t! hink about your friends and family that are waiting for you at the finish line.

Tip: Ignore the pain and think of the applause as you near the finish line.

The Finish (the last 1.2k)

As you leave Pretoria Bridge behind you, you know you have accomplished your goal. You might be in severe pain, cramping up or having other runners pass you as get near this end point but try to stay with it. Will yourself along, street post to street post, runner to runner, your goal is in sight as the Chateau Laurier’s peaks can be seen in the distance ahead. The crowds are incredible here so try to enjoy them as you deserve their applause. Soon you will see what looks like a finish line but don’t be fooled and sprint to it or pull up to soon, it’s not the real finish which is a few hundred meters further along. Speed up if you can but don’t try sprinting all out or you might just fall down with a severe hamstring or quad pull here. Enjoy the last 100 meters or so, wave to the crowd, and don’t’ forget to smile for the camera’s.

Tip: Pat yourself on the shoulder, hydrate and reward yourself with a cold beer or two and some pizza.

Drink This

[Source: East Coast Cycos newsletter in Tri-Rudy newsletter, May 15/09)

The eight rules of fluid replacement, and how they'll energize your running.
By John Brant

Picture a blazing 90ºF Sunday in July. Your basic instinct tells you to lie panting in the breezeway with the dog, or poolside with a cold drink. But your so-called "higher reasoning" tells you that your success in October's marathon hinges on whether you complete today's long run. What's it going to be?

Never mind, you're a runner, so we know how you're going to answer that. Which means you need to know this: Drinking an adequate amount of fluids is the single most important thing you can do before, during, and after a run. Especially a long run on a hot day.

So grab a cool drink, find a comfortable place to sit, and listen up.

1. Drink early and often--every day. With dehydration, a drop of prevention is worth an ocean of cure. Drink water or other low-calorie fluids in small, steady quantities throughout each day, to the point when your urine flows clear. Bring a water bottle with you wherever you go, or take a drink every time you pass a water fountain at work or school. Staying well-hydrated throughout the day benefits you in ways beyond your running. It helps keep you alert and will prevent that dull, headachy feeling that slows you down in the middle of the day.
2. Fortify yourself with fluids before you run, and aggressively consume fluids during your run. An hour or two before your run or race (depending on your tolerance), top off your fluid tank by guzzling 16 ounces of water or sports drink. Then take in between 5 and 12 ounces of fluid every 15 to 20 minutes during the run. If you're running for less than an hour, you'll be fine drinking just water. Your body's stores of carbohydrates and electrolytes are sufficient to carry you for at least that long.
3. When you run long, use a sports drink. Study after study shows that for exercise lasting more than an hour, runners perform significantly better when drinking a sports drink than when drinking plain water. Sports drinks contain carbohydrates at a concentration of about 7 percent, which, by the way, is significantly lower than that in your average soft drink. This is good, because the lower concentration enables you to absorb the fluid more quickly. Its carbs provide fuel, while its electrolytes--sodium and potassium--stave off cramps, nausea, and hyponatremia (a dangerous condition caused by drinking too much water). Go with a flavor you like as this will encourage you to drink more.
4. Don't wait until you're thirsty to start drinking. By then, it could be too late. In other words, the old tenet of "listening to your body" doesn't work when it comes to fluid replacement. We often don't feel thirsty before or in the early stages of a long run, but that's exactly when we need to start drinking. Otherwise, dehydration can set off a chain of negative reactions. Since sweat is made from fluid in your blood, your blood becomes thicker as you sweat and your heart has to work harder to pump. Your body temperature rises, which creates the need for more water. Meanwhile, dehydration compromises your body's ability to absorb carbohydrates and electrolytes from your digestive tract. And so on.
5. But don't drink too much. If you feel or hear sloshing in your stomach, its telling you it's full, and you don't need to drink for a while. You might have to monitor this carefully, though, because we all have varying rates at which fluids leave our stomachs and enter the rest of our systems. Variations in size, gender, age, and metabolism come into play. You might not slosh; you might cramp or feel nauseated instead. Whatever signal you receive, stop drinking for at least 15 minutes.
6. After your run, drink between 16 and 24 ounces of sports drink for every pound of body weight you lost during exercise. This means you'll take in more than you lost, but that's okay because you'll urinate some of it away. Again, make sure you consume sports drinks or other fluids that contain sodium, which will help you retain the fluid you drink.
7. Beware of hyponatremia, a potentially fatal condition caused by taking in too much water and too little salt. Hyponatremia, or "water intoxication," usually happens only during long, hot runs, when a runner loses a lot of sodium through sweat and consumes a great deal of plain water. This combination may unwittingly dilute sodium levels in your blood, which sets off an electrolyte imbalance. Hyponatremia can trigger seizures, coma, and even death. Initial warning signs mimic those of dehydration, including confusion, disorientation, muscle weakness, and vomiting. Women and slower, beginner endurance runners are at most risk of this condition. Still, the likelihood of developing hyponatremia remains small. Banish hyponatremia from your worry list by 1) including salt in your normal diet (particularly a few days before a long event), and 2) drinking sports drinks, rather than plain water, on runs over an hour.
8. Be careful out there. The better your overall condition, the better you'll be able to cope with low or moderate degrees of dehydration. (Case in point: In the 1984 Olympic Marathon, Alberto Salazar lost 8.1 percent of his body weight in sweat, and still ran a 2:14.) But if you feel yourself slipping into fluid debt-symptoms include chills, dizziness, disorientation, and cessation of sweating-don't panic. Stop running, find shade or an air-conditioned building, and start drinking as soon as possible. If you don't quickly improve, ask for help or call 911. If you do start to feel better, resist running and walk or ask for a ride home. Then vow to never let yourself become dehydrated again.

