A Little Science

Can you think back to when you've eaten a great meal at a restaurant, then quickly grabbed your sweater when you were done because you suddenly felt the air conditioning?  Or your last Thanksgiving meal, when you wobbled over to the couch and grabbed a blankey for a little post-meal nap because all the sudden you were cold?

The very watered down non-scientific explanation to what's happening in your body is your blood is making it's way to the digestive tract to help break down all that food.  You feel cooler because your body has more important things to do than keep you warm and comfortable.

Likewise, in a swim bike or running race, your good ole bod takes over and pumps more blood to the muscles that are exerting energy for you -- your legs, your arms, your heart.  When an athlete attempts to eat or drink under these conditions, the body often rebels and GI distress ... happens. It's only got so much blood and so many places to go.

To prevent this from happening, during your base periods of training, experiment will the Less is More philosophy.  Try using the 80,000 excess calories you have in your body stored as fat.  Practice training rides and runs drinking only water, and not taking quite so many energy gels.  You'll be hungry, I guarantee.  But you'll also have trained your body to tap into those fat stores.

And BTW, reward your body in the first 30 minutes post exercise with a carbo heavy snack.

Then when you are ramping up for a race, reintroduce GUs, energy drinks and solid foods back into your plan.  Make your body a lean, mean racing machine.  Aim to top of your glycogen stores with 25 percent of the calories you burn in an hour.  You'll save money on your nutrition needs, and become the athlete you always wanted be.