The strong and durable endurance athlete

For any endurance athlete, there is great risk for injury and fatigue while training for an event lasting 90+ minutes. Certainly, every athlete training for an endurance event hopes to get to the starting line feeling fit, strong and healthy but not always does this happen. Sadly, far too many endurance fail to get to the starting line of their upcoming event due to injury or a health issue and if they do arrive, the body is weak, fragile and broken down. Because endurance sports are addicting, it's common for athletes to continue this cycle of never fully rebuilding or strengthening the body and to constantly arrive to races poorly prepared (physically and mentally).

Do you consider yourself a durable athlete?

Here are some red flags that should be addressed before signing up for races or progressing with your training volume/intensity.....

• You are constantly rehabing and racing, rehabing and racing.
• You struggle with consistent training due to life, low motivation, restless sleep, injuries, sickness, etc.
• Certain workouts scare you for you fear injury or falling apart from fatigue.
• You struggle to bounce back quickly from intense or long training sessions.
• You can't seem to put together a solid week or two of training before you get sick, injured or exhausted.
• You always feel under-prepared for races but show up anyways.
• You rely on panic training to squeeze in the workouts that you didn't do earlier in the season.
• You tend to train for one race at a time with a long break in the off-season or after a race.
• Your training doesn't really make sense - it lacks specificity, structure or progression.
• As your race approaches, you feel more withdrawn, exhausted and fragile/weak.
• You don't feel strong, healthy or durable.

Durability and resilience are elusive traits among endurance athletes but sadly, many athletes are chasing the wrong methods or outcomes in becoming "race ready." Understanding the unique demands of the sport in which you are training for is critically important.

As it relates to race readiness, is speed, fat adaptation, mileage based workouts and leanness criteria for success? While these aspects of performance may help, they are not worth chasing if you have yet to build a strong, robust durable and resilient body. And perhaps if you have achieved resilience and durability, these other factors like leanness, fat adaptation and speed may not be worth chasing anymore for you have become physically and mentally capable of withstanding the demands of training, ultimately improving your chances of success by improving longevity in your sport.

Building a durable body takes time, careful planning and patience. It's not easy and thus, many athletes (and coaches) skip steps, rush the process and get inpatient, risking injury, sickness, fatigue and burnout. Sadly, there's no secret prescription or program that will speed up this process. To become a durable athlete, it takes time......a long time. And it starts with first nailing the basics (before advancing with your training volume) like good form and skills, great sleep, stress management, diet, fueling, hydration and recovery. It's then important to not let these habits slip away in an effort to train harder or longer. From a training perspective, there's no point adding more mileage or intensity to your training if you haven't built a solid foundation and learned to do things well.

When it comes to endurance events, durability will take you far. While you will not become an overnight success, overtime, you will get results. Most of all, your body will thank you and will reward you with many consistent years of training and racing. To maintain your durability, your training plan must be specific to your fitness and should allow for slow development, building a solid foundation, optimizing recovery and adaptation to your every day stressors.

There's only so much time and energy that you can dedicate to training. Put your time, focus and energy into the right strategies to foster athletic success. Do you need to be lean and fast in order to hold a sustainable effort for 5-17 hours on race day? Take a moment and ask yourself if you are trying to rush the training process, skipping steps and/or putting your energy into the wrong methods of becoming race ready.

Neglecting to build a durable, robust and resilient body will place you at risk for injury, sickness and burnout. If this is happening to you, you need to break the cycle and start building a strong body.It takes time to create a strong body structure (ex. bones, ligaments, tissues, tendons, etc.) to withstand repeated load. Avoid signing up for a long distance race just because you identify with being an endurance athlete or you feel like it's the popular thing to do.

To be a successful endurance athlete, you need to be healthy. Make sure you are taking the time to build a body that can help you stand up to the demands of your sport. Strong and durable trumps lean and fast when your sport demands resilience - both mental and physical.

Endurance athletes - what's causing those GI issues??

GI (or gastrointestinal) issues are no fun. GI issues are one of the most commonly blamed reasons for underperforming on race day. In some cases, gut related issues can result in athletes not finishing the event. 

Many athletes have come to me expressing great frustration and discomfort from nausea, bloating, gas, bloody diarrhea, loose stools, cramping, stomach pain, abdominal distention or vomiting during training and competition. While these complaints can have a negative effect on performance, they have an even bigger impact on physical and mental health. 

Thankfully, several research studies have discussed the reasons why endurance athletes are at great risk for GI issues. There is also good research discussing how to mitigate these issues during exercise - especially in the heat, at high intensity or during long duration. 