Don't Let This Happen to You

Performance starts to decline when you lose 3 percent of your body weight in sweat. For a 150-pound person, thats 4.5 pounds. Beyond 3 percent, performance falls off even more sharply. Dehydration becomes a life-threatening condition when it reaches 15 to 20 percent of body weight, usually through illness.

Right This Weigh

Try this method for measuring how much water you should drink during and after your runs:

Immediately before and after several upcoming runs (especially those in hot weather), weigh yourself without any clothes on. If you lose 1 pound, this means you sweated approximately 16 ounces of fluid. Two pounds means you sweated 32 ounces, and so on. If you lose a pound consistently during your 30-minute runs, you need to replenish your fluids at a rate of 16 ounces per 30 minutes of running.

If you find you can't drink enough to offset your sweat loss no matter how hard you try, don't worry. Just make sure to "overdrink" once you finish your run. That is, if you lose a pound, you should drink one-and-a-half times your normal replenishment amount, or 24 ounces. This beverage should contain sodium, which will help you retain the fluid better.

Be in the Minority

Dehydrated athletes fatigue significantly faster than those who stay hydrated, yet the typical runner replaces less than 50 percent of his or her sweat during exercise.

According to Scale

Officials at the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run in California actually lug bathroom scales into the Sierra Nevada mountains, and place them at the aid stations. Why? So runners can weigh themselves during their trek, enabling them to balance their fluid intake with their fluid loss. This low-tech method remains the best way to figure out how much you need to drink while running.

Fuelling by numbers

[Source: East Coast Cycos newsletter, in Tri-Rudy newsletter, May 15/09]

When you get your big ride fuelling wrong, you experience a hunger flat, big time, and enter a whole world of heavy-legged, pit-in-the-stomach riding. We all know that carb loading and fluid replacement are critical, so Neil Pedoe explains exactly how much and when.

Even the best can get a hunger flat. Alberto Contador did at Paris-Nice.

Once you reach the point of a hunger flat - commonly referred to as a 'bonk' - your stores of glycogen in the muscles themselves have run out and your body is switching to try and burn much less easily accessible fuel stored around the body.

It's a little bit like taking the AC adaptor out of a laptop and letting it run on battery power; there's only a certain period this can continue. Even the newest batteries - or the best trained atheletes - can maintain powering their body from this source.

