Case Study Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Sports Nutrition for Endurance Athletes

After An Hour I Was Dying – Then I Had A Gel

February 12, 2007 by David Leave a Comment

Hello, Brendon here.

Yesterday I rode 143 km (from the Gold Coast to Springbrook to Murwillumbah to Tweed Heads to the Gold Coast) – click here for the map.

We started at 6 am and set off. During the ride the temperature got to 34 degrees.

The day before I rode 70 km.

Today’s ride took 5 hours, 34 minutes at an average speed on 25.7 km/h.

After An Hour I Was Dying

After an hour, 10 mins I was really struggling. I was drinking HEED at the rate David suggested – 1 bidon an hour.

I could hardly keep up with the other guys I was riding with.

Had A Hammer Gel

I then ripped open a Hammer Gel and had that, thinking it might help.

10 minutes later I was feeling great and continued up the rather large hill that is Springbrook.

I continued on with drinking HEED (I had 3 bidons) and had another Gel 2 hours into the ride.

By the time we got to the 80 km mark I was out of HEED. We stopped at a shop and I bought:

2 bottles of water
a health bar and
a mug of coffee.

I drank the coffee and some water at the store and put the rest of the water in the bidons.

I drank the water over the last 60 km – finished it about 5 km from home.

I Raided The Fridge And Had……

When I got home I had:

1 glass of orange juice,
400 mls of HEED,
2 bananas and
1 apple.

How I Felt:

Aside from feeling terrible at the 1 hour, 10 minute mark I felt great. I really feel like the Gel gives me a huge boost (used Gels a few times now).

My previous long ride was 90 km 3 weeks ago and I felt terrible from about halfway through to about 5 hours after the ride.

After the ride today I felt fine – like I’d hardly done a ride.

So fine that I went for a 6 km job a few hours later.

Is The Gel Really Helping – Or Is That All In My Head?

My questions:

- Based on the above, what improvements would you suggest to the ride nutrition?

- Would the Gel really be helping that much or will you, as Darryl Kerrigan would say, “Tell ‘im he’s dreaming”?

- How would you rate my post ride nutrition?

What else should I be doing?

Thanks

Brendon

Case Study – We’ve Met The Man, Now Let’s See The Bike

February 10, 2007 by David Leave a Comment

Okay, for the bike ride case study we’ve met Brendon. Now let’s take a look at the bike.

Brendon tells me he bought the bike – an Avanti Sprint – in Hobart back in 1994. To be as kind as I can be, it’s probably not that well suited for what he’s doing.

Don’t get me wrong, Avanti make terrific bikes. But this old girl is heading for retirement.

He would benefit greatly from a newer, more flexible bike.

We did a simple weight test and my guess is the Avanti is probably 3 kilos heavier than today’s bikes. And that’s a lot of extra weight to be pushing along for 1,000 km.

With the gear levers on the frame he would also be losing a lot of time changing gear, as well as moving into uncomfortable positions.

An Absolute Must When Buying A New Bike

The absolute must when buying a new bike is to get measured by a professional and get the right sized bike based on that. Your bike needs to fit properly.

Pedals Are Good

Brendon’s pedals and clip-ons are top class. No problem there.

He uses a Cateye Odometer that gives the usual:

Distance
Trip
Time
Top Speed
Average Speed

It also provides Cadence (speed at which the pedals turn) – measured in RPM. Cadence measurement is especially important as on longer rides you can tend to lose sight of what RPMs you are doing – with a subsequent loss of power.

Safer Without Aero Bars

For the group riding he’ll be doing I’ve also suggested he’ll be better off, and a lot safer, without the aero bars. Sure, they might save a bit of time downhills but when things go wrong you want your hands near the brakes.

For riding in groups this is a must.

Good Fuel Carrying Capacity

The bike has a dual bidon off the saddle and one on the frame – that’s good. That can let Brendon carry enough fuel to keep up his energy.

If you’re riding for longer than 2 hours you need to be able to carry at least 2 bidons. The double bidons for off the saddle retail at around $40.

Get Thee To A Bike Shop

I was talking with Brendon’s wife (Mel) today and found out he has broached the subject of buying a new bike. Mel’s so lovely she has probably already bought him a new one (you owe me one Brendon!).