Reduced blood flow to the intestines during exercise is one of the main contributors to GI symptoms. These issues are only exacerbated when the body is dehydrated. Because blood is diverted from the gut and to the working muscles, the lack of blood flow in the gut slows gastric emptying. As a result, the delivery of nutrients and fluids to the muscles gets delayed and may cause gut discomfort (and a lot of other uncomfortable side effects). Reduced blood flow to the intestines may also contribute to increased permeability of the gut wall, which may trigger an inflammatory response resulting in GI distress. 

Because the consumption, digestion and absorption of calories, carbohydrates, electrolytes and fluids are all important components of the training adaptation process and the ability to perform well on event day, minimizing the risk for GI issues is critical.

The takeaway: The gut is an extremely adaptable organ. Don't wait until race week (or race day) to figure out your fueling strategy. Training your stomach is just as important as training your muscles.  

Are you eating enough protein?

(picture source)

As an endurance athlete, you should not overlook the importance of protein in your diet.

Sadly, in our society, we tend to go from one dietary extreme to another when it comes to eat this, don't eat that. Therefore, when one macronnutrient is heavily emphasized or de-emphasized, it's easy to overlook other important nutrients that are necessary to optimize health and athletic success.

In the wake of some pretty extreme, unhealthy and unrealistic eating habits among endurance athletes, it's important for athletes to understand that a low energy and/or low carbohydrate diet is not healthy or performance enhancing.
Certainly "low" can be defined differently among athletes and nutrition experts.

Seeing that protein supports muscle and tissue growth, assists in immune system health, helps with tissue structure and supporting enzymatic reactions and fosters healthy endocrine functioning, without sufficient protein in your diet, your active body can suffer.

Therefore, any athlete who is following a low energy or low-carb diet should take the necessary steps to fine-tune the diet to ensure that dietary protein intake is adequate (otherwise, health and performance issues could arise).

I'm not advocating low-carb or low energy diet but if you choose this dietary route, be sure to not skimp on dietary protein.

Endurance athletes should aim for 1.2-1.7g of protein per kg body weight per day. If you weigh 130 lbs (59kg), this equates to 71-106g protein per day.

Here are a few take-home dietary messages:

• If you are intentionally trying to lose weight, you will want to focus on the higher end of your protein needs to preserve lean muscle mass as you lose body fat. 

• On longer duration or high intensity workout days, daily protein needs should be higher to optimize training-induced muscle adaptions.

• For all athletes, don't miss out on the great opportunity to recover post workout by including protein with your post workout snack or meal.

• Although the recommendations for post workout carbs/protein will vary based on the individual, workout intensity/duration and fitness goals, here are a few suggestions for post workout fueling:

-If you are eating only a snack post workout, aim for 10-15g of protein and around 20-40g of carbs. As a example, 10g whey or vegan protein + 1/2 cup cow's milk (or almond milk) + water (as needed) + 1 banana.  
At your next meal, aim for around 15-25g protein and 40-60g of carbs.  As an example, 2 eggs + 1 egg white (or 3 ounce lean meat) + 3/4 cup oatmeal + 1/2 cup berries + 1 tbsp maple syrup + 1/2 ounce chia seeds.
If only eating a meal (and no post workout snack), aim for 25-30g protein and 50-90g carbs. (higher end of protein and carbs after long duration or very intense workouts)
These are guidelines, not rules. Certainly, it is important that you find the best combo and nutrient timing that works for your workout and life regime.

• As an athlete, it is important to get familiar with the best (and easy to find, prep and consume) sources of protein and carbs in your diet so that recovery nutrition is not an afterthought but instead, easy to execute on a daily basis. 

(For the record, I am absolutely not anti-fat but for the purpose of this blog, I am specifically focusing on protein in the athletes' diet).

• It's important to spread your total protein intake out throughout the day (example 25-30g each meal) so that each meal helps to fulfill your total protein intake needs. Plus, protein (along with fat) increases satiety which can help with overeating and cravings.

• If your typical breakfast is oatmeal and fruit or toast with avocado and an orange, add 3/4 cup Greek yogurt, 20-25g vegan protein powder, 2 egg whites + 1 whole egg or 4 ounce lean meat or fish to your meal for a more balanced meal with adequate protein.

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Some of my go-to plant strong protein sources are:
Organic 1% milk
Tempeh
Tofu
Beans
Lentils
Edamame
Cottage cheese
Eggs

Whey protein
Greek Yogurt

Cheese

I also get protein from nuts, seeds, nut butter, chia seeds, hummus and grains.

Are you eating enough protein in your diet?

Fueling the Vegetarian Endurance Athlete

Fueled by plants

 

With so much information on healthy eating, sport nutrition and dieting, I really enjoy writing about topics that I know a lot about from first-hand experience.

