August 11, 2020 – Eat Lots

/in /by

Hi Everyone! 

 

FYI if you hadn’t noticed: it’s HOT!!! Please re-read my note on heat if you need a reminder of how to approach training in it mentally.  

 

Another point on that subject is nutrition. I’m not strict with what or when I eat and just go by my hunger cues. But I find with training in the heat my hunger cues aren’t loud enough to ask for what I actually need. So I have to make a conscious effort to eat more, and more consistently. This is important – especially for those people training hard for upcoming marathons. You need to eat a lot. And consistently – not just at the end of the day. If you’re feeling generally fatigued, that could be your body’s way of signalling it doesn’t have enough energy. Energy doesn’t come out of nowhere – it comes from the food we eat. And remember that it takes even more energy to train and recover in the heat, so while you might feel like eating less, you actually need MORE than usual. It might help to take in more calories in liquid form at these times: smoothies, juices, milk/chocolate milk. Just get it in.  

 

ALSO if you’re injured or feeling niggles, you need to eat as if you’re training hard. After a hard workout your body goes into repair mode to strengthen all the micro-damage you did in training. Similarly, when you’re injured your body is in constant repair mode working to repair the injured area. You need to provide it with fuel so it can do its job efficiently and well. You may not feel like you just worked out, but to your body repairing an injury, it is the same as recovering from a hard workout.  

 

My advice: experiment with trying to take in a little more than usual. See what happens. I guarantee we’re all better off erring slightly to the side of more than we need than less. And I don’t mean sit and eat 10 bowls of ice-cream after dinner. Instead, have a big healthy breakfast, probably a second breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner, snack. This is how I eat when I’m training hard and have lots of energy but noticed I had started leaving a large gap in the middle of the day and it’s been affecting me. So back on the food train!!!  

 

Ok, workouts for this week: 

 

  1. 6-8 x 600 w 1:30 rest, 4-5 mins then 4-5 x 200 w 1 min rest  
  2. 6-8 x 2 min Hard, 1:30 easy, 4-5 min easy, 4 x 30 sec Hard, 1 min Easy 
  3. Water run option: 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1 min Hard w 1 min easy 
  4. Hills, Glorious Hills!!!! 

 

One last note on workouts: I am now coaching with a club called the Monarch Athletics Track Club and the athletes are pretty experienced. Last night I had a group that contained an Olympian, a 2:09 800m runner and a 2:4-low marathoner. I knew the workout was supposed to be 8-10 x 600. They didn’t. We got there, it was hot, and people were struggling. Times were not fast and they were getting slower. So we turned it into 6 x 600. This is why I give you a range. I can’t see how you’re responding to the workout, but it’s OK to back-off and do the low end if the conditions require it. That is what experienced athletes do and they don’t beat themselves up 😉  

 

Hope to see some of you out there!

 

Seanna