One thing I learned about my body during the riguers of Ironman training was that fueling for endurance events before, during and after training sessions and races is far more important than I ever suspected. A big challenge I had during training was initially towards the end of long, hot rides in the summer and cramping. It was something I resolved through the time tested technique of trial-and-error. Something I never really got a full handle on though was how to refuel my body correctly so that my workout the next day was valuable. The end result was ok on race day as I performed at the level I hoped but with better nutrition strategy, I think my training and racing at events from Olympic through Full-course (Ironman distance) races would be drastically improved. This should also help me during running season as well.
So my plan to figure this out is to make an appointment at the National Training Center in Clermont. I’m really lucky to have a nearby facility that caters to endurance athletes. Since I’ve moved more into running mode for the next 5 months or so, my first analysis will be around my running nutrition. I’m planning to, in mid-December or so, head over to Clermont and have a full lab done on my running nutrition. I’m pretty excited about it and I hope that it will actually save me some money in the long run as I can hone my race & training nutrition rather than taking the shotgun approach and hoping that I’m eating enough.