When Girls Gone Strong approached me to write an article about fueling the vegetarian endurance athlete, I was super excited about the opportunity to introduce others to my plant strong lifestyle. 

As a 22-year vegetarian and 9x Ironman finisher, I think it is safe to say that my diet is not a temporary fad and perhaps I know a thing or two about fueling the plant-strong athlete. 

I hope you find that my article is an informative way to help you understand how to eat to be a healthy endurance athlete and how to do so, if you choose vegetarianism.

This article is not persuading you to become a vegetarian athlete to boost performance, nor is it telling you that your health and performance will automatically improve should you choose to remove meat from your diet.

All endurance athletes must understand the importance of consuming a balanced, wholesome diet and this article will clear up any confusion you may have in regard to how to nourish your body as you fuel for performance.

Despite naysayers believing that endurance athletes must eat meat to be a healthy and strong endurance athlete, there is no shortage of high level athletes, achieving great endurance accomplishments, by thriving off a plant strong diet.

There are many apprehensions by athletes, coaches, and outsiders who question the athletic potential (or lack thereof) of vegetarian endurance athletes.

 

But remember, it is within a restrictive diet that there will always be concerns for nutritional deficiencies.  It would appear that vegetarians are undoubtedly lacking key nutrients by not eating animal protein but, let’s not pick too hard on vegetarians. Remember that an under-fueled and undernourished athlete will always under-perform.

 

 

There are often concerns of anemia or iron deficiency, inadequate consumption of quality dietary protein, zinc, calcium, vitamin D, and B12 and an alleged inability to eat “enough” calories/energy from plants.

But vegetarian or not, a poorly planned or restrictive diet with an extreme exercise routine is not a winning combination. 

A deficiency in iron and B12 isn’t limited to the vegetarians. 

So, even for the omnivorous endurance athlete reading this article, hopefully you can use the following information to fill in any nutritional gaps that may be keeping you from reaching your full fitness potential.

If you find that this article was a beneficial read, please share with a friend/training partner/group. Help me spread the message about the importance of eating for fuel and for health. 

Also, be sure to mark your calendars for Friday December 19th when I will be hosting a LIVE Q&A on the Girls Gone Strong Facebook page from 11:30-12:30EST to answer any questions you might have! 

A big thank you to Girls Gone Strong for asking me to contribute to this fabulous organization of motivating, inspiring and hard working female athletes and fitness enthusiasts! 

FUELING THE VEGETARIAN ENDURANCE ATHLETE

Avoid dehydration with these hydration tips for endurance athletes

Triathletes and endurance athletes are very susceptible to dehydration and even more so, a heat-related injury. 

What must be understood is that the body is compromised when we place intentional training stress on the body through training and racing. However, what is even more serious is that many athletes are not taking the daily precautions to be "healthy" on a day to day basis. So as you can imagine, when an athlete throws in 8,10 or more hours of training per week, there is even more confusion on how to meet daily and sport needs but very little time to even make time/energy to ensure that the body is healthy going into workouts and well fueled/hydrated during workouts. 

Because endurance racing is far from normal or easy for the human body to handle, health professionals acknowledge that metabolic demands during training/racing in long distance events are not easy to meet. That is, it is very hard for the body to take in the appropriate amount of calories, carbohydrates/sugars, electrolytes and fluids, in the right concentration and at the right time, consistently throughout an event in order to postpone fatigue and to prevent dehydration. These are two limiters for endurance athletes. 

If you think about those who succeed well in endurance events, every athlete is experiencing fatigue from glycogen depletion and dehydration but those who can minimize these two performance-limiting issues the longest, is the one who slows down the least and thus, the one who is the most successful on race day. 

Because endurance racing is extremely contagious for those who want to push the boundaries, challenge the limits and prove that anything is possible, it is extremely important that you do your part and be responsible for your health when training for endurance races. 

I see it and I hear about it all the time!

-I don't like water

-I didn't finish all my bottles on the bike

-I don't like to carry anything when I run

-I am not comfortable drinking while running/riding my bike

-I don't have enough cages on my bike

-I don't like sport drinks

-It's only a "short" workout - I don't need it

I could go on and on and on. 

There are dozens of excuses and reasons that endurance have as to why they are not meeting their fluid/electrolyte/calorie needs during training and racing and not only is it holding athletes back from reaching performance goals but it is also extremely damaging to the body. 

Because the human body is extremely complicated, we must understand that there is never a perfect plan that works 100% of the time. Just like in life, we have lessons. Learning lessons. 

The goal is to always learn from what doesn't work in order to not make the same errors/mistakes twice. So if you are an athlete who keeps struggling with your performance/health and can't seem to figure it out, contact a sport RD who can help you out...before it's too late. 

