THE BIG FREEZE, Indoor suffering and protein!

So the freezing temperatures are here, training and getting up in the mornings, getting out in the evenings and pushing yourself is hard enough as it is but in the freezing tmpertures it becomes even more of a challenge

Choosing the indoors has actually been paying off so much, it is providing me with a new outlook on wattage, allowing me to suffer in the warm to new limits and providing me with more and more information and focused work (lets hope it is all going to pay off). But this weekend, it payed off a huge amount. A reliability ride I was due to attend and really wanted to was cut short due to the peleton coming to ground twice, due to black ice, a close shave I think. Although this did come at a price, because the whole evening before I was umming and arring whether or not to do the ride, to suffer outside in the cold, blow my socks off in the pack and enjoy the social side cycling that we all love. The decision was swayed when my amazing girlfriend (who I love to pieces for always trying to help and support me with advice, although I dont always listen) convinced me that due to my slight cold and chest problems (and previous history , pneumonia this time last year) it would be ridiculous to go out for 4 hours in the freezing cold. I love to train early and to wait around for a ride to just be cancelled due to the temperature was also on my mind. I made the eventual decision (although I had chewed my girlfriends ear off, and pissed her off with all my umming and arring all evening) to train indoors with a training partner who was a little time constricted. The session was a killer and my HR actually hit some new indoor highs, I was to structure the session and make it very TT specific, focusing on the important time trialling muscle groups, HR and power zones. The session blow my socks off, I was warm and my chest did not suffer. Having company helped and allowed me to push myself through the session.

This was not the first time that I have chosen to cycle indoors due to poor weather. In the past it has been too old to actually cycle with any quality, too wet or dangerous and I have had to abandon session in the past in the winter and then the time is completely lost. I would never ever choose indoor training over outdoor training, but I am trying to be clever and think about the big picture. My safety, wellness and the quality. Why freeze for the same effect of an indoor session.......makes no sense right. I get a feeling that maybe I am being weak training indoors, being a wimp as overs are out and in the cold. But actually I struggle in the cold, I really find it tough, I do my best, keep warm, keep tempo up, wear the right stuff and try not to feel the cold. But I do and I have to struggle though from time to time! I don't enjoy this type of training and this is where the indoor training has been a huge benefit!






Now after training hard recovery is so important, and during the winter I have a habit of not concentrating on my nutritional protein recovery intake. I feel like I get enough food in me but the truth is for the amount I train I think I have now realized that I am not getting enough, especially protein and general calories (not that calories as such matter, its the macro nutrients of the food that matters). I have now re-assessed my intake after morning session especially and increased the protein intake, I now hope that this will make sure I can recover correctly and increase my strength and speed. I am focusing on recovery and calorie intake within reason, not becoming too focused on the amounts exactly more taking a good ball part figure of what I am eating and what I need. I am lucky enough to have a wonderful sponsor in Pulsin, who provide me with gluten free protein bars (taste amazing http://www.pulsin.co.uk/pulsin-snack-bars/vanilla-choc-chip. They also provide me with protein powder (they now do an amazing value protein tub) http://www.pulsin.co.uk/pulsin-protein-powders. @pulsinandbeond.



I try to also include good carbs/fats when I am on the move and in a rush for work etc and post training chia charge flapjacks are very important in my diet, they are fantastic for post training recovery and I never have a time when I don't have a box in the cupboard!



http://chiacharge.co.uk/buy-chia-charge-flapjacks.html

@ChiaCharge


This is a great article http://www.bengreenfieldfitness.com/2013/07/how-much-carbohydrate-protein-and-fat-you-need/ . It explains alot about what to eat and how much to eat and just how important it is to get the right amount of protein into your diet to improve and build muscle.

But the balance of protein to body weight is important to consider and the below advice is very important.

This brings me to my next point. What are the actual risks of eating excess protein, or having your nitrogen balance too great?

