ProLine Sports, Nutrition Blog

Fit First, Equipment Later

Having been in the triathlon sport for a few years now, I've begun to notice a few things. One thing is that the sport takes a lot of time and patience. Another is it takes a while to get better. But one thing has stuck out in my mind that a lot of newbie triathletes fall into. And that is gear envy.

Sure, there are numerous amounts of great gear out there. Shiny gizmos, flashy shoes, sexy bikes and so on and so forth. But what I've started to notice is how many people jump straight into getting the good gear, before they invest in the most influential part of their race... Themselves!

I read thread after thread and hear conversation after conversation from newer athletes, that maybe have just a few races, or maybe even none, under their belts, talking about getting the $10k bike with the wireless shifters and $1,500 power meter to go along with their $700 wetsuit they NEED. But all for what? Will those people really be able to fully grasp the technology they're utilizing? Well some, yea, maybe. But I would say most won't.

I'm not saying if you can easily afford it don't get it, but what I really find mesmerizing is watching someone drop $1,000 or more on a rear disc wheel, yet can't even touch 20-21mph on a flat 40k bike course. Do you really think the aerodynamics and dimples and all the engineering that went into that marvel are worth the 1-2 seconds it may save you over the course of your race to take you from 21st down to 19th place in your age group? Or having the fully-integrated stem and hidden front brake to reduce drag on your $6,000 frame, will that push you over the threshold? Not if you haven't put in the work. Same thing goes for the wetsuit with the extra buoyancy and super strong rubber blend. Yea, it may save you a couple minutes in a 70.3 race. But the way I look at it is that as you work to get faster, it's going to be more of a crutch than a help, and here's why.

So you have the latest gear and the fastest, most aerodynamic everything. What's left to do? Is there anything else out there that can make you faster? What haven't you invested in yet that can get you to the finish line faster or ahead of your fellow competitors. For most of us, that 'gear' we haven't put the time into is ourselves.

The human body is an amazing thing. The more you work on it, the stronger it becomes (pending proper training, recovery and nutrition). And in each and every aspect of the triathlon race, body form and function are much more critical to a good performance than the dynamics behind your gear. Now you've got the fastest bike out there, but you can only push out 115 watts over the 40k course in an Olympic distance triathlon. What good is all that aero and lightness if you can't make it go?

The way I look at it is, get your body fit. Get your form right. Then as you progress in speed and time, that extra money you start spending on your gear will really seem worth it. If you feel you've hit the ceiling with your swimming, put in the time in both the pool and open water, then that's the time you may want to think about investing in that $700 wetsuit versus the $150 one you bought on sale. You'll truly notice the difference. Or say you're getting so strong on your bike and you are putting out the power and dropping times you feel are at the limit of your potential. Again, now is the time to invest in the gear that will drop you even further.

Overall, the way I look at gear is almost like getting a promotion at work. Do you deserve it? Not in a hey I'm rich or I'm poor kind of deserve it. But more of a I've put in some really hard work over the past few years, my times are dropping, and I'm ready to step it up to the next level. Because you know what? There's always going to be guys out there like myself who still ride their roadie with clip-on aero bars, mountain bike SPD pedals and wetsuits with tears in it, shredding past those that haven't invested in themselves, yet fell victim to he allure of faster times with gear alone.

Yes, these are my own opinions. But I feel pretty strongly about them. I'm not going to tell you how to spend your money. If you've got loads of it, go ahead and knock your socks off and get the top of the line gear. I'll just appreciate mine more when I finally can afford it and make it worthwhile.

-Dave

Early Bird vs. Night Owl

Everyone has time constraints, and everyone needs sleep. But, when it comes down to training, when do you do yours?

I'm not goint to sit here and tell you what is right and what is wrong, or really give you much of an idea of what will be right for you, but I will give you some insight into what has worked for me and some of my thoughts behind why.

In general, I'm more of an early bird. I have the mindset of getting up early, getting things done, and having the rest of the day for whatever else may be going on. But beyond that, I generally enjoy the quiet of the early morning and lack of people out not bothering me while I'm focused on me and my training. I also have the mindset of training when you'll be racing. Triathlons are typically early morning starts, so why not be accustomed to it?

But I also think about performance. I know that for me, I'm not going to be knocking out my best times at 4:30 in the morning doing heavy interval sets on the bike, on the road or in the pool. So this is when I think more about doing my training in the afternoon or evening.

