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"HEADACHE EVERY MORNING"
Obj: Sport Specific Power Endurance
Training: Hike/Run 1.5 Hours, 1,500 foot elevation gain
carrying 35#
FUELING THE MOUNTAIN ATHLETE - PART I
by Brian Harder
I am a child of the athletic 80's - a time when the idea of ultra endurance athletics was born. The Iron Man Triathlon
and the other seemingly impossible endurance feats were dreamed up then. At first, they were simply something to survive.
But now, over two and half decades since its inception, the annual race in Kona, Hawaii and others like it all over the world
are savagely raced by dozens of top-rank professionals with the attendant intensity and strategy usually associated with events
a fraction of an Iron Man distance triathlon. Keeping athletes properly fed during these events is big business and the subject
of constant scientific inquiry.
The original endurance test for athletes willing to explore this kind of suffering is the marathon. Feeding strategies
for this event which involves running for about 2.5 to 3 hours for the competitive, non-elite runner were simple –
drink when you can, eat a little something if you can stomach it and hope you hit the "wall" late in the race and
are able to hang on to the end. The "wall" or "bonk" as it's known in cycling, is the point when you
have exhausted all of the carbohydrate stored in the muscle cells and liver. This carbohydrate allows us to run at relatively
high intensities but when it's gone (somewhere between 2 and 2.5 hours for conditioned athletes) we must seriously put the
brakes on and start using fat for fuel. We have plenty of this substrate stored but energy born from it comes slowly so slow
we must go until more carbohydrate becomes available.
With the rise in popularity of longer events and the insane amount of training hours necessary to perform well for this
length of time came feeding regimens that staved off the bonk almost indefinitely. In fact, a whole multi-billion dollar
industry was created to feed athletes during events lasting from 3 hours to multiple days. No longer only found in the feed
bags of shaved-legged, 3% body fat mutants with VO2 maxes approaching their I.Q.s, products from companies like GU, Powerbar
and Clif Bar are seen in every grocery store in the country. These same companies and the sport scientists under their employ
spend hundreds of thousands of dollars researching the formulations of the products they sell.
As complex as the propaganda on the packages seems with all the jargon and graphs, it really just comes down to eating
carbohydrate early in the event and keeping it coming throughout. The carbs should obviously be ingested along with adequate
water and electrolytes. Recently, adding protein to these formulations has been found to improve performance and, thus, most
products contain amino acids in varying concentrations.
Now, this "technical food" is best utilized during events of relatively high intensity. It is at exercise rates
above 75-80% of an athlete's VO2 max that carbohydrate is a big player in energy production. Slow down a bit and we can use
more stored fat and eat more regular food. The gels and liquids are super convenient when pushing the pace but become a bit
monotonous after several hours. For the mountain athlete, nutrition selection is going to be based upon the activity, duration
and intensity. For our typical training sessions in the gym, there may be some benefit to having a mix of carbohydrate and
protein flooding the blood stream both during and immediately after the work out. This kind of timing of optimal nutrition
may create a more anabolic (muscle building) effect allowing us to get the most out of each session. This regimen is not
as much about providing energy for the workout but more about optimizing the endocrine response to the training.
Once outside, what and when we eat is driven by the conditions and activity. During a hard alpine push where the terrain
is moderate and the pace is approaching our threshold, gels and liquids become the obvious choice. As we slow down for breaks
or during periods of greater technical difficulty where the pace is slower, more complete food with higher fat and protein
content as well as higher percentages of micro nutrients (vitamins and minerals) can be used and may be more satisfying.
During multi-day efforts, full meals at the end and beginning of each day with ample hydration become critical to optimizing
recovery and fueling the next day's effort.
The above comments and recommendations deal primarily with event nutrition, whether it be a hard work out, race or climb.
In the next installment, I will discuss historical and emerging dietary philosophy as they pertain to everyday eating.
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| Ben, and ... |
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| Kevin, were Nominated for the 2004 Piolet d Or Award for ascent of Arctic Rage on Mooses Tooth. |
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