First, consider that ammonia is a toxic compound to the body. Once you get close to about 1000 calories a day of protein (that’s about 250 grams), you can no longer convert ammonia to urea, and you begin to build up this toxin within your body. This is extremely stressful on your internal organs, especially your kidneys.

Next, excess protein can cause dehydration if you do not drink enough water. This is because your kidneys need more water to convert ammonia into urea.

Finally, mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a gene in your body that is directly correlated to accelerated aging. Decreased activity in this gene can be caused by moderate caloric restrictions and slightly lower amino acid intake (14). So excessive protein intake and a constantly positive nitrogen balance could actually shorten your life!

So the take-away message is this: eat as much protein as your body needs for repair and recovery (about 0.55g/lb) eat a little more if you want to put on muscle (up to 0.7g/lb), and then take in the rest of your calories from healthy fats and vegetables, with limited amounts of fruits and safe starches for fueling intense bouts of physical activity.

I not expect as im sure you all do for the weather to get worse, colder and a little more dangerous and indoor training will hopefully allow me to get the quality right and achieve a really good training build into the new season. It is a long season and from time to time till be a very hard one. But I just remember how much I love my sport and how important it is to me and I think......I cant wait for the next session indoor or out!

Festive period, training hard and recovery! 2015 - HORST (European Championships)

Ho ho ho and a Happy New Year!

Firstly I want to say I love Christmas a lot, always have and always will. I love seeing friends and talking to people and getting all excited about what is to come. I love the magic, buying presents and getting all festive. But thankfully we are through the festive period, I found the festivities this year great....until I actually realised just how bored they make me feel. I get restless and find sitting and doing nothing so boring and tiring, the lack of stimulation and the realisation that I dont really enjoy just sitting and filling my race for hours was a strange feeling. I couldnt quite understand why I wasn't enjoying the festive period and it as literally down to a lack of stimulation on quite a few occasions, it felt like days and days of just visiting and sitting.....zzzzzzzz.






I was able to train a lot over the festive period and I had a big focus on the bike, I was able to cycle alot and managed to dodge the weather a and keep mostly trouble free. But no one can stay trouble free during winter and I was caught out on Sunday the 4th! It was freezing and even my gloves froze it was literally the coldest I have ever been in my entire life!

Giving the extra time off over xmas I was able to bank around 700 miles worth of cycling, and 150 miles of running. All of this was structured and gain strength and endurance. I have also really started to train using wattage and started to follow a fantastic book written by Joe Friel called Power Meter (worth a read even if you don't train to wattage). I have been working hard to structure my cycling because at the moment I am really struggling to sustain and real flat line speed. I always have this probelm during the winter, and I feel that it is due to the lack TT races, switch in training to more endurance and strength in the hills. I am climbing very well, but as soon as I hit the flats I cant sustain or build speed.....with the plan I have in place I hope it will come.

One of my huge problems and always will be due to the fact I love to train, live to train and cant get enough of that amazing feeling of training and working hard. Everything is simple when you are working hard, just you and pain, the battle between you and the mentality to suffer and this is something I love and crave every day, and I hate it when I am fatigued or things get in the way of this! Suffering and improving is something I crave all the time! BUT my problem is represented by the graphs below.

I am someone who is most certainly taking on the lower graph sometimes, more than I would like, I do too much and some weeks end up feeling weaker without any sign of improvement. But when I get the balance right I improve a huge amount and find that I fly, but to get this balance right is such a fine are. 

Although this is equates to the way I train....

Now here’s where things get really interesting.   Below are the results of the run-to-exhaustion performance tests that each group performed at the end of 4 weeks which is that I do, 3 weeks hard and one week recovery......

As you can see, there are two sets of results one from a training group that didnt work into a fatigued state and another group worked hard and after three weeks were fatigued or over reaching as part of a training block. Both groups then took it back for a week. The results of the normal training group did not change too significantly, with only a slight boost after the taper. As expected, the performance of the overreaching group got steadily worse as the three weeks progressed – but then, after the taper, their fitness super compensated and they had by far the best results of the study. This section of the article is great.....really promotes the way we look to train, hard hard hard.....rest and improve! 

