Thursday, April 28, 2011

Lisbon: pre race bits and bobs

Although these gels are horribly sickly, they are giving me a real energy boost. I feel like I haven't felt for ages, which certainly helps at work. I spoke to Jonathan today and told him about my carboloading and he made me worry a little about the high glycemic index of the carbs that I am taking in. The higher the glycemic index (GI), the easier they are to digest and the more quickly the energy is released; the worry is that this could go against all this painstaking training to primarily use fat for fuel. I personally don't believe that 3 days of eating sweets can do any harm - I think the worst that can happen (apart from an upset stomach) is that the energy gets burnt off before the race starts, or that it gets turned into fat as excess calories. Here's what I ate yesterday:

Your Food Diary For:

Wednesday April 27, 2011 Ico_calendar
Breakfast Calories Carbs Fat Protein
Orange juice - Raw, 2 cup 223 52 1 3 Ico_delete
Tesco Gold - Coffee 50ml Semi Skimmed Milk 1 Sugar, 10 oz. 68 13 1 0 Ico_delete
Tesco - Pain Au Chocolat, 56 g 235 26 12 4 Ico_delete
Add Food
526 91 14 7
Lunch
Generic - 8 oz Sirloin Steak Grilled, 8 oz 450 0 20 68 Ico_delete
Fresh Direct - White Bean and Escarole Stew , 2 Cup 260 32 10 10 Ico_delete
Silk- 1 Cup - Pure Almond Milk - Vanilla, 1 cup 90 16 3 1 Ico_delete
Tesco Gold - Coffee 50ml Semi Skimmed Milk 1 Sugar, 10 oz. 68 13 1 0 Ico_delete
Homemade - French Fried Potatoes, 10 strips 100 16 4 2 Ico_delete
Add Food
968 77 38 81
Dinner
Generic - 8 oz Sirloin Steak Grilled, 12 oz 675 0 30 102 Ico_delete
Homemade - Gazpacho, 1 cup 100 5 4 7 Ico_delete
Peppers - Sweet, red, raw, 1 cup, chopped 39 9 0 1 Ico_delete
Sainsbury's - Fruit and Nut Muesli (With 100ml of Semi-Skimmed Milk), 75 g 341 51 9 13 Ico_delete
Generic - Red Wine (6 oz), 6 oz 128 3 0 0 Ico_delete
Add Food
1,283 68 43 123
Snacks
Zipvit - Energy Drink Elite, 105 g 386 95 0 0 Ico_delete
Apples - Raw, with skin, 1 cup, quartered or chopped 65 17 0 0 Ico_delete
Generic - Almonds 100g (S), 33.33 g 193 7 17 7 Ico_delete
Zipvit - Zv7 Energy Gel Orange Boost, 480 g 1,632 408 1 1 Ico_delete
Nestle - Kitkat 4 Finger (Uk), 1 bar 233 29 12 3 Ico_delete
Add Food
2,509 556 30 11
Totals 5,286 792 125 222
Your Daily Goal 3,201 306 101 229
Remaining -2,085 -486 -24 7

Calories Carbs Fat Protein

*You've earned 900 extra calories from exercise today

I didn't quite manage to get to the 850g of carbohydrates I was aiming for, but I got pretty close. I don't think it is feasible to do this with low GI foods which, by definition are harder to digest and typically have a lot more fiber. If you want to do this with spaghetti, you are talking about eating 2 kilos of the stuff! I found an interesting article on carboloading, admittedly from the Powerbar website, so bound to be biased towards taking gels but it talks about adding some low GI foods on the last day before the event, which makes sense, so I'll have a big bowl of spaghetti the night before, as is traditional. One thing to be aware of is that the body stores water with the carbohydrates, so you can feel a little bloated and the bathroom scales can give you a bit of a shock.

Jonathan and I decided that the best plan for Lisbon is to go at race pace (that is to say, not at the slower Ironman pace) but that I should reserve just a little bit, to make sure I don't really destroy myself. As a "reward" I can cut down the training next week, which is just as well because, on Friday, I have a 5 hour bike ride followed by an hour run, which I was going to have to fit around my work day. That means that I really have done all the heavy weeks of training already. The timing is great because I start a new role at work on Monday so I can't really afford to spend so many lunchtimes in the gym.

I also paid a visit to Paloma today. She gave me a leg massage to flush out all the stiffness and knots that have been building up over the last weeks and months. Now I just have to pack and drive the 600 kilometers from Madrid to Lisbon... Last year I did it on my own but this time my whole family is going so my wife will be able to share the load. Also, it just so happens that this year, Monday is a bank holiday, so we will be able to enjoy a bit of Lisbon before heading back.

All that remains to say is to wish William and Kate a great wedding tomorrow and to say sorry I couldn't make it but I have this rather important triathlon...

Check back in here on Saturday afternoon to see how it went!!

(Oh, and by the way, I didn't get accepted in the lottery to run the New York Marathon this year - damn!)

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