But it doesn’t need to be that way: putting enough gas in the tank in the first place - and stopping it running out - is all about eating the right amounts of carbohydrate, at the right time, to keep your muscles fully stocked with glycogen... keeping the AC adaptor plugged in.

This fuelling process should start a few days before you plan to go on your big ride, continue right through the jaunt itself, and include an energy restocking and muscle tissue-repairing post-ride recovery.

Three days before the big ride

1. Reduce your intake of fats - no fried food, chips or burgers. Instead concentrate on pasta, rice, cereals, bread, noodles or potatoes
2. For breakfast: Think cereals and fruit
3. For both lunch and dinner: Try and stick to starchy foods with vegetables

* It probably sounds rather filling, but at least 70 per cent of your calorie intake in the days immediately before a big event should be made up of energy-boosting carbohydrates.

Day before the big ride
Rather than gorging all day, think more about replacing junk or fatty foods with whole foods, and putting the emphasis on carbohydrate-rich fuel.

1. Eat as much as you have been over the past few days
2. Sip on an energy drink in between meals; it's a good way of adding extra carbs and will also help with your pre-race hydration

* Recommended carb intake (grams): Your weight (kg) x 8

Food ('normal' serving) Carbohydrate value
Bowl of wheat cereal
31g

Raisins
21g

Banana
27g

Milk
12g

Muesli bar
20g

60mL energy gel
22g

500mL energy drink
47g

Pasta
60g

Couscous
75g

Mashed potatoes
30g

Boiled carrots
17g

Carbo cake
96g

Race day - pre-ride meal
The overall aim is to arrive on the start line with an empty stomach, but with all your glycogen stores at capacity, and fully hydrated. So make sure you:

1. Leave three to four hours between your breakfast and the start to avoid upsetting your stomach.
2. Don't rely on hotel breakfasts. Eating three hours before a 100-mile day means an early start, and most hotels or B&Bs will palm you off with a 'continental' of coffee and buttered croissant with jam this early.
3. Pack some in-the-saddle snacks. On its own, this paltry amount of base energy will see you 'bonking' by lunchtime. The solution is to pack your own - both muesli and porridge oats with mixed dried fruit are good, as they can be soaked in your hotel room overnight, and reheated with water from the hotel room kettle in the small hours. Being self-sufficient will cut out potential panics or worries.
4. One for the road: You can top up your glycogen stores with an energy bar or gel as you ride to the starting pen, which will compensate for those first few excited miles when everyone, including you, sets off a bit too quickly...

* Recommended carb intake (grams): Your weight (kg) x 3

During the ride
* Hourly carb consumption (in grams) is your weight (kg) x 0.7 to 1.25 (depending on ride difficulty and conditions)

Post-ride recovery feed (within 15 minutes of event)
* Recommended carb consumption (grams): Your weight (kg) x 1.5

Add to this a measure (in grams) of protein equivalent to your weight (kgs) x 0.4. This post-ride snack takes the best advantage of the optimal window for muscle glycogen resynthesis, which should mean you don’t feel so sore after your big day spent in the saddle!

Pedal slow to ride fast

[Source: Posted by George Tolkachev on Tri-Rudy, May 13/09]

Related link

Lifesport coach Lance Watson provides new thoughts on how to increase strength and power output on the bike.

Many novice cyclists ride at a low cadence. Over the past two decades, the mantra of most respected cycling coaches has been to "spin, spin, spin" in order to increase efficiency and speed. By this they mean that instead of turning the pedals at 70 revolutions per minute, athletes should try to move their legs a little more quickly. This is good advice. Spinning with a smooth average cadence of 85 to 95 rpm on race day is an effective way to maintain a consistent heart rate and conserve glycogen (easily accessible, limited-supply muscle energy) while minimizing lactate accumulation.

I have taught many age-group athletes who have spent years riding at 70-80 rpm to spin at a higher cadence. Once the athlete makes the suggested change and becomes comfortable at the higher cadence, he or she becomes a faster and more efficient rider. The athlete is thus able to perform at higher sustained wattage for longer periods of time.