Finding the balance is hard and we all want to keep improving, the above graph suits the way I like to train, I am currently on a easy week post some very hard training! I am excited about the year and cant wait for challenges ahead.

I have now officially qualified for the long distance European Championship which is a true honor. I cannot wait for the chance to go a little longer with races, I love the romantic element involved in stepping up in distance and racing time, more effort and exhaustion, training load and time. everything about taking on more distance fills me with excitement and I cannot wait to  start the training build for the event. 10k first run - 60k bike and a final 10k run! http://www.powerman.nl/en/en




Soon enough things will start to get hard again, races have started again, cross country, crit races and local cycling reliability rides have all started for the new season. Duathlons soon begin, castle combe http://www.dbmax.co.uk/event-list/duathlon/item/the-9bar-chilly-duathlon-2.html  being one iconic race to start the new season off. I just hope that I can stay injury and illness free to build to the best of my ability to do my best at HORST! 

Chia Charge Breakfast Pancakes

Chia Charge Breakfast Pancakes


Prep time: 5 minutes       Cook time: 10 minutes       Serves: 1 (about 2-3 depending on size, I just made one big one this time)

Ingredients

- 1-1 1/2 scoops pulsin pea protein (depends how wet the mixture runs)
- 1 Chia charge bar
-2 eggs

- 40ml almond/soya milk
-tea spoon of chia seeds
+anything extra you choose for added taste, but truthfully the Chia charge bars are more than tasty enough for flavor.. 

Directions

-Heat up a pan on the hob on a medium heat (make sure it isn't too hot because it will burn the pancake). Whisk the eggs in a bowl. 
-Add the milk and whisk again. 
-Then add the dry ingredients, if the mixture seems a little wet, add a little bit more protein. But with it being a little more egg based it bakes well. 
-Cook the pancakes slowly in the pan, the wetter the mixture the longer it will take. after around 3-4 mins flip the pancake. After another 3-4mins the pancake should be ready.

Serve with what every you like, I love to throw some chia nut butter on top. You could add soya yogurt, fruit (blueberries, raspberries go well). Today I added a slice of butter. 

Race report Croome - Winter training - Wattage

A very foggy 5th Croome Capability Canter race

,

Hundreds descended upon a very foggy morning at the National Trust location ready for the 5th Croome Capability Canter; the Black Pear Joggers’ annual 6.5M off-road race around the scenic Croome Park. This year’s 300 entries sold out in a record 4 days, highlighting how popular the race has become.

There was a great crowd of runners from the usual suspects, the Black Pear Joggers (with many more marshaling), Malvern Joggers (marking Steve Roode’s 1000th kilometre of racing this year for charity) and the ever-growing friendly Pershore Plum Plodders. There was also a record turnout from Tewkesbury AC (34 runners) and Kings Heath RC (24 runners).

Finishers were rewarded with a medal, goodie bag and a commemorative sports water bottle to mark the 5th year of the race.

Winner of last year’s race Daniel Geisler (Worcester AC) returned to keep the title, beating last year’s time by 10 seconds. First BPJ home was Ian Wild, who narrowly missed out of 3rd place, while in the female category, Black Pear Joggers Victoria Watkins and Anna Borecka landed 1st and 3rd place respectively, a great result for them and the club.

Proceeds from the race will be donated to Croome Park with total amounts yet to be finalised.

Thank you to everyone who helped make the race another success, bring on next year and hopefully less fog!

Top 3 male finishers

1. 40:14 Daniel GEISLER (Worcester AC, MS)
2. 41:16 Jay DOWDING (Cheltenham and County Harriers, MS)
3. 41:32 Jon MANSFIELD (Tewkesbury AC, MV40)

Top 3 female finishers

1. 48:38 Victoria WATKINS (Black Pear Joggers, FV35)
2. 48:58 Megan JUDGE (Malvern Joggers Female, FS)
3. 50:25 Anna BORECKA (Black Pear Joggers, FV35)

Winter training is always a strange period for me, do I race xc to not race, do I training longer with more miles, do I keep speed in or take it out completely, to add weights s and c or not?

