Latest
News - November / December 2006
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The seasons first half is nearly up in Australia with
Xmas quickly approaching. Pacing yourself around a
full year is always a challenge and with our season
lasting up to 10 months of the year it is important
to make sure adequate forced recovery is worked into
your training program. All too often recovery is neglected
and burnout arrives due to the (at times) ad hoc approach
to training we may engage in. This was my way of training
years ago when coaches were not around and things
like periodisation was not spoken of. Now I find myself
nearing the big 4 0 and are finding through trial
and error and by working with many athletes over the
past 10 years ways to make less volume and intensity
work. One of the keys is staying consistent but to
do so we must include regular recovery and periods
of down time, look at nutrition and stay healthy rather
than just be fit. I nearly lost my health forever
10 years ago and relise we can always strive to be
better in this department. Training smart has a big
part for all of us and realising that most of the
time less is more.
Never Give up
Nick
Latest
News
This months news is a wrap of November and December.
A busy time for many with some great results posted
and plenty of PB's from some of the 'Old Guard' at
MSC and some great first up runs on the board for
a host of first time triathletes so far this season.
Race Scene
Port Mac Half Ironman October
23
Nick Croft 2nd in 35-39 - 4.26
Rebecca Brown 6th in 50-54 - 6.10
Noosa Triathlon November 6
Another Noosa tri came and went with a great turn
out from the squad. Plenty of first timers which is
great to see but also a fair few PB's also. Results
for Squad individuals below. We had some teams also
going around - just to be part of the action.
Steve Pratt - 1.58
Marty Leahy - 2.05
Justin Hunter - 2.06 - PB
Brad Allen - 2.08 - PB
Mike Dunstan - 2.13
Dallas Blacklaw - 2.15 - PB
Shane Vivian - 2.16
Daniel Darcy - 2.16
Melanie Kroniger - 2.17 - First time Noosa
Marc Withnall - 2.26 - PB
Peter Nimmo - 2.29
Mark Botsford - 2.30 - PB
Carl Schmidt - 2.32
David Coulter - 2.33 - First time Noosa
Steve Buth - 2.34
Michael Michell - 2.39 - First time Noosa
Lisbeth Veijby - 2.40 - First time Noosa
Angelika Hannon - 2.54
Paul Lakey - 2.53 - First time Noosa
Jan Croft - 2.55 - winner Female 60-65
Jane Foreman - 2.57
Peter Degnian - 3.01 - First time Noosa
Peter Crockett - 3.19 - First time Noosa
Ironman Western Australia
Steve Pratt - 20th overall in 9.18
Marty Leahy - 11.12
Justin Hunter - 11.38
Jason Cheshire - 12.03
Peter Seldon - 12.32
Sue Stevenson - 15.59 - 1st female 55-59 Q Hawaii
2006
(Well done to Sue - a 10 year dream has now been realised
and a lesson to evertone about patience persistence
a determination)
Excerpt below from Ironmanlive
story
A fierce electrical storm lashed the seaside town
of Busselton on the eve of the Ironman Western Australia
Triathlon. Anxious race organizers called a 4am meeting
with the local weather bureau but as daylight broke,
the storm, which had been raging for eight hours,
dissipated. Athletes and officials breathed a collective
sigh of relief, and the race was underway at 6.30am
, which was half an hour later than scheduled. The
finish time was also extended by half an hour to 11.30pm
, keeping the publicized 17-hour cut-off.
Choppy seas greeted the athletes in the usually calm
waters of Geographe Bay for the 3.8km swim. For the
first time in Ironman a team’s event was held,
and Australian surf lifesaving champion Ky Hurst got
his star-studded team off to a great start, completing
the swim in a time of 44:16. In the individual event,
11 athletes swam together, amongst them Bryan Rhodes,
Pete Jacobs and Matt Tibbett. One of the pre-race
favourites Mitch Anderson was seven minutes behind
this pack. In the women’s event, Silke Hinrichs
from Germany handled the rough water conditions well
and exited in first place. Angela Milne hit dry land
in 58:40 and faced a six minute deficit.
Conditions were soggy underfoot but brightening
up overhead for the 180km cycle. Luke McKenzie led
the way for most of the ride in conditions that
were blustery, with a head wind facing riders after
the turn around point. Mitch Anderson was slowly
making his way through the field and eventually
joined McKenzie late on the ride. Anderson stated
later that he was thankful for the wind, as it played
to his cycle strength and he hit the bike-to-run
transition first, but McKenzie surged early on the
run and gained 1:30 on Anderson in the first 12km.
However Anderson ’s patience paid off as he
slowly pegged the lead back until he passed McKenzie
at the 25km point of the 42.2km marathon. Soon after
this McKenzie pulled out citing Achilles problems.
With his main nemesis of the day now out of the
race, Anderson cruised to victory and crossed the
line, appropriately to the tunes of ACDC’s
Thunder Struck, to win his first Ironman title in
a time of 8:27:36 . Anderson dedicated the win to
his wife, Bridie, who ironically had already qualified
for Kona 2006 in a lottery and had been putting
the pressure on her husband to also qualify so they
can train and compete together next year.
In second place was Spaniard Eneko Llanos in a
time of8:31:41 . He was closely followed by Swiss
athlete Mathias Hecht who collapsed after crossing
the line only 30 seconds behind Eneko.
In the women’s event, Angela Milne received
a five-minute drafting penalty on the bike, but
this seemed to just spur her on and she made up
the time and then entered T2 with a five-minute
lead over Lisa Marangon. Milne was in no danger
of losing her lead for the rest of the day, and
crossed the line in victory in a time of 9:31:32
. “I had many ups and downs during the day.
I had forgotten just how hard these races are,”
said Milne after the race. She dedicated the win
to her father who passed away six years ago.