However, training athletes over multiple seasons at higher cadences resulted in a phenomenon I didn't expect: In some cases, performance started to taper off, and power output dropped. To solve this problem, I returned the athletes to regular, sustained, lower-cadence riding sessions to increase strength. This training was interspersed with training at and above optimal race cadence. As the season progressed, the athletes were able to ride at 90 rpm on the same gear that they previously were riding 70 rpm on earlier in the season. They increased their wattage output significantly in the lower cadence range first and then in the higher cadence range. Lower-cadence riding builds strength by using more muscle fibers for every pedal stroke, while the higher-cadence practice lets the athlete translate that strength into sustained endurance performance.

Any cycling coach will tell you that workouts on hills make you stronger. Fighting gravity, riders will climb for prolonged periods of time at a lower cadence, feeling increased resistance on the pedals. An efficient climber who rides at 90 to 95 rpm on a flat course may climb at 65 to 80 rpm depending on the grade of the hill. While this strength training is essential, there are several challenges in building a cycling program around hill climbing. First, it is difficult to find a steady, even-grade hill. Second, if you find a steady grade, it is unlikely that the climb will last for more than a few minutes, let alone 20 to 45 minutes. Third, once you've completed a hill interval climb, you have to get back down before starting the next climb. Therefore, it is difficult to limit recovery periods for multiple intervals. For instance, a 20-minute climb would likely be followed by 10 to 15 minutes of descending, which may be too much rest time. It is for these three reasons th! at early-season cycling programs focusing on building strength benefit greatly from the use of a stationary trainer.

To increase your strength and power output on the bike, get yourself a high-quality stationary trainer that will give you enough resistance to put maximum force into the pedals at a low cadence on a very hard gear.

In this series, I will present three bike trainer progressions in the spring to ensure that you are climbing and time trialing faster than ever this summer:

Standing Climbing

Have you ever stood on the pedals, climbing a hill for 20 minutes straight without sitting? Most of you probably have not. Standing while climbing isolates the quadriceps much more than seated climbing, which you can practice best on a trainer.

Standing on the stationary bike forces you to drive the pedals straight down, as the bike is held upright in place. Start with Level 1 and repeat the exercises in each level for two to three workouts before progressing to the next level. With all the workouts, make sure you do a very good warm-up and cool-down of 15 to 30 minutes.

Level 1:
Holding a cadence of 60 to 65 rpm, stand for five to eight repeats of three to five minutes, for a total of 15 to 30 minutes of interval time. Recover between intervals for one to two minutes at 90 rpm. Your heart rate (HR) for the intervals should be 10 to 15 beats per minute below your 25-mile bike time trial heart rate, or lactate threshold (LT).

Level 2:
Stand for repeats of two to three sets of 10 to 15 minutes each for a total of 20 to 45 minutes of interval time. Staying on the same gear (i.e. 53 x 14 or 53 x 16), ride the first third of the interval at 55 to 60 rpm with your heart rate at 10 to 15 beats below LT, the middle third at 60 to 65 rpm with HR at eight to 12 beats below LT, and the last third at 65 to 70rpm with HR at six to 10 beats below LT. Recover between intervals for five minutes at 90 rpm.

Level 3:
At level 3 you are ready for sustained standing and pedaling. Consider doing 2 x 20-minute climbs, or even a 30- to 45–minute, non-stop standing climb. Ride the first two thirds at a cadence of 60 to 65 rpm and then accelerate to 70 to 75 rpm while standing for the final third. HR can build to eight to 12 beats below LT. Recover between intervals for five minutes at 90 rpm.

The Mixer: Standing, Sitting and Race Cadence

After you have mastered seated and standing resistance riding, it is time to put it all together. The most important thing is to create a meaningful progression of strength-oriented resistance riding with gradually escalating heart rates as you get closer to race season. If you find riding either seated or standing harder, then emphasize your weakness.