Lots of questions and also no answers because its hard to measure progress without any races through the winter, and even xc are strange races because every course is different and you cannot really measure the speed and distance due to the MUD!

I have been putting together what I want from my winter training and theory is improvement, more bike speed and more running speed. Kinda simple really.....just get fitter, faster and stronger. I make improvements in the summer without weighted s and c work so this winter I am sticking with TRX training for core and functional movement work, I am keeping speed work, not a lot but still 2/3 at the most for both running and cycling. Swimming is still on the back burning till early next year.

I have decided to do without weights/ s and c, but I am also keeping some speed sessions because I always get spat out of the winter SLOW, strong in my legs due to the miles, but very slow. I dont want this, I want to keep improving and stay strong, so this winter I am trying a new approach. I am keeping a couple of speed sessions in and making them count...max effort, high HR and push the body to the limits. Then when I do my slow sessions this are longer and slower (this is the classic polarized training method). Although I am taking the body to new limits, I am doing longer harder session, there is no limit to how far you can go whilst pushing your body until essentially you blow up. But if you dont try then you dont know what you can do.

I am trying this new approach to training through the winter because the past two winters I haven't seen the improvements that I wanted. I want to be able to cycle faster after the winter and you can only do this by improving speed and fitness. I can already see that through spin classes I am pushing a higher avg wattage output, but on the road I am struggling to sustain this for a long time. At this time of the year it is ok, I need to keep working hard and then build to my next big race...this will be the British championships March 29th.

So lets see what the winter brings....its is already getting very cold and harder to push to the limits due to the temperature, so hopefully I can get used to the cold soon and maintain the quality. Happy winters training!

Delicious Alchemy - Brownie review

On the weekend I had the chance to meet and great the Delicious Alchemy team, and well it was fantastic to meet the faces behind this company. It was clear to see just how passionate they are to providing a product that can be used by anyone and also has the added benefits of being completely 100% gluten free.

I couldn't resist and had to have a go and bake the brownies. The mixture is so simple to follow (instructions below) and almost floor-less to achieve a fantastic bake. It was simple, add the packed of brownie mix, melt the butter, add this and then add the eggs and water. Then add to a baking tray and make the wonderful brownies. I had a feeling they were going to be tasty because the mixture smelt delicious.





The mixture also allows you to add what ever you like to them, at the point when the eggs have been combined you could pop almost anything into your brownie batter.

The bake was great and turned out perfect, it was literally the easiest simplest bake I have done. The mixture if perfect and the taste......well they were delicious. I would recommend this product to anyone of any baking ability.

Picture was taken by @beckyhorler8

You’ll need

1 x 400g Delicious Achemy chocolate brownie mix
100g unsalted butter or dairy free alternative
2 large eggs

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 180C /160C fan. Line the base and sides of a 20cm (8 inch) square tin with greaseproof paper. Make sure the paper sticks out 2.5cm (about an inch) above the rim of the tin.

Step 2

Add the brownie mix to a bowl. Melt the butter (or dairy free alternative) and pour this over the brownie mix and stir until the mix is starting to form a batter. Lightly beat the eggs, add to the mix and stir together well. Spread the batter into the tin and smooth the top. Bake for 18-22 minutes.

Step 3

When they’re done, leave them to cool in the tin for 20 minutes before lifting out and transferring to a cooling rack. Use the paper to help you. Leave to cool completely before slicing.
Here’s a yummy idea. Why not add chopped pecans or walnuts for a delicious nutty crunch?

Nutrition the great debate - Brett Sutton

"I couldn’t give a toss if they are the ‘correct’ calories for you. I’m in the business of getting the job done and I guarantee if you adhere to the top 3 points you’re always going to have a bonk-free race."

