by Kerith Duncanson www.helpyourself.com.au

The two nutrition priorities after a big training session or race are rehydration and glycogen replacement. Endurance athletes are well-aware of the need to replace fluids, but carbohydrate consumption is equally important after a training or racing as you will have depleted muscles of glycogen and the only way to refuel them is to eat (or drink) carbohydrates.

Many athletes suffer unnecessary fatigue for days after a training session or event simply because they haven’t refueled their muscles. Inadequate carbohydrate consumption, in combination with muscle fibre damage, may delay muscle glycogen repletion for up to a week, resulting in poor training performance, fatigue and lethargy.

Sugars are equally as effective as traditional carbohydrate foods in restoring glycogen stores immediately after an endurance event. Aim to consume about 50 grams of  carbohydrate within an hour of your training session. This could come from either of these choices: 800ml of sports drink or 500ml of fruit juice or 2 slices thick  toast with jam or honey or 2 breakfast bars or 3 pieces of fruit (or a combination of these).

Once you have recovered  it is  advisable to sit down to a carbohydrate rich meal to further boost your glycogen stores. It is important that you begin reloading immediately following the session because this enables the body to resynthesise glycogen twice as quickly as when feeding is delayed for more than two hours.

If you put these ideas into practice, you will undoubtedly recover faster and therefore be able to train more consistently between races, which adds up to better performances. Train hard, race smart and RECOVER well, you will notice the difference!

by Kerith Duncanson www.helpyourself.com.au

Many runners place so much emphasis on training that they overlook race practice in preparation for an event. Try to consider all aspects of your preparation, including nutrition, so that your best performances are not left on the training track.

For races up to one hour duration, ensure that you are replacing fluids at a rate of 250 – 500ml per 15 minutes (depending on personal perspiration rates and weather). Practice this by sipping fluids every 15 minutes in training during track sessions or interval workouts.

For races over 1 hour duration (half or full marathon) you need to replace fluid and carbohydrate. At least a litre of fluid and about 50 grams of carbohydrate would be ideal. Consider using a sports drink, as this provides up to 60 grams of carbohydrate per litre. Choose a brand that you enjoy the taste of in order to optimise usage.

If you have problems with stomach cramps during races, the cause may be lack of practice using fluid replacement /sports drinks, or delaying consumption of fluids until too late in the race.

For ideal effect, use sports drinks during long runs at least once a week in the month prior to your main race. It is advisable to continue doing some longer training sessions without the use of sports drinks, as depleting carbohydrate stores and switching to fat burning is also an important adaptive part of your preparation.

Drink extra fluids (say an additional litre of water per day) a few days before the race, and top up with sports drink pre-race, before using a combination of water and sports drink throughout the event.

The former world cross country champion, now 32 years of age, finished second in the Houston Marathon (2:28:34) behind Alemitu Abera winning time of 2:23:14.

Ethiopia has indefinitely banned 35 athletes – including Olympic men’s 5,000 and 10,000 metres champion Kenenisa Bekele – from competition in a row over training.

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