Here are four great mixers:


1) Two to three sets of: three minutes seated at 60 rpm, three minutes standing at 60 rpm, two minutes seated at 50 rpm, two minutes standing at 70 rpm, one minute seated at 40 rpm and one minute standing at 80 rpm. Shift gears up and down to adjust cadence to maintain a relatively static heart rate of eight to 12 beats below LT. Take three minutes recovery at 90 rpm between sets.

2) Two to three sets of: 10 minutes seated at 55 rpm and five minutes standing at 70 rpm. Stay on the same gear and let the HR increase for the standing portion to six to 10 beats below LT. Take three minutes of recovery at 90 rpm between sets.

3) Mixing standing resistance and race cadence: 10 to 15 minutes with one minute standing at 70 rpm and one minute seated at 90 rpm. This continuous set can be intense, and you can let HR climb all the way up to LT.

4) Mixing seated resistance and race cadence: two to three sets of five minutes seated at 60 rpm, five minutes seated at 70 rpm and five minutes seated at 90 rpm. Let HR build through the set from six to 10 beats below LT all the way up to LT.

Spending many hours at specific race cadence and race heart rates in training is critical for racing success. Just as important is building some early-season strength to put some power into the pedals. So spend some time pedaling slower this spring to ride faster this summer!

Protein in sports drinks: Good, bad or indifferent?

[Source: Tri-Rudy newsletter, May 8/09]

By Dr. Stephen Cheung, Ph.D.


Back in the good old days of sports drink design, life was relatively simple and the main things to manipulate were carbohydrates and electrolytes. In recent years, a new kid on the sports drink block arrived in the form of proteins. We look at two new studies that re-examine the use of proteins in sport drinks.

The Gatorade days

Life was simple in the old days for pro cyclists. Most riders simply had water in their bottles and maybe some de-fizzed Coke near the end of races. Of course, the stars would supplement such simple fare by getting their domestiques to raid local taverns for vino every so often.

Everything changed, of course, with the introduction of Gatorade in the 70's, the first sports drink specifically designed for athletic competition and featuring a mix of carbohydrates and electrolytes (i.e., salts). Basically, the theory went that you're losing a lot of salt in sweat and burning up carbohydrates as a major and finite fuel source, so those were the important things to replace in a sports drink.

Since that time, scientific studies have helped to develop an overall consensus of six to eight percent carbohydrate being the optimal concentration, along with a moderate amount of electrolytes, mainly sodium.

The case for protein

Within the last five years or so, however, the established formula for the majority of sports drinks changed, with some research advancing the benefits of adding protein into sports drinks. The study that made the really big splash was one by Saunders et al. (2), which compared a commercially available carbohydrate-protein sports drink (reading between the lines, it was Accelerade) with the same carbohydrate content worth of Gatorade (such that the Accelerade had greater total calories).

Having two drinks with different total calories may seem like a weakness in the design, as it might be advantageous simply to have more calories regardless of source. However, as mentioned above, scientific consensus suggest that the ceiling for carbohydrate absorption is already reached at the six to eight percent concentration, so simply adding more carbohydrates is not going to get more into your system and may even slow things down in the digestive tract. In contrast, think of protein as a back-door way to cram more calories into your system.

With a 75 percent and 85 percent VO2max ride to exhaustion protocol (where subjects are asked to ride at a set workload for as long as possible), Saunders et al. (2) found huge increases in exercise time (29 percent and 45 percent increases at 75 and 85 percent VO2max, respectively).

This, to put it bluntly, is huge in a field where 10 percent improvement is considered astronomical. However, the study was not able to ascertain exactly whether this huge benefit came about due to the extra calories or to something specific to the addition of proteins. Regardless, it certainly had many companies jumping on the bandwagon of adding and touting proteins in their sports drinks.

Re-testing protein

The scientific process works nicely in continually testing and re-testing theories, no matter how well-established. In the August 2006 issue of the same Med Sci Sports Exerc journal, van Essen and Gibala (3) tested a similar two types of drinks (six percent carbohydrates and six percent carbohydrates + two percent whey protein) and also a placebo.

