What do you do if you are going to do a long race and don’t like the nutrition that is provided on the course or just want to