Beginner's Triathlon! Nutrition & Training Advice Appreciated. page 3

[js290]

Nutrition & Metabolism | Full text | Ketogenic diets and physical performance

[sjmusic2]

Sjmusic - did you complete a triathlon swim at 25m + rest? That gives me hope! What a shame about your wrist but it sounds like you've found a good alternative.

Yes, pretty much...when I did my first tri I was a very poor swimmer, an ok cyclist and a decent runner and I finished it just fine (without being last ). I've also done tri's after I broke my wrist, but for fun rather than for a time. If you are able to get 3-4 months swim training in before the event you'll be swimming like a fish in June and won't have anything to worry about.

I agree with TriGirl (again !), definitely do the x-country as at the very least it will give you feedback about your current condition and you can use that to plan how best to move forward towards your goals.

[LolaLola]

Nutrition & Metabolism | Full text | Ketogenic diets and physical performance

If you see this js290 - thanks for the link. I am reading my way through Volek & Phinney's "The Art & Science of Low Carb Living" at the moment but that article was a nice summation of exactly the info I was looking for. It appeared to me as though as long as I am keto-adapted, with adequate intakes of potassium & sodium & protein and exercising aerobically then I should be ok on a low-carb diet. I'm happy to be corrected if I've misread any of that article.

I found the point about rabbit starvation very interesting actually. About the same time that I got back on the low-carb wagon after my summer holidays and started on the PB pathway a friend of mine started the Dukan diet. She lost an impressive amount of weight but she is absolutely miserable since Christmas. She is exhausted & lethargic & down in the dumps. Her skin has broken out in a big rash. She was asking me yesterday to recommend a book or a plan so she could follow what I'm doing instead. Over the last five months that we have been following different plans I have lost about the same amount of weight that she has, but I feel great & my energy levels are way up. I am starting to wonder if Dukan with it's low fat & low carb approach could lead to a kind of rabbit starvation???

[LolaLola]

I'll be brave and attempt one of the spin classes soon - good point about making it as hard as you want it to be. The newbie who collapsed was a man who had never done a spin class before. I think he might have underestimated how hard it would be and went at it hell for leather for the first 5 minutes to show the ladies how it should be done! Lol. The 2 mile run is on the day after I come back from a trip to Barcelona which is why I'm hesitating a bit. Maybe the thought of it would keep me on the straight & narrow while I'm away. Now that I'm an athlete I'll have to leave my old ways behind me ;-). Lol.

The thing about spinn classes is that you actually determine how difficult they are going to be since you are the one putting on the resistance. I would probably try and catch the instructor after her class and talk to her about it. Also if this class is so tough ask if they have a beginners class, since you'll definitely need some help the first time you spin in order to fit the bike correctly. If this is not an option I would just use a stationary bike, but definitely incorporate some of the above mentioned speed work from the beginning to make sure your pushing yourself. The 2 mile race sounds like a great plan, that would give you a deadline and a short term goal.

[LolaLola]

At least you were a ok cyclist & a decent runner! I'd say I'm in the poor category of all those at the moment. I'm impressed that you could finish (and not be last!) when the swimming was that hard for you. It gives me hope!

Yes, pretty much...when I did my first tri I was a very poor swimmer, an ok cyclist and a decent runner and I finished it just fine (without being last ). I've also done tri's after I broke my wrist, but for fun rather than for a time. If you are able to get 3-4 months swim training in before the event you'll be swimming like a fish in June and won't have anything to worry about.

I agree with TriGirl (again !), definitely do the x-country as at the very least it will give you feedback about your current condition and you can use that to plan how best to move forward towards your goals.

[TriGirl]

Hey let us know how the race and the spin class works out for you... And don't hesitate to ask!

[Karma]

I've been racing and coaching triathlon for 11 years (sprint through Ironman). The last two years I have been Primal and have set PR's in several races eating/living/training in a primal manner. I just started coaching a new team of 45 athletes who will be racing at the 30th anniversary of the Wildflower triathlon in California this May (sprint/olympic & HIM). About 15 of them are paleo/primal athletes. SLEEP is critical for performance. As others have said, Sweet potoes will become your best avenue to carbohydrate load as your sprint exercises will be glycogen depleting. Speed work, as suggested, is very well suited for the distance you are racing, just ease into it. Some spin class instructors should be shot on sight for their deriliction of duty to provide a safe workout. I've been a Schwinn Certified indoor cycling instructor for the past few seasons and it amazes me to see the crap some people think is good to do on a bike. My biggest gripe is when they do "popcorn" jumps. up/down/up/down/up/down in rapid succession. Absolutely NO carryover to real life and works the connective tissue in a way your body was not designed to do. Primal blueprint guidelines of sprinting once a week will need to be adjusted for your sports. I would sprint once a week IN EACH SPORT. Allowing a day between for recovery swims, easy runs or form drills on the bike. Don't ignore core strength either. Lots of my athletes have had great success using Mark Lauren's "You are your own gym" app from itunes along with his book by the same name. Enjoy the journey and the lifestyle you have embarked upon, it can be very rewarding. Good Luck. Some additional resources you may want to check out are the book called "the low carb triathle" by Ben Greenfield and check out Ben's podcast on Itunes or Ben Greenfield Fitness ? Free exercise, nutrition, weight loss, triathlon and wellness advice from the top fitness expert in the nation. for some well rounded advice. He's not 100% on board with Paleo/primal, but he is very close.

[TriGirl]

Some spin class instructors should be shot on sight for their deriliction of duty to provide a safe workout. I've been a Schwinn Certified indoor cycling instructor for the past few seasons and it amazes me to see the crap some people think is good to do on a bike.

I know it's absolutely terrible. I just recently moved to the US for a few months, and most of the spin instructors at my gym are not worth anything (one of them doesn't even do the entire bike ride herself). I guess there is a big difference from country to country because in Denmark I have never met something like the popcorn jumps, or the crazy spinning without resistance that you also see too many instructors do. I finally asked around and found two classes run by roadbikers which helps a lot, the rest of the workouts I do with the workout my trainer prescribes. But until the spring comes around it is nice not to have to do all the workouts alone. Can't wait to get back home to my road bike ;-)

Also really great to hear that you have so many athletes going paleo/primal. How much of an improvement do you see in them?

[LolaLola]

Thanks Karma - that's great info & I will definitely check out those recommendations.

One question - my PB diet is pretty low carb & I would think my glycogen stores are usually pretty low. So far any training I've done has been manageable without any increase in carbs (bearing in mind that I'm still only doing fairly low level stuff - 5km half walk/half run last night as an example). For any kind of sprinting do you think adding extra carbs beforehand would actually be of benefit? My basic understanding is that aerobic exercise can be done while burning fats for fuel but anaerobic stuff like sprints is better with some carbs. I'm wondering if I'm going to end up confusing my body about what fuel to burn.

Trigirl - I will definitely let you know how I'm getting on. I see you're doing the Whole 30. How's that going for you?

[Karma]

I would suggest a dose of 10-20g of carbs before a hard workout of anything longer than 45 minutes. I would also suggest you consider looking into metabolic efficiency. A coach friend of mine, Bob Seebohar, who is also a nutritionist and has paleo leanings (not 100%) wrote a pretty good book on it and holds webinars often on the subject. Here is his web site: http://www.fuel4mance.com/