Brett Sutton

I loved this article after reading it, its very refreshing. From someone who defiantly overlooks nutrition it was a very beneficial article to read!

http://trisutto.com/the-weight-debate-nutrition-and-ironman/

The Weight Debate: Nutrition and Ironman

by Brett Sutton | Oct 20, 2014 

I’ve been asked at least three times since Kona about specific athletes and the impact that their weight, or lack thereof, had on their poor performances. While I won’t single out athletes publicly in regards to this issue, I do hope to address it more broadly for those who have concerns about how it impacts on their own training regimes.

Firstly, let me make clear that nutrition and race weight matters. A lot. I’ve copped my fair share of misinformed criticism on this subject, but the fact remains you don’t train 50+ Ironman winners without more than a basic understanding of race day fuel strategies. Indeed, before Kona I advised the Angry Bird that some athletes (men and women) wouldn’t present the threat they had in previous years given their impressively ripped, but in my opinion seriously underweight frames.

Race nutrition doesn’t start on race day. How you eat on a regular basis is more critical to your race day performance than what you actually consume on the day itself.

When training for Ironman a lack of fat in your normal day-to-day eating plan is a very big negative. I know it and I’ve seen it too many times not to.

Over the years this has led to some pretty unorthodox strategies to get people to eat. For example, it’s long been reported about how I used to visit Chrissie to make sure she ate her chocolates or cheese. I used to buy Andrew Johns two cheesecakes a week. Reto Hug was another one who always needed to keep the weight up. More recently there was the Angry Bird tweeting a picture holding a 10kg piece of cheese that I asked her to eat by the time she left Cozumel for Kona.

Broken down to their lowest level, calories, whether classed as the ‘healthy’ or ‘unhealthy’ type are burnable fuel. And given the level of training Ironman athletes do at the top end of the sport they need a lot of fuel.

Now some athletes understand how important this is and concede to my wishes about consuming fat. Others go along with it because even though they don’t agree, they realise ‘he is the coach and he seems to get results’. Finally, there are some who are just so desperate to have a six pack that they flat out refuse, no matter what impact it has on performance.

So yes, for certain athletes when I know the fight is not going to be worth the effort I step away from the nutrition area and let them do their own thing. Some end up doing a great job, others would be better sticking to the chocolate.

What I won’t stand for though is being criticised for not falling in with whatever is the latest nutritionist’s view on the ‘correct food-formula’ or for not being ‘amazed’ by this season’s new wham-bam energy goo that pumps up how performance enhancing it is. They come and go. Always have, always will.

The complete hypocrisy of the ‘tri-fad’ nutrition bandwagon is best illustrated with an example:

In 1991 I used to advise many athletes to train on chocolate milk. 1991! As you can imagine the ‘experts’ in the tri community took great pleasure in laughing at, mocking and ridiculing what was obviously the stupidest piece of nutritional advice imaginable. 23 years later and under the full sanction of the WTC what better product for recovery than chocolate milk? Just ask Rinnie and Crowie.

So yes, I do have to roll my eyes at a lot of the nutrition ‘gurus’ who turn up with no record of successful athletes and then dismiss me as a Neanderthal. It’s been happening for decades. Just as I roll my eyes when I have to listen to previously very successful (now less so) ex-athletes who say ‘he just doesn’t get food. He doesn’t have a food plan.’ After I continually harped on them about how ‘your diet needs more fat in it. More fats please’ only to be told ‘my nutritionist thinks your wrong and knows best what I need on race day.’

I realise it’s very comforting to think that the nutrition ‘experts’ have this worked out to a fine science. That you can leave your race diet to their capable hands without having to worry about it. It just ain’t the case. Like many specific sciences, the ‘science’ itself may work in the laboratory but is totally flawed when applied to the real world. There are just so many interconnected things that need to be considered to achieve the desired result. That the athlete is physically and pshycologically comfortable with what they’re consuming needs to be considered above all else.

Nutrition aside, what’s most important to your race is the thought process under pressure. You can have all your ‘perfect nutrition’ laid out and prepared, but because of a failure to think clearly under pressure you may decide to run past an aid station. Maybe you drop some food or make a snap decision because ‘I don’t need it’.

