Nutrition Timing

 

OK, so I see myself as quite an intelligent person, well read in stuff that I am interested in.  It is clear that I am interested in performance on a bike (or running) so that is what I read about - a lot!

But a simple conversation with coach Tom this week turned a stone revealing information that has led to an immediate improvement in training.

 

A bit of background:  I have been struggling with turbo sessions in a big way, really struggling and feeling pretty low about these sessions.  Weak, much lower output numbers than targeted, not enjoying them at all.  In contrast my "big rides" outside have been going really well.  Why is there such a discrepancy?

My nutrition is pretty good.  I look closely at what I eat and my wheat free diet means that I monitor things more closely than most and do not eat many processed grains (pasta/bread).  I know roughly how many calories I consume each day and I know details at the macronutrient level as well (amount of carbs, protein etc.).  I try to plan my eating to ensure that I get the right amount of what I need to perform.

Turning the stone:

Coach Tom said "I know you eat well but have you looked at nutrition timing?", "I think so" I replied.  "Grazing is good" said Tom.  I thought "I do graze - breakfast, snack mid morning, lunch, snack afternoon, tea, supper".  BUT then Tom asked "Do you eat before your turbo session if you are doing it at 4?". 


He carried on "There is too long a gap between lunch and your hard turbo session, eat a banana about an hour before."


On came the light bulb!




So this week I have eaten a banana about an hour before the hard turbo sessions and bingo - much better performance in outputs, alertness, confidence.

Lesson: 

Plan nutrition for all training sessions, you need to be fuelled correctly for an hour at high(est) intensity just in the same way as 3 hours tempo on the road.

When things are not working well, talk to somebody who knows stuff.  A conversation is actually better than an email as well as it can drift around the issue.

Thanks Tom, another gain in my training.