I've had a whole day of being lightly active, so my muscles are awake and hopefully somewhat loose. I have also had a full day of feeding and getting energy into my system. On those early days, I don't take much in before training. This, for me, makes it more possible to get the most out of hard sets. I know things are firing on all cylinders and I'm ready to go. Contrast that to the morning where I've just woken up, I'm sleepy-eyed, and my body hasn't switched over into its metabolic state yet.

The benefits I see of early morning training go beyond just the idea of being used to getting out early for a race, but also for some weight management. My body has been at rest for the past 6-8 hours, or whatever amount I've slept, and has been storing nutrients and somewhat shutting down so that I don't wake up in the middle of the night starving. So when I get up and get going after some coffee and a quick bite, I am instantly burning off those waste stores my body was holding onto while I was sleeping.

To add another reason why I prefer morning vs. night training is the fact that it takes my body a while to wind down after a good session of whatever I had just done. And when I'm out running until 9-10pm, this means another 1-2 hours before my body can feel calm enough for sleep. But everyone is not like this. Some people thrive at evening/night training. I have gone running with people who are done at 10pm training, can hit the bed and be asleep 30 minutes later, and back up again in the early morning for either work or possibly training. Me? No chance. I would have been tossing and turning for a while, probably gotten up to eat more food or drink more water.

In the end, it comes down to a few contributing factors. The main one being your life schedule. If you have to be up at 5am in order to make it out the door and to work on time, maybe that early morning stuff isn't for you. Unless you're in bed at 8pm. And conversely for the other end of the spectrum. If you're an early bird, hitting the pavement before the sun says 'hi', then you'll need to be that person in bed early, making sure you can recover properly from the training of the day, and also rest up for the next day of training.

Either way, find what works for you and try to stick with it. Being a creature of habit isn't always a great thing, but if you can be consistent not only with your training plan, but also when you train, your body will start to fall into a rhythm it can understand. And that will help you get the most out of each session.

-Dave

What I've Noticed: Protein

I think there's always been some sort of, for lack of a better word, stigma, attached to the endurance athlete lifestyle. And that is that we are synonymous with carbohydrates. Now, that's all well and good as we need to store glycogen to use during long or rigorous exercise, and Glycogen is the secondary long-term energy store behind fat. But a lot of what I see, hear and read is 'How many carbs should I be eating?" And truthfully, for most athletes out there, you really don't need more than what an average person eats. Especially not the over-gorging amounts I see some people put down the night before a race. 

What a lot of endurance athletes seem to miss out on is the best thing for your muscles, and that is protein. And good amounts of it, consistently. I'm talking about 10-30 grams a handful of times throughout the day. Those can come in the form of lean meat proteins (chicken, fish, pork, lean cuts of beef, etc.), plant based protein (Quinoa [one of my favorite], beans, and most vegetables), protein bars and protein shakes.

For me, it's tough to hit all these groups of protein sources throughout the day, especially in the plant based proteins. Especially being a work from home dad, I'm constantly in flux between working and taking care of my daughter. Which leads to long work days, early mornings and trouble fitting in my meals at the proper times. So instead of reaching for whatever is handy at that exact moment, I prepare myself by making sure I have things that are handy in my times of need.

Sometimes, I'm working hard on a project and I need to stop to feed my daughter for 20 minutes, and by the time I'm done, it's my usual lunch time, but I had a good flow going on the project so I don't want to quit and make a meal. Instead of quitting, I have protein bars handy. I can grab one quick and eat it while I'm working and my daughter is calming down from eating.

Another thing I have started to notice since I have been introducing more protein into my diet is my energy levels. I seem to be ready to go at a moments notice for whatever I need to do. Whether I finally get my time to get outside and put in a run after my wife gets home from work, or I'm up early to put in some laps in the pool, I seem to always be on top of my game in each session. That's me having protein both before and after each training session.

Depending on how hard or long I've worked during my training session will vary the amount of protein I'll take in after. Which is usually between 15-30 grams in form of a shake. If you're like me, it's tough to take in food after a solid workout, so having a good-tasting chocolate protein shake mixed in with chocolate milk is ideal. If I've just done an easy, shorter run, I will usually opt for just a big glass of chocolate milk and start getting a meal ready to eat about 45 minutes later. If I go out long or really hard, I'll mix up a 30g protein shake and add in some watermelon or banana on the side, and sometimes a spoon of peanut butter or almond butter for some healthy fats mixed into the matrix.

Another thing I have started to notice is my weight. I'm not necessarily dropping the pounds, but my weight has shifted more from stored water weight and/or fat into a little more lean muscle. Instead of being so focused on the number I see on the scale below me, I usually try to rate my success of weight control on what I see in the mirror. While losing weight is ideal for a guy my size to get faster, I want nothing to do with doing it in an unhealthy manner. And I still want to enjoy a slice and a beer from time to time.

