A lesson in nutrition

Out on to the Hearte Trail this morning. It is really neat how that freshly cleaned early morning humidity hangs in the air. I am not sure how else to describe it than to say that as I head out on to the trail there is this smell of wet grass and rotting leaves mixed with damp bark and fresh dirt. All of these combined make you inhale so deep that you can smell with your toes.

My weekend routine has gone basically unchanged since the start of this challenge. From September all the way through to February, and then part of April into May and June I have run a minimum of a half marathon every weekend. When my hamstring gave me some problems (most likely the result of my compromised S.I. joint) We scaled back the long runs and added the distance over several days. ... but I am basically back in form thanks to my dominatrix masseuse and my knowledgeable physiotherapist/ acupuncturist. So this morning I thrust myself out in to the flora and fauna of the day and began my usual lengthy trek out towards Assiniboine park. Today; however, I would be testing out my new fuel belt.

Nutritionally speaking, for an endurance event such as Ironman, the rule of thumb is that you need to digest 1 gram of carb for every Kilo of body weight per hour. So, when I run, I usually drink every 15 minutes and have a gel every 30 minutes. The idea is to solidify a routine long in advance of the race as your stomach needs to be trained to digest this stuff without any grief as tummy trouble during the race can spell disaster.

On the advice of a Running Room employee who shall remain nameless, I decided to mix my gels in with my gatorade and pour the sickly sweet concoction evenly into the two 8 oz flasks.

Even though this went against all I had been taught, I took off with my belt attached and hoped for the best. I really tried to embrace this change in nutrition, but there was this little voice nagging away at me and suggesting that there really was no way this was going to work.

When I got home, I really did not feel good and my stomach was in knots. Ultimately if you do not get enough food in you can suffer from an overwhelming sense of mental an physical fatigue.... some people refer to this as bonking. Well, I think that is what happened.... I bonked. I ran a respectable pace, but I think I needed more hydration. the gels were fine, but this mix was not as diluted as it could have been and the end result is that my body was sending a lot of blood to my stomach to help me digest.

I went back to the running room later today and picked up a special gel adapter that will hold the gels and then I can use the other two flasks for water or the ever popular gatorade. The nice thing though is that you do not have to deal with the sticky wrappers because you have poured them all in the flask in advance. Then, you rely on the aid stations placed at one mile intervals along the course for your hydration. More later as I figure this change out.... really it should not be a change in nutrition.... rather a change in how I get my nutrition.

Speaking of hydration... this has never happened to me before, but my feet sweat so much today that my shoes were actually squishing as I ran the last two miles..... coool huh?

Now I'm really thirsty... gotta go! See you tomorrow after a scenic ride out hwy. 26.