If you’re on the Gold Coast and looking for a new bike, here are some places to go:

John’s Cycles at Nobby Beach. John has a great range of quality bikes and gear. Ph: 07 5575 4177
Palm Beach Super Cycle – Roger’s your man there. Knows bikes inside out. Ph: 07 5598 3372
Mike’s Bikes at Miami on the highway. Ph: 07 5535 8799

The above 3 are within about 10 km of each other on the Gold Coast Highway.

Here is Bicycle Queensland’s full list of Gold Coast bike shops.

Cheers

David

Brendon’s First 2 Questions

February 8, 2007 by David Leave a Comment

Brendon had a couple of questions at the end of our first case study post. Here are the answers.

1. I often ride first thing in the morning. What should I eat before going for a 2-hour bike ride and how long should I wait before riding?

The best thing to do is to eat nothing.

This will sound strange to a lot of people, but eating can’t improve your bike ride!

It will only kick start the carbohydrates (CHO) into your blood stream straight away, which can lead to depletion of energy sooner over longer rides.

The ideal situation is to take a CHO drink with you (like HEED) and to start drinking this throughout the ride.

2. What should I eat when I finish a 2-hour ride? And how quickly after the ride should I eat it?

Ideally you should be taking something as soon as possible after the ride.

There is a window of opportunity, when your body is most receptive to the uptake of CHO within 30-40 mins after exercise.

Following this period, the body closes down and does not absorb nutrients as effectively, which affects its ability to be ready for the next session.

Ideally take CHO and a whey protein, along with some Glutamine.

Hammer makes an ideal product called Recoverite which has the perfect ratio of all these ingredients.

Cheers

David

Riding From Sydney To Surfers – The Case Study

February 7, 2007 by David Leave a Comment

As mentioned earlier, the guy who helps with this web site is riding the Sydney To Surfers Bike Tour (approximately 1,000 km) organised by the Rotary Club of Engadine. The ride starts on March 24, 2007 and takes a week.

We thought it might be of some interest to use Brendon Sinclair as our Guinea Pig. So to get started we’ll look at Brendon and his background first.

I asked him the hard questions:

All About Our Guinea Pig!

Name: Brendon Sinclair
Age: 40 (but I look 50)
Height: 6 feet/183 cm
Weight: 86 kg
Occupation: Web developer
Marital status: Married with 3 kids (15 yo, 14 yo & 12 yo)

Bike: A 12 year old (at least) Avanti.

Weighs a ton, has gear levers on the frame and doesn’t go that great. But I love the old girl! That’s her and I on the left during a triathlon in 1996.

Years riding bikes: On and off (mostly off) for 13 years.

Previous endurance experience: I’ve done tons of endurance stuff before – Ironman Triathlons (12 hours+), Marathons (3 hours 15 mins), Marathon swimming, etc.

I’m pretty slow with what I do, but always get there in the end.

After an Ironman Triathlon in 1996 I had a rest. It was about 10 years before I moved off the couch again. I ate lots of donuts.

Last July 2006 I did the Gold Coast Half Marathon (2 hours 11 mins), and did part of the Noosa Tri (I did the 1.5 km swim in 30 minutes, and the bike in 1 hour, 24 mins. My son did the run leg.).

Fitness level: At the moment I’m getting fit. Here’s what I’ve done since Saturday.

Saturday: 40 minute easy run, 2 km swim, 30 km bike ride
Sunday: 42 km run, 2 km swim
Monday: 30 km bike ride, 2 km swim
Tuesday: 2 km swim, 8.5 km run
Wednesday: 2 km swim, 44 km bike ride

Motivation for doing the ride: I need a challenge to keep fit, otherwise I just sit and watch TV and eat stuff. I’m scared I might accidentally eat one of my children.

Bike Riding Skill: On a scale of 1 – 10 (10 being great), I’d rate myself a 2 at best (and that’s downhill with a huge tailwind).

Although I’ve ridden thousands of kms over the years I have never ridden with anyone before and have never had any sort of lesson or advice.

I learnt more from David (Dave’s the guy who distributes the Hammer products) in a 40 km bike ride last Sunday than I have in 12 years.

Training Planned:

I intend to just keep rolling out the kms, with a long ride (100 km) once a week, along with 4-5 rides a week of between 40-60 km. Some on the flat, some with hills.

