DIET & NUTRITION from "RUNNING DIALOGUE"
By
David Holt
of
David Holt
Sports drinks
The well trained athlete derives minimal benefit from the energy
in drinks--provided his glycogen stores are adequate before
he commences the run. The undertrained athlete lacks endurance
because his muscles have not been educated (trained)
to exercise for long periods. If you are undertrained, 16
ounces of a sugared solution before the start, then 8 ounces of
half strength sports drink taken every 15 minutes during, can increase
the distance you. re able to run at a set speed...by 12
percent. Half of the increase will occur with water alone, that
is, by staying hydrated.
Beware the research on this and related subjects. Unless you
see a group of international class runners--not bikers, they can
consume all they wish--who have reached their limit from
training...your training is the best way to get faster. If you have
no interest in going beyond 40 miles a week, sugar drinks can
help delay the wall.
Quick Fix Weight Loss
Typically with High Protein Shakes, or Fruit Shakes for Weight Control or Weight Loss.
Think you. ll be able to lose five pounds in five days on the new
three shakes a day diet--you can--provided you burn 4,250
calories every day.
Most people who need to lose weight burn about 2,000 per day;
which is part of the reason they are overweight--the second reason
is over-consumption of food.
To lose one pound of fat you need to burn 3,500 calories. Add in
the 750 or so from those three shakes, and you see where the
4,250 came from. Yet the advertisers keep a straight face when
they make their claim. Actual weight lose is mostly from the
shunting of fluid which occurs when you suddenly deny
yourself food. You will use up some of your glycogen stores,
which contains lots of water.
The day you re-commence normal eating, the glycogen stores,
and the water, is replaced.
Follow the advice in Chapter 22 of Running Dialogue--make subtle
changes to your
eating habits.
Glycemic Index
The glycemic index is a tool used to describe how fast a source of
sugar is absorbed into the bloodstream. The typical baseline uses
white bread as 100. High numbers mean the sugar is absorbed
faster. Post exercise, eat foods with triple digits first, add
in foods with a lower index until you reach your real meal as
described elsewhere. Note...different researchers use different
bases: you may not be able to compare the index from book
A with other foods covered by someone in book B. In a pleasant
quirk of nature, overripe fruit has a higher glycemic index
than under-ripe fruit...its sugar is absorbed faster. This is due
to the starch changing into free sugars--the body won't
need to do as much digesting.
Stick to the starches if you want slow absorption.
The general rules are:
A. The smaller the individual item of food, e.g. small shaped
pasta Versus large spaghetti.
B. The longer you cook the food.
C. The riper the food is...
The higher the glycemic index will be for that food.
Thus, rice or spaghetti cooked for five minutes has a much
lower index than if cooked for fifteen minutes.
More Glycemic Index information at Rick Mendosa's web site
Lactic Acid - energy source
Think lactic acid is bad for your running--then why do nearly all our body
systems produce it. According to George
A. Brooks Ph.D. Director, Exercise Physiology Lab, at
Berkley, . Lactic acid is not just a useless byproduct of
exercise. It is an energy source involved in using glucose and
glycogen. Oxidation of lactic acid is one of our most important
energy sources. Don. t let this important metabolite
scare you. But do still:
Train with a combination of long submaximal training and
quality to minimize the lactic acid production and enhance its
removal.
Which means: do your long runs each week, and speedwork at anaerobic threshold (15K pace) plus some 5K pace running and hill training.
