Go Hard

It is possible to find some form of reference to justify almost any nutritional guideline. A lot of these will even appear to be good science. Throw in all the opinion pieces and ideologies on the topic of what food you should be eating there is no end to contradictions. In my view nutrition is important. Day to day nutrition won't win you a race, but poor nutrition can cost you a race. Amongst other things, I believe a less than adequate approach to my food contributed to my hamstring injuries. Why? A combination of laziness and an over emphasis of hitting a certain race weight. I had falling into the habit of not planning ahead with my food, and often grabbing what was faster and easier. This isn't an ideal approach and becomes magnified when work shifts encompass two meals. On top of this I tried to keep a limit on my intake in order to shed a couple of kilograms to be lighter for the marathon. As the time went on I found I had to eat less and less to lose a small amount o...

Over the last few months I've experimented a reasonable amount with my nutrition during the long runs (4-6.5 hours). I've tried a few different regimens, and varied my amounts. In the mix has been low to high calorie levels (100-340kCal/hour). Different fuel mixtures which have included testing of maltodextrin, fructose, glucose, protein and electrolytes. From this experimentation combined with a good amount of study, I have come up with a plan that seems like the right plan for the Surfcoast Century. For the most part my plan falls close to the Hammer Nutrition Guidelines as found in their free eBook: The Endurance Athlete's Guide To Success . Well worth a read. Now I have to point out that I am not necessarily an advocate of Hammer Nutrition, and other than a few gels, don't tend to use their products. However, they do provide some very practical information that I have put to test in training. I was also fortunate enough to win a free entry into the Steve Born Nutr...

Like every other aspect of my racing I do apply a drinking and carbohydrate strategy during the race. The best way to describe this is cover what I actually did during the race and give some reasoning along the way. The carbohydrate loading leading was covered in Carbohydrate Loading - Melbourne Marathon . Pre-race: 2.5 hours prior to race start: 60g cornflakes 150g peaches & pears 200ml low-fat milk Espresso 500ml Gatorade  This topped up my liver glycogen stores that get depleted during the overnight sleep.  The timeframe allows everything to settle and pass through my stomach to minimise the risk of gastrointestinal problems during the race. The water within the gatorade combined with the hydration strategy as part of the carbohydrate loading over the previous days should have me adequately hydrated for the race start. 45min prior to race start: 300mg caffeine 10min prior to race start: 200ml water This was preceded by a 15 minute easy war...