The problem that many athletes face when it comes to training in the heat or just training in general is that the body suffers to adapt to training stress. Certainly we all have our own definitions of this suffering but we can all agree that to reach our potential as endurance athletes, there has to be a steady, consistent training load on the body (with ample recovery) in order to prepare for the upcoming event. 

However, there are some symptoms that are not 'normal' when it comes to training for endurance events and we want to do everything possible to minimize or avoid these: 

-headaches

-dizziness

-blurred vision

-loss of focus

-chills

-no appetite post workout

-excessive sleepiness

-extreme weakness

-low blood pressure

-stop sweating

-dry mouth

-dark urine

-dry skin

-excessive urination/little urination

-extreme cramping

-bloating/puffiness 

-excessive thirst/lost of thirst

-rapid, elevated pulse (despite effort slowing down)

-muscle spasms (during and post workout)

Are you currently experiencing any of the above and have you been associating these with a "hard workout"? 

Every human body is different but we must pay very close attention to our body when it comes to training and racing in endurance events. If you are not focused on making sure your body stays healthy during a workout or race, you are going to have to spend a lot of time getting your body healthy again before you start even thinking about training again. 

To help you out, here are a few very simple tips to ensure that you are staying hydrated during your workouts (and races): 

-Be sure to have a sport drink with you for all workouts lasting more than 1 hour - this should contain a mixture of electrolytes, carbohydrates and fluids in an appropriate concentration to digest well and to be efficiently absorbed. 

-For intense or very sweaty workouts lasting less than an hour, have at minimum an electrolyte tab in a bottle of water. 

-Aim for 24-28 ounces of fluid on the bike per hour and at least 16-20 ounces of water per hour while running. 

-Aim to sip your bottle on the bike every 10-15 minutes (you need at least 2 gulps to ensure that you are getting in around 3-4 ounces of fluid). 

-Aim for around 8 ounces of fluid every 20 min while running, Small sips more frequently will help with digestion and hydration. 

-Cool your body during all workouts in the heat (ex. bike/run). Be sure to bring liquid calories for every hour of training but additional water can be consumed as well as used for cooling the body. 

-Be sure you are setting yourself up for good hydration. Cages/hydration systems on the bike should be accessible and easy to use in ALL conditions (ex. bumpy roads, rain, technical courses, etc.). Your run courses in training should allow you to refill bottles that you bring with you OR set up bottles on your course. Everything you do in training should be practice for race day. 

-Do not wait for thirst to kick in during endurance workouts/racing. You need a fueling regime to meet needs and a schedule. Your body is very smart and it works really hard to correct itself during all scenarios. So any cues that you receive or changes in performance, this is simply your bodies way of trying to fix itself. For some, the body may eventually start shutting itself down so that you do not risk very serious injury to your body. This isn't because you didn't train hard enough or because you are weak but rather because you did not pace and fuel smart. 

-Although you do not need to overhydrate (especially on water), start your fueling strategy early in training/racing (ex. start drinking your sport drink within 10 min of working out/racing) and sip frequently. An athlete who waits to drink until he/she is thirsty is behind on fluid requirements and many times, this will cause an athlete to drink an excessive amount of water (as it may be more palatable as a race/training continues) and may cause hyponatremia (very serious) or may cause bloating by trying to drink too much at once (often a hypertonic amount from guzzling a lot of drinks at aid stations or stops at gas stations in training). 

-Make your nutrition during workouts as simple as possible. You should not be using 3 different methods of getting electrolytes, calories/carbohydrates/sugars and fluids. This is not only extremely difficult to master since you are not a sport nutrition chemist but it can also be very difficult to ensure that you are meeting your needs. 

-Pace yourself. Mild dehydration affects performance and can cause drowsiness, irritability, loss of concentration and headaches. When dehydration becomes worse, serious performance inhibitions occur which also affect the heart, brain, muscles and organs. Successful athletes know how to pace an effort so that nutrition/hydration is helping fuel the effort. If you overwork your body it is not possible to overfuel the body to meet your training/racing demands. 

And lastly, you have to be respectful of your body if the plan doesn't go as planned. If you are feeling any changes with your body that do not feel normal, first slow down. If you are not able to get yourself to that "feel good" place that you have felt in past workouts, you can not continue to push your body for it will eventually be unable to meet any physiological demands that you are trying to place on it. Never get upset at your body for a bad workout or race if it is simply trying to do what it knows to do and that is protect you from a serious heat or other-related injury. 

If you know someone who can benefit from this blog, please sure. Sport nutrition is a complicated area with many tips and suggestions that are not always practical or healthy. To better help endurance athletes, it is my goal to ensure that athletes know how to better fuel and hydrate a body in motion.