One nice touch was that the drink powder was all produced by the same source to be as identical in aesthetics (taste, colour, etc.) as possible, rather than two different commercial sports drinks. Subjects were also required to drink at a much higher and realistic rate (250 mL every 15 min, near the maximal absorption rate for fluid by the digestive tract) than in the Saunders et al. study (~125 mL every 15 min for a 70 kg rider).

A further modification to the study design by van Essen and Gibala was the use of an 80 km "time trial" protocol (where subjects are asked to complete the ride as fast as possible with no pacing/timing cues) rather than the "ride to exhaustion" protocol of Saunders et al. (2).

This was done on the grounds that a time trial is much more applied and realistic, and I certainly concur. Indeed, there has been a general trend towards moving away from the "ride to exhaustion" style of testing, due to its high variability from motivational factors and also simply across people. Indeed, one of my own very first published papers back in 1995 (kinda sad to say, but also one of my most famous even to this day!) detailed exactly this huge variability (1) and concluded that it was largely useless if it was the only parameter determining "success".

Other notes on the protocol:

Subjects were trained but not super-elite cyclists, 24 yr. old on average with a VO2max of 63 mL/kg/min.

Test of 80 km was chosen to be long enough that glycogen stores would be significantly depleted and the ingested calories would really come into play.

Basic facts

So with these modifications, what did van Essen and Gibala find? Both carbohydrates (135 min +/- 9 min) and carbohydrates + protein (135 min +/- 9 min) had faster completion times than placebo (144 min +/- 10 min), but there were no differences between the two carbohydrate drinks.

Comparison shopping

So two studies using pretty similar composition carbohydrate and carbohydrate-protein drinks have come up with dramatically different findings. How to pick and choose between them? Here are some of my thoughts:

Overall, I have to give the nod to the van Essen and Gibala study for being more well-controlled and realistic.

The rate of fluid ingestion may be one of the major reasons for the difference between the two studies. Remember that the Saunders et al. study had a relatively low (500 mL/h) drinking rate for a 70 kg individual, resulting in about 37 g/h of carbohydrate replacement. This is much lower than the 60 g/h recommended to maximize carbohydrate replacement in the body. Therefore, it may be the case that the extra protein only plays an important role when there's less-than-optimal carbohydrate replacement.

So what does this mean for you and me? The best sports drink is the one that you'll drink the most of! Experiment with different sports drinks and see what tastes bests and sits best in your stomach, and then use it!

One final note

The final interesting observation from the van Essen and Gibala study? The 80 km was done as 4x20 km laps on a stationary trainer. In both the carbohydrate and carbohydrate + protein conditions, the first 20 km was done at a faster average pace than the placebo, even though glycogen stores wouldn't have really become depleted yet. This phenomenon of early benefit from carbohydrate ingestion supports similar incidental findings in other studies.

One proposal is that pacing is done by a "smart sensor" in the brain somewhere that integrates input from throughout the body, and that the presence of carbohydrates triggers sensors in the mouth, relaying "positive" information to the brain and enabling it to select a higher pace. So sports drinks can be useful even in short and hard interval rides rather than only for long rides!

References

1. McLellan TM, Cheung SS, and Jacobs I. Variability of time to exhaustion during submaximal exercise. Can J Appl Physiol 20: 39-51, 1995.
2. Saunders MJ, Kane MD, and Todd MK. Effects of a carbohydrate-protein beverage on cycling endurance and muscle damage. Med Sci Sports Exerc 36: 1233-1238, 2004.
3. van Essen M and Gibala MJ. Failure of protein to improve time trial performance when added to a sports drink. Med Sci Sports Exerc 38: 1476-1483, 2006.

____________________________________________________________

Stephen Cheung is an associate professor of Kinesiology at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and his athletic ability is beyond assistance from any ergogenic aid known to humans! Stephen's company, Podium Performance, also provides elite sport science and training support to provincial and national-level athletes in a number of sports. He can be reached for comments or coaching inquiries at stephen@pezcyclingnews.com.

PezCycling News: We tap into what's cool in elite level pro cycling and make the news fun again -- every day. Check out our off-beat rider interviews, top level tech reviews, weekly training & fitness articles, cool stories on top rides, race news and reports the way we like 'em, the lovely Daily Distractions and cool stories you can't find anywhere else. Get Pez'd Today!

Cadence and Triathlon Performance

[Source: East Coast Cycos newsletter, in Tri-Rudy newsletter, May 6, 2009]

By Kerry Sullivan

Kerry is a triathlon coach. He is certified as a USAT, USCA II, CSCS and is a NLP Practitioner. He is passionate about human performance

Cadence is how many revolutions per minute you complete in cycling or running. There are allot of different theories out there on what is the optimal cadence. Many believe that it is 90 or higher for both running and cycling. As triathletes cadence is a bit of a multidimensional issue since one has to run off the bike.

One theories is that, cadence on the bike, should be high to match ones cadence on the run making running off the bike easier. A study done on this topic looked at runner doing a 20 minute time trail on the bike and then going straight into a 3 K run much like in a triathlon. There were various cadences used ranging from on the slower side (around 70) to over 100. The results showed that run times were not so much effected but cadence in the first 300 meters was. Participants who had a slow cadence on the bike had a slow cadence in the run during the first 300 meters and visa versa.

This could potentially make a difference if one is in a sprint or Olympic distance and is racing at a high level as running cadence is very important.

Why is running cadence so important? Your muscles are designed in a way to absorb forces such as gravity and then transfer this energy into movement such as running. This theory is known as the stretch shortening cycle. Essentially your muscles work as elastic shortening and lengthening to create movement. This process is most efficient at higher cadence speeds when running. At lower cadence speeds, the stored energy in the muscles is not used as effectively.

Here is an example you can try. Seriously, get stand up and try this......... NOW. Jump up and down rapidly, in place, on two feet landing, on the front of your foot.

When you are doing this your using the stretch shortening cycle in your muscles to make this movement highly efficient.

Now stand up again and jump one time every 10 seconds at the same height as before.

It was harder wasn't it.

This is because you are not taking advantage of gravity and the stretch shortening cycle to the same degree. To jump that same height you are most likely bending your hip, knee and ankle joints more than before to create more of a spring force in your muscles to complete the same action.

What does this have to do with running cadence?

The slower your running cadence the more energy you lose to propel yourself forward. The faster your turn over the more you use the spring like qualities of your muscles to move forward. Just like in the jumping you just did, it was easier to jump rapidly vs once every 10 seconds.

To take advantage of this your cadence should be 90 or higher when running.

What is ideal for cycling?

Cycling seems to be more individual all though most top cyclist fall some ware between 80 and 100. One example of different types of cycling styles is Lance Armstrong versus Jan Ulrich. Lance has a very high turnover while Jan has (or had) a slower turn over and grinds away. You can make the argument that Lances style wins because he won more Tour De France races. Irregardless they are 2 world class cyclist with 2 very different styles yet both are world class fast.

In my opinion cycling cadence is more individual and one needs to experiment with what they are best with on the bike. Some will say that if your cadence on the bike is not 90 or higher it will be harder to run as it doesn't match an efficient running cadence. As shown before, from the study, this may be true at first while running but then one can get the cadence to pick up.

Higher cadence right away on the run may be more important for top racers in shorter distance triathlons as often the pace is full throttle right off the bike. Thus higher cycling cadence may be more important.

In longer distances this may be less of an issue as Chrissie Wellington (2 time Ironman Hawaii champion) is displaying as she has a cycling cadence in the 70's but still fly's on the run.

My suggestion on all this is keep running cadence at 90 or higher and experiment with you cycling cadence to see what works best for you. You may find it way too hard to run off the bike with a slower cycling cadence. Most likely your cycling cadence will fall between 80 and 100.

Enough will all the jargon, it is you time to go and do it!