The women’s placings were more closely fought
as the positions changed early on the run. Marangon
dropped back and Canadian Marilyn MacDonald moved
up into second place where she remained for much
of the run before being passed by Bondi athlete
Charlotte Paul. Paul finished second after a strong
run leg, crossing the line in a time of 9:47:28
. MacDonald held on for third, German Imke Schiersch
was fourth and age-group competitor Western Australian
Joanne Davies had a great race to cross the line
in fifth.
The team of swimmer Ky Hurst, cyclist Henk Vogels
and physically challenged athlete John MacLean easily
won the teams division in a time of 7:21:09 .
The heat of the day belied the early cold and windy
conditions, and athletes and spectators alike baked
in the hot afternoon sun. Busselton once again hosted
a successful event as many of the 645 athletes continued
on into the night trying to beat the 11.30pm cut-off
time.
Up Coming Events
Asian Championships 1/12 - Kimbeley Yap
Bribie Tri Series (QLD) race # 2 - 4/5
Canberra Half Ironman 11/12
Rebecca Brown, Brad Allen, Guy Shead, Mike Broadbent,
Nick Croft
QLD Tri Series # 3 Raby Bay 18/12
Noosa Club Race 29/1
Goondiwindi Hell Of The West 5/2
Australia Long Course Championships 12/2
The feed zone - Eating before
training
by Monique Ryan, MS, RD
During the build phase of training, higher intensity
and longer workouts require more glycogen for fuel
and what you eat the in the few hours before training
is essential so that you have adequate fuel to train.
This is especially important when you have two daily
training sessions. A perfectly timed and portioned
pre-training meal or snack can replenish fuel depleted
from a previous training session, provide early
morning fuel, and supercharge you for training later
in the day.
Metabolically speaking, there are two distinct
time periods for pre-training meal timing: 2-4 hours
before and 30-60 minutes before. Often when you
eat is a matter of practicality and scheduling.
2-4 hours before
Eating carbohydrate 3 to 4 hours before training
does elevate blood insulin levels and favour the
use of carbohydrate as a fuel. But because larger
portions are tolerated, you do keep blood glucose
levels nice and steady. Plenty of research indicates
that eating at this time improves training.
Eating three hours before training, while a safe
interval for race day, it is not as likely to happen
during a regular training week. However, if the
opportunity presents itself, you can have a nice
sized meal or snack will plenty of digestion time.
Liver glycogen stores are fully restocked, sending
glucose into your bloodstream when training, and
you can even top off your muscle glycogen stores.
It also can stave of hunger during harder training
sessions.
Try to consume the upper limits of your tolerances
for the full performance benefit. For every hour
that you allow yourself some quality digestion time,
consume just under half a gram of carbohydrate for
every pound that you weigh (about 1 gram per kilogram
of weight). If a 160-pound (73 kilogram) athlete
could consume 240 grams of carbohydrate. It could
be a mix of liquid and solid carbohydrate sources,
depending on your tolerance. Cereals with soy or
dairy milk, juice, fruit, could comprise much of
your carbohydrate intake. Small amounts of low fat
protein can also be included, but try to keep fat
intake low as this will slow down digestion time.
Eating two hours before training would take the
recommended carbohydrate amounts down to 150 g for
the same athlete. It is even more important that
easily digested food be part of your snack closer
to training. Breakfast shakes, smoothies, and sports
supplements can be part of the mix at over 50 g
of carbohydrate per serving.
30-60 minutes before exercise
Real life often requires that you consume some fuel
30 to 60 minutes before training. Rising in the
early morning hours to train often requires a quick
bite or gulp before heading out. Scheduling can
also result in a large time gap between the last
meal and the start of a training session, when hunger
and limited fuel become an issue. You may also find
it helpful to eat closer to longer training sessions
for the carbohydrate boost and performance benefit
and simply need the calories because your energy
needs are very high during your current training
cycle. You are most likely to derive a performance
benefit from eating 30 to 60 minutes before training
if you have not eaten for four hours or more.
You are likely aware that consuming carbohydrate
in the 30 to 60 minutes before training does produce
a marked increase in blood glucose and insulin levels
prior to training. And there can be a small, but
short-lived drop in blood glucose during exercise.
Most athletes experience no ill-effects from this
drop which quickly corrects itself, and there are
plenty of studies that show a performance improvement
with this eating strategy.
Some athletes are carbohydrate sensitive right
before exercise, and a few simple strategies can
help them tolerate a snack at this time. You can
actually have a slightly higher dose of carbohydrate.
While many athletes may consume 50 grams or more
from a gel, energy bar, or concentrated drink, aim
for over 70 grams to offset the drop in blood glucose.
Some easily digested products may have a lower glycemic
index and work well for the athlete, though whole,
low glycemic foods may not be the most practical
choice from a gastrointestinal perspective.
Another important strategy to keep in mind is that
consuming a carbohydrate-containing sports drink
during early on when training maintains blood glucose
levels (insulin secretion markedly declines during
exercise), correcting any blood glucose dips, and
also gives you the best start in hydrating during
the training session.
Some pre-exercise meals/snacks
3-4 hours before
Pancakes, 4 medium
Fruit topping, ½ cup
Syrup, ½ cup
Juice, 8 ounces
2-3 hours before
Cereal, 1.5 ounces
Banana, 1 large
Juice, 8 ounces
Toast, 2 slices
Jam, 2 Tbsp.
2 hours before
Fruit smoothie:
Yogurt, milk, fruit
Energy bar
1 hour before
1 Energy bar or 1 Gel or 12 to 16 oz High Carbohydrate
Supplement
Contact Nick if you would
like to include some specific strength training
into your program.
