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Written by Vince
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Tuesday, 09 February 2010 13:02 |
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I'd like the subject of this post to be "That Last Kilo" but I had to Google "convert 1 kilo to pound" so I think it would be just plain dishonest to use anything other than the Imperial measurement.
I remember back in the 70's when they attempted to switch to the Metric system. That lasted about a week until someone shouted: "Screw you and your funny base10 measurement system!" And that was the end of that. Little did they know we'd switch from exporting to importing over the next 40 years and now I'm screwed without the help of Google.
Seriously. I'm surprised my head doesn't explode when I use the 31 inch hose on my JoeBlow floor pump to inflate my 700 centimeter wheels. :)
What was this topic about? Oh yeah. That last kilo... errr... I mean pound.
It's that time of year when everyone who is racing early is in the full swing of their training and the pounds just start to fly off. For some, the question is: "How much weight loss can I afford to lose without impacting my performance?" In the back of their (our) minds, there's one of those phrases like this one -- "For every one percent loss of body mass, primarily as body fat, there will be an approximate one percent increase in running speed."|
Let me show you how my mind works. My mind says: "So let me see if I get this straight -- I can lose weight and I can get faster? That beats the heck out of training. Let the fasting begin!"
While I've never attempted to lose weight, I have manipulated my intake in order to stay on the lower end. What I mean is that I can recall eating quite a few apples instead of something with more calories in order to feel full. I remember specifically stocking my room at Lake Placid with a ton of fruit in order to curb my appetite while waiting around during race week. Right or wrong, it is what it is but that's the last time I play around with my calories.
I have a new theory which replaces the old theory of getting full on fruit. In the days leading up to my pre-ride of the Silverman bike course, I purchased a giant family-sized bag of trail mix. A bag so big that it would probably turn bad before you made it to the bottom. Not for me though. I managed to eat the majority of the bag within 24 hours. And not only that, I ate a big pasta dinner with a glass of Duckhorn merlot the night before the pre-ride. Between the trail mix and my regularly scheduled meals, my glycogen stores runneth over.
My pre-ride of the course was a success and I felt great the entire day. I went back a few weeks later to race and I repeated the exact routine down to the glass of Duckhorn. I am now convinced that all of those calories, despite the weight gain, contributed to my successful race.
I've been thinking about this "theory" since the race and I've come up with a conclusion. I'm basically racing in an all day event where the real object of the game is to NOT run out of energy. That giant bag of trail mix is probably one of the best sources of fuel due to those calorie dense little pieces.
I see many bags of trail mix in my future. :)
My new motto: Race Fat, Race Fast
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