Kerry Sullivan is a certified USAT, USACII, CSCS, NLP Practitioner

Filtering the news about coffee

[Source: Active.com]

Before any multi-sport event, you will likely see hundreds of your competitors sipping on their coffee. For many people, this is a morning ritual completed every morning as they rise out of bed. For others, this is a great way to get some caffeine, a stimulant, in them before the start of the race.

For years, there has been debates and debates over the pros and cons of drinking coffee. Although drinking coffee does provide a stimulant response from the coffee, there have also been studies to show the risks and dangers associated with drinking coffee.

As with most anything, drinking coffee before a race or a workout becomes very personal. What works well for you may not work at all for your training partner. Check out this article that details the benefits and dangers of drinking coffee before races or workouts.

University of California, Berkeley Wellness Letter

Tea is the most popular beverage worldwide (after water), but coffee is close behind it in industrialized countries. While caffeine is a natural component of both tea and coffee, coffee contains more of it: anywhere from 60 to 120 milligrams in six ounces, depending on brewing methods and other factors.

Caffeine is a mild psychoactive substance -- it stimulates the central nervous system and improves alertness. It also boosts the analgesic effect of aspirin and other pain relievers, which is why it's added to some of these drugs. In large enough amounts, it can cause heart palpitations, stomach upset and insomnia.

Coffee, derived from a bean, contains many other phyto-chemicals besides caffeine, and some of them may have beneficial effects in the body, as do those in tea, though this aspect of coffee is only beginning to be studied. Coffee itself has been extensively studied for years, generally to see if it causes disease. While many people believe decaf is more healthful than regular, there's no proof that it is.

Coffee has been blamed for causing many ailments, but in nearly every instance, it has been declared not guilty.

It was linked to heart disease, as well as pancreatic cancer -- but then exonerated. Research suggesting such links hasn't been supported by subsequent studies. Some researchers still worry that coffee drinking may promote hypertension -- but many studies have failed to show that it does. When risk factors like cigarette smoking and heavy alcohol consumption are taken into account, any apparent link between coffee and heart attacks disappears


Coffee was blamed for fibrocystic breast disease (lumpy, painful breasts), but there proved to be no connection.
Coffee was a suspected risk factor for osteoporosis, but it does not appear to increase the risk, even in heavy coffee drinkers -- though there is still some controversy about this. (It's true that heavy coffee consumers are more likely to eat poorly and smoke, which boosts the risk of osteoporosis.)
Coffee was suspected of raising the risk of miscarriage and birth defects, but -- again -- studies haven't supported this, except perhaps for high intakes. Some researchers are still not willing to let coffee off the hook. Pregnant women should probably drink no more than a cup or two a day.
Research on coffee continues. Here are the latest news tidbits:

According to one well-designed study in Honolulu, coffee may reduce the risk of Parkinson's disease. Men who drank no coffee were two to three times more likely to develop the disease than those who drank one to four cups a day, and five times more likely than those who drank more than four cups a day. The caffeine was identified as the protective substance. No one can adequately explain this, and it's only a single study, with many limitations. But it's worth investigating further.

In another study, those who drank two or three cups of coffee daily cut their risk of gallstones by 40 percent. Again, there's no explanation for this -- and it's only one study. It's far too early to recommend coffee for this purpose.

The studies continue, occasionally raising a few worries. As we've reported, studies have shown that drinking five to eight cups a day of unfiltered coffee -- European-style coffee, made in a French press (a pot with a plunger) -- raises blood cholesterol. The great majority of coffee consumed in the U.S. and Canada is filtered. And anyway, that's a lot of coffee.

Another study found that drinking lots of coffee may increase the risk of urinary incontinence. The solution: cut down.

The bottom line is still this: If you're healthy, it's fine to drink coffee in moderation (no more than three or four cups a day). If you like the lift it gives, and the sociability it affords, there's no health reason to deprive yourself of coffee. If you overindulge and get coffee nerves, the remedy is simple -- cut back. If it keeps you awake, stick to decaf in the evening.