Some of you may know I’ve been writing an E book to help triathletes improve their nutrition.
It’s not quite ready yet, but look out for it in the next couple of weeks.
In the meantime, a question from Marie:
“I find I often get ill after training over longer distances. For example this week I have done a 30k run and cycled 40k and now I’m ill, fever, nauseous etc.
I’m a bit of a nutrition geek and would like to think my diet is pretty good, but is there anything I can include in my diet to help me not get so run down from long distances?”
I am not going to kop out here and say I need to know more about you first.
The most important thing is to make sure you have sufficient fuel both pre, during and after training – ideally from a good source.
Whilst gels have their place they are not particularly nutritious other than providing energy.
Pre long training sessions try and have sufficient slow release carbs like oats, sweet potatoes, rice but also include some EFA like fish or avocado. On top of this their should be some protein.
Exactly how much depends on your size and the aim of the training.
During the sessions, take on some fruit – I like bananas best – and maybe even a homemade sports drink such as:
100ml fruit juice/400ml water/Pinch of organic sea salt/20g whey protein.
Post training go for some fast acting carbs like white rice, some lean protein and lots of veg, at least two fist fulls.
On top of all this you should be eating generally well which it sounds like you might not be given the theme of getting ill after long training.
Nearly every athlete I work with thinks they eat well but most don’t, they just eat better than their unhealthy friends and family – you might not be one but its worth reassessing.
To do this try writing down all the food you eat for 3 days, even the bad stuff and try and look at it as if you were advising someone else.
