{"id":1830,"date":"2015-09-20T14:36:29","date_gmt":"2015-09-20T03:36:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timberkel.com\/?p=1830"},"modified":"2015-09-25T10:51:08","modified_gmt":"2015-09-24T23:51:08","slug":"fuelling-up-for-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timberkel.com\/fuelling-up-for-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Fuelling up for success"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It seems incredible, but I think that as I get older I\u2019m actually getting wiser. It doesn\u2019t stop me doing some pretty dumb things along the way though. The trick is to always learn from your mistakes. Check out my article in <a href=\"http:\/\/triathlon220.com.au\">220 Triathlon magazine<\/a> to get the full story, but let\u2019s just say &#8211; taping your gels to the top tube of your bike on a rainy day in Cairns is always going to end badly. My point is that in the past I haven\u2019t given the nutrition side of my preparation the attention that it deserved and as a result it\u2019s cost me places in races. When it comes to nutrition, you\u2019ve got to think carefully about it and plan for it, especially when it comes to racing.<\/p>\n<p>Nutrition is a massive topic and it\u2019s impossible to cover everything in one go, so the 220 Tri article is a \u2018Bento box\u2019 of ideas, information and tips covering the lead-up to race day, race day itself and then post-race recovery. Since you\u2019re here on the website, I want to give you some bonus content. Think of it this way\u2026 if the 220 Tri article is the Bento box, this is the sneaky Mars Bar &#8211; a little treat to hit the spot and keep you going.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Welcome to Tim\u2019s Kitchen<\/strong><br \/>\nIt\u2019s no secret that I\u2019m a fan of Endura products. Yes, they\u2019re a valued sponsor, but that\u2019s because the Endura stuff really works for me. Check out the video below where I go into detail about what my nutrition plan looks like for training and racing. I also give you the secret recipe to my recovery drink &#8211; a must for that post-race\/post-training recovery.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/137806269\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" frameborder=\"0\" title=\"TVB - Tech Talk - Nutrition\" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve started to give a whole lot more time to getting the nutrition side of things right and this has definitely paid off. This leads me to my first point:<\/p>\n<p><strong>#1<\/strong> &#8211; Prepare your nutrition plan carefully so it\u2019s one less thing you need to think about when you\u2019re training or racing.\u00a0The bottom line is that making decisions takes mental energy and believe it or not, it saps your will-power. Studies seem to indicate we\u2019ve got a limited amount of will-power to access each day. That\u2019s why we tend to make bad decisions when we\u2019re tired or later in the day &#8211; our reserves have run out.<\/p>\n<p>The less you need to think and make decisions when you\u2019re racing, the more you can stay in the moment and focus on the job at hand. Losing my gels in Cairns wasn\u2019t just a problem because I lost my fuel. It was also a major distraction because I was thinking and worrying about the impact it would have on my race.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s the same when you\u2019re training. Let\u2019s be honest \u2013 some mornings it\u2019s hard enough getting up and getting on the bike or into the pool, without having to make decisions about what you\u2019re going to eat. Routine is your friend &#8211; it saves you valuable mental energy that you can use on training and racing harder &#8211; so develop your own routines &#8211; a morning routine, a pre-training routine, a pre-race routine. You will definitely reap the benefits.<\/p>\n<p>For more on morning routines, check out Tim Ferriss of 4 Hour Work Week &amp; 4 Hour Body fame\u00a0and his <a href=\"http:\/\/fourhourworkweek.com\/2015\/09\/18\/5-morning-rituals\/\">blog post<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>#2<\/strong> &#8211; Realise that food is more than calories<br \/>\nThere\u2019s a scene in The Matrix movie, set in the future, where Keanu Reeve\u2019s character is sitting down and eating \u2018dinner\u2019. It\u2019s a tasteless, disgusting-looking grey slime but, as one of the other characters points out, it\u2019s scientifically designed to contain all the nutrients they need. Sure, it meets their dietary requirements, but mentally and emotionally it\u2019s a disaster. And that\u2019s my point &#8211; food is much more than fuel for your body.<\/p>\n<p>So here are a few things to think about:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Try to eat clean and eat healthy. Learn to be creative and you can also eat tasty at the same time.<\/li>\n<li>Moderation and variety don\u2019t just keep you healthy, they keep you motivated to keep up a balanced diet. That doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s not good to pig out once in a while!<\/li>\n<li>Food isn\u2019t just fuel &#8211; there\u2019s a whole psychological side to it as well. That can be about being social and eating with friends or it can be providing a mental boost in the middle of a race &#8211; a treat to get you back into the game, like my sneaky Mars Bar or a bit of delicious banana bread.<\/li>\n<li>The food you eat today will have longer-term effects that go beyond just your racing career. We\u2019re talking about developing good habits, and good health, for life.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>#3<\/strong> &#8211; It\u2019s all about the timing<br \/>\nJust like comedy, the most important thing about nutrition is timing. It\u2019s not just what you eat or even how you eat, it\u2019s all about when you eat. This gets back to working out a routine that suits you &#8211; it\u2019s a very personal thing.<\/p>\n<p>My stomach can be a little sensitive sometimes, so I\u2019m careful about when and what I eat before I race. For example, when it comes to carb-loading before a race, not all carbs are the same. Discover which foods help you feel energised and happy, not bloated and slow. The same goes for your pre-race meal(s). Consider carefully what you take on-board pre-race.<\/p>\n<p>What and when you eat is pretty critical to how you\u2019re going to feel when you get to the start line. For some athletes, consuming carbs within an hour of exercising can actually lead to a downward spike in blood glucose concentration, leaving them feeling fatigued before they even start the race.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019d love to be able to tell you exactly what and when to eat before and on race day\u2026 but one size definitely doesn\u2019t fit all. I do know what suits me and it\u2019s been a process of trial and error. I stick with my Endura gear because I know it works and it\u2019s part of my routine now. You need to discover what works best for you. Definitely do your research, but don\u2019t simply do something because one of the pros is doing it that way. Learn, trial and tweak until you find what gives you the best results. Remember \u2013 get your nutrition right and you\u2019re fuelling for success!<\/p>\n<p>Cheers!<br \/>\n<em>Tim<\/em><\/p>\n<p>PS. If you haven&#8217;t already done so,\u00a0<a title=\"Subscribe\" href=\"https:\/\/timberkel.com\/subscribe\/\">sign up now<\/a>\u00a0for some great little insights delivered free into your inbox.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1837,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[279,253],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timberkel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1830"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timberkel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timberkel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timberkel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timberkel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1830"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/timberkel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1843,"href":"https:\/\/timberkel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1830\/revisions\/1843"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timberkel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timberkel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timberkel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timberkel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}