And apparently there is beer being drunk each evening after the riding. So I suppose I’ll have to keep up with solid beer drinking practice.

I can see it now – “I need to keep drinking beer, my darling wife. It’s part of my training regime.”

Nutritional Knowledge:

For a guy who has done a lot of endurance stuff and has a bit of a medical background (I was a Nursing ‘Sister’ for 12 years) you’d think I would know stuff about sports nutrition.

But I haven’t got a clue about sports nutrition.

I’d take 1 bidon of water on a 2 hour ride and wonder why I’d be exhausted at the end.

I’m not that smart!

Have you used Hammer products before?

Last week I went into a bike shop and bought a couple of Hammer Gels.

I was very impressed when the salesman said “Have you used these before? Don’t take too many or you’ll have too much energy – they work great.”

That was the first nutritional supplement product I’ve ever purchased or used.

Okay, now you’re boring us. Anything relevant to finish off with?

Nope. But I have some questions:

Do you think my bum looks fat in my bike pants?
Now that you’ve given me some free HEED can I tell all my mates I’m a “sponsored athlete“?

Answers: Yes, it does. And it’s
not free HEED – I’ll be invoicing you!

What Every Cyclist Must Do – Step 1 For Brendon

Okay, the first step to successful bike riding is ensuring you have adequate hydration during a ride.

Because Brendon is doing 1-2 hour rides at present, he would be best be served by simply adding a couple of scoops of HEED to each 500 mls/bidon of water.

I’d recommend he takes 2 bidons of water with 2 scoops of HEED in each one on his 40-60 km rides.

Brendon has a double bidon cage off the back of his bike seat (and a single on the frame), so he can easily carry 2.2 litres of water with HEED.

Whatever he doesn’t drink during the ride should be drunk at the end to aid recovery.

What’s So Good About HEED?

HEE D is a high energy electrolyte drink that provides:

complex carbohydrates (gives your body energy)
a complete electrolyte profile (supports optimal cardiac and muscle performance and prevents cramping)
supplemental nutrients (these buffer lactic acid, stabilise blood glucose and help the efficient use of carbohydrate metabolism)

Drinking water is simply not enough. You need an electrolyte replacement drink because you lose the all important electrolyte in your sweat.

And you need energy to replace the energy you’ve used up during your ride.

Drink 500-750 mls Per Hour of HEED

By drinking 500-750 mls of HEED per hour, Brendon will notice a huge difference in his:

energy levels,
hydration level (remember that water doesn’t hydrate as such because it doesn’t have electrolytes) and his
strength.

Brendon’s Questions

1. I often ride first thing in the morning. What should I eat before going for a 2-hour bike ride and how long should I wait before riding?

2. What should I eat when I finish a 2-hour ride? And how quickly after the ride should I eat it?

That’ll Do

That will do for our first Case Study post. Apologies for the length, but we’ve gotten rid of the (long) background stuff you might like to know.

If you have any questions as we go please shoot them through here.

Cheers

David

Sydney To Surfers Bike Ride – A Case Study

January 11, 2007 by David Leave a Comment

If you’re looking for some ideas about sports nutrition for endurance events (and missed our brilliant Steve Born seminars) then this might be of interest.

Brendon Sinclair is the fellow who helps me manage this web site. Many moons ago Brendon was pretty fit – doing Ironman triathlons and marathons – but for the past 9 years or so he hasn’t really done anything. Except eat pies!

He just got reasonably fit to do the Noosa Triathlon with his son Jack (that’s them on the left). To give you an idea of how fit Brendon is, he did the 1.5 km swim in 30 minutes and the 40 km bike ride in 1 hour 25 minutes.

Cycling From Sydney To Surfers

Anyhoo, Brendon has just entered the 10th Annual Sydney to Surfers Cycle starting on March 24. It’s a charity ride with proceeds going to Youth off the Streets -click here for more information.

I’m not sure of the exact distances as yet, but it’s about 1,000 km in a week.

Over the next few weeks we’ll do a bit of a case study as Brendon trains and uses the great Hammer Nutrition products in an effort to prepare for 1,000 km on the bike over 7 days.

Hope you can join us as we provide a real-life example of our products in action.

Cheers

David