While you may be able to get away with errors like this in a 70.3, in the big show, a full Ironman, any chance of a good performance can be finished in that little 10 second window when you were making the ‘will I or won’t I’ decision. If you make a mistake with your nutrition it also takes not just clear thinking but courage to play defence and correct your error.

For those who one day want to go to Kona, learning how to get your mentality right in those situations is 10 times more valuable to you than what’s in your bar or gel.

So in conclusion, I’m happy to let my competitors rave on about how important the latest nutrition advances are so they can carry on sounding knowledgeable as coaches. I also pay little respect to the food doctors that don’t coach but sell their expertise on what is best for an athlete without even knowing them.

But for a simpleton like me I place my focus on 3 things:

1) Drilling people to make the correct decisions under pressure.

2) Knowing the amount of calories you need per hour.

3) Taking those calories in food stuffs and in ways that you are both physically and psychologically comfortable with.

I couldn’t give a toss if they are the ‘correct’ calories for you. I’m in the business of getting the job done and I guarantee if you adhere to the top 3 points you’re always going to have a bonk-free race.

Chocolate orange, Gluten free cake: Delicious Alchemy @4GlutenFreeFood

Chocolate orange, Gluten free cake: Delicious Alchemy @4GlutenFreeFood

www.deliciousalchemy.co.uk

Wow, what a fantastic cake mix from Delicious Alchemy , they have produced a very simple and effective way to make a delicious gluten free cake (which fits the bill for me). What a fantastic success, and it was a very simple and easy thing to follow, you can add whatever you like to the mixture (although don't add anything with gluten in it or that sorta defeats the object of the whole gluten free cake!) I will be going back and look forward to meeting the people behind the cake at the Good Food Show in a couple of weeks time.

Instructions are on the packet as followed:

You’ll need

1 x 400g Delicious Alchemy vanilla sponge cake mix
180g of soft unsalted butter or dairy free alternative
3 large eggs
20ml water

To bake as a cake

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C for fan-assisted ovens. Grease and line the base of two 20cm (8 inch) round cake tins with greaseproof paper.Put the cake mix, soft butter (or dairy free alternative), eggs and water into a bowl. Beat together with an electric whisk for 15 secs. Stop, scrape down the bowl and mix for a further 10 secs. Divide the mixture between the two tins and spread into an even layer. Bake for 20-25 mins (although I did cook for a little longer, more like 30-35mins 160, I also covering it with tin foil so it didn't brown anymore, this was due to too much bounce in the center of the cake), until lightly golden brown and springy to the touch. Leave to cool in the tins for 5 mins before turning out and leaving to cool completely.  Fill and decorate as you like.

The cake turned out delicious, I added chocolate orange segemnts to give it more of a Christmas twist. I then finished it off with chocolate icing in the middle of the sandwich and then also added chocolate drizzle over the top. 

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION

Typical Values	Per 100g	Per 65g serving
Energy	1576kJ	1098kJ
	371kcal	258kcal
Fat	0.6g	14.2g
- of which saturates	0.2g	8.4g
Carbohydrate	87.6g	29.3g
- of which sugars	50.0g	16.8g
Fibre	0.7g	0.2g
Protein	3.5g	3.1g
Salt	1.1g	0.4g

They also boast a great range of gluten free breakfast options. These are sure to be worth a try and I will certainly be giving them a go after the success of the cake mix. 

http://shop.deliciousalchemy.com/

New Delicious Alchemy Gluten Free Purely Oaty Fruity MuesliAn innovative and delicious muesli, simply indistinguishable from alternatives containing gluten. (click image for more information)

£2.99

New Delicious Alchemy Gluten Free Rice Flake PorridgeThis wheat, gluten and dairy free porridge is made using especially milled rice flakes to create a smooth, oat-like porridge. (click image for more information)

£2.69

New Delicious Alchemy Gluten Free Rolled OatsDelicious Alchemy are now able to offer rolled oats that are guaranteed gluten free. (click image for more information)

                                                                           £2.99