Overtraining and Nutrition - Revisited

One of the misconceptions I have had during the course of training has been "more is better" where excercise is concerned and "less is better" where food/drink intake is concerned. This week has been a huge "I told you so" experience for me. A good friend, Alison, who completed her first IM race last year, has been a blessing throughout every step in this process. Yesterday at lunch, I had an opportunity to discuss my theory with her in more depth which, in turn, led me back to the drawing board and rethinking my theory.

One of the goals that I've had for IM training is to lose weight...Mistake #1. I learned quickly in my research and in talking with her and other athletes that while training for any IM event, weight loss is not a goal or should I say cannot be a goal. I've been so excited when I look at my watch to see that I burned 2500+ calories on a long ride or 1500+ on a long run. What I've realized is that I have been starving my body of key nutrients it needs to not only endure but equally to recover. My new rule of thumb has to be...Recovery drink after 1 hour of swimming, 2+ hours of cycling, and 2+ hours of running. And, I have ordered Infinit which is tailored to your own needs while endurance training. I believe that these two things will greatly increase my chances of finishing IM successfully. It's important to consume between 200-250 calories per hour of exercise when training or competing in an endurance event.

Mistake #2 is about the amount of exercise. On Tuesday night, I hit a wall. I was so exhausted that all I wanted to do was sleep. Despite it being a swim session night, I wholeheartedly believed that you couldn't have propped me up in the pool and had me stand there for an hour without falling into the water and drowning. Once again, the important part of training is listening to your body. The quote about "undertrain and you don't start; overtrain and you don't finish" is definitely true. Therefore, I am scaling back a bit of the intensity with which I have been training and listening to others and my body where intentsity and longevity of training sessions are concerned.

Many thanks to my friends Alison and Cindy as well as their predecessors for getting me and my training partner on track! Goal now is IMAZ 2009 with no major bonking! :)