By adding in more protein throughout the day, I have just been feeling and (to me) looking better. Maybe that's just my haircut though? I am feeling healthy, refreshed and ready to go. Besides adding more protein to my diet, I really haven't changed my eating habits much, and I notice the difference. Will this work for everyone? Definitely not. But it is worth a try. If you're putting in the time out on the road, in the pool, gym or on the trainer, reward your body with some protein to adequately recover. Then you can do it all again the next day!

Don't go overboard and eat chicken five times a day and have 4-5 protein shakes and bars, your body can only handle so much protein and the rest will more likely get excreted or stored as excess weight. Now that's a waste of money! But I challenge you to take a look at how much healthy protein you have in your diet and up it. Unless you're already hitting a healthy amount for your size, gender and goals. Especially as the off-season comes up and some of us start hitting the weights a little more and the road a little less. Adding in some protein will help you get through those aches and pains as you start throwing weights around.

 

-Dave

Day Five Montana - And Reflecting

I apologize for not finishing up my writing from my trip, but after getting back I got quite sick and had some catching up to do with both work and at home. But here it goes.

Sunday was my last full day in Montana, and after having done such a hard hike/climb to the summit the day before, I knew I'd be wiped waking up on Sunday morning. I think we all took our time getting up, letting the aches rest a little longer and sitting in our tents, we took some time to reflect on the day prior. For al of us it was quite an adventure, whether or not we made the summit. It had been a tough four straight days of hiking. Really, there was only one BIG day, which was Saturday, but the consistency of the hiking was taking it's toll.

I woke up and was feeling aches all over. I knew I had developed a blister in my right heel. Which really doesn't bother me that much. I have grown used to them over the years playing soccer, basketball, running track and now training for triathlons. They come and go, and I just deal with them. However, the amount of fatigue I had in my legs was incredible. I hadn't ever felt so dead legged before in my life. I think  major part of this was due to the lack of nutrients we took out. Yes we did have plenty of food. However, I am so accustomed to having a wide range of food to choose from post-workout to get the proper amount of carbs, protein and fat I need to recover. As well as ample rest time, a comfortable bed and the ability to get my feet up in the air and ice whatever needs to be iced. Not so much in the back country. If I wanted I could have gone in to the glacier fed lake, but being 9:30pm when we got back, that option slipped out of my mind rather quick. I wanted warm food and bed.

My dad and Gary took off about an hour or so before the rest of us to get a head start on the day. Chris decided to hike out the long way, getting in some more miles in the park. That direction wasn't necessarily tougher or easier. There was less vertical change, but more mileage and 3 river crossings if I remember right. So, still difficult with a heavy 3-day pack.

Arley and I took off last and made sure the whole camp was cleaned up, ready for the next group of hikers to come through and use it. We walked past the lake one last time, that had supplied us with dinner of trout for two nights, and were on our way making the 8 mile trek back to the trail head.

The first couple miles went by quickly, about 20min a piece or so. But then we started to hit the switchbacks, and my legs wanted nothing to do with them. We took our time working up them, stopping for some huckleberries from time to time. Arley more often than me. He brought along a plastic bag and filled it up as he walked along. It gave him some time to rest while I worked my way up to him. He hikes in terrain like this daily for work, so he's more than used to the topography and altitude in the area. Whereas a flatlander like me, it takes a lot out of me.

We trudged up to the top of Firebrand Pass again, this time without the 70mph winds, and stopped for lunch. I honestly wouldn't have minded the wind coming up out of the canyon. It would have been at our backs for a majority of the time, aiding us in getting up the scree trails.

When we stopped, this was the last time I had a chance to look back and see the canyon, as well as my brother's route. We could still make out Sheep, Bravedog and 8888 (Lando Peak). It put me in a bit of a somber mood. I was still so angry, and the pain in my legs wasn't helping either. I want to look back and have nothing but joy and happiness for the mountains in Glacier, but I know I never will.

We had a few horseback riders come up on us as we were eating and chatted with them. They asked where we were from, and us the same to them. They were planning on making it down to the lake, but after seeing us, I think they changed their minds. They weren't the fittest looking people if you could believe that. And seeing both Arley and I in our state, they probably figured forget it. We thought about telling them that we had climbed 8888 the day before, so that's why we looked so beat. But honestly, who cares? We did it for ourselves, and we did it for Jake. Nothing else. Which is how Jake was about climbing his peaks and hiking his trails. He never bragged about it. It's just what he did. It doesn't really matter. He (we) was the one doing it, doing it for himself, for his own self-satisfaction. His own purpose. We would listen to the guys he worked with, telling us they had to drag it out of him, what peaks he had done over the weekend. Something I try to do with my training. Who cares if I ran 15 miles or 2 miles. What does that prove to you? We're not competing. I'm doing it because I enjoy it.

Anyways, we finally caught my dad and Gary about 2 miles from the trail head, which was a good sight. We didn't want them to think they could out huck us back to the truck. But it was also good to know they were doing alright, and moving along quite well.

Finally back at the truck, we cracked open a few beers and celebrated our journey. To our surprise, they were still rather cold (thanks Jake). As refreshing as they were, I was downing a 32oz Powerade at the same time. I could tell my system was running on fumes.

We packed up and headed down to pick up Chris. He was walking up the dirt road near the Fielding Trail Head where we started our hike up to Elk Mountain a few days prior, looking just as spent as the rest of us. We snagged him up and headed into the park to drop off Arley and grab our gear that we had stored in his garage while we were out.

After packing up, we were forced to say our good-byes and head our separate ways. Gary and Arley had to unpack and repack for their work week. Chris was headed back to Gary's to rest up and do some more hiking in the park before he headed back to California and his work. My dad and I, back to our cabin to unpack in the new digs and for me to repack to head home. I had a 6am flight out on Monday morning, so I needed to be up by 4am to get there and be ready for takeoff.

Unpacking and packing was like a double-edged sword. It was a great feeling to have such a great amount of hiking behind me. But it was like a sword in my side, knowing that the journey was concluding, and I wouldn't be back there for a long time. It's not exactly the most kid-friendly places. And with my 2-month old, my wife and I don't have a whole lot of options of things to do with her while we're out there until she can start enjoying the scenery and the hiking.

After getting back into reality on the flights home, as well as the drive, I realized I really wasn't ready to be done yet. I enjoyed the trip, especially seeing the things I saw, and mostly feeling the magnitude the surroundings that Jake did before he fell. What a place to go. But too damn early... Way too early.

Being out there, or anywhere outdoors for that matter, always starts me thinking about lots of things. Mostly, what's the point? What's the point of so much forward progress. We're so worried about the next big thing. Being so socially attached, yet so distant in reality. We have so many amazing ways to keep in touch with such a large amount of people. But why? Are we that empty in our own lives that we need to fill it up with everyone else instead of our own? If Facebook, email, text messages and so on were gone, what would we do? Would we feel so much less fulfilled in our lives? To be quite honest, I think we would feel more fulfilled. The more I put away my phone, turn off the TV, and just look and listen to the things around me, the more satisfied I become. Yea, sure, I want my friends and family around me, but that's not the point. Are we really a society that has become so wrapped up in the lives of others that they fulfill ours? No matter how many times you refresh your Facebook feed, you're going to see people doing things. Bringing you down because you'll start feeling like your life is unfulfilled. But if you ask me, shut off the computer, turn off the TV and go outside and do something. Get around a campfire, grab a beer down by the lake. You know, the original way to network socially?

I've come to realize more and more since this trip that it's not really about how many people you know. Not in the least. 75% of those people could think you're shit. What it really comes down to is what people you know. What people stay close to you, and how you stay close to them. Being out there with three of Jake's good friends and co-workers really made me realize how much people matter. Not in a sense of quantity, but of quality. These guys are it. Each one in their own way. Completely and utterly real. No bullshit, just real live people. I think we're missing that a lot in our society today. Hiding behind personas built up online... Face it, you're probably not as cool in person as you think you are on Facebook and Twitter. These things are great for keeping in touch. But if you get your satisfaction from those you'll never see, log off and go make new friends.

I apologize for the somewhat politicized ending, but I started going back through my brother's Facebook and some forums he was on. And you know what, he was so much damn cooler as a person than he ever was on there. And the thing is, those who talk about him and were friends with him on those places knew it too. Jake knew how to live. And he lived as well as he knew how. Maybe not always making the best decisions, but he had fun. And I'm pretty sure he can look down now and not say he has any regrets.

As for me, it's back to reality. The life in a cultured society. But I move forward taking the lessons I learned out in the back country of Montana and am putting them to use in my life every day. As well as in my training. It's back to the training schedules and work schedules. But that doesn't mean I forget about the learning I've done. I feel I've grown since making the journey, and I intend to share my knowledge and experiences with those who ask. I had almost thought about not writing about this trip at all. But knowing I could reach those who care about the trip in one voice, and one swoop makes it much easier for me than having to relive and retell the ups and downs I went through.

So until next time, happy training to all. GET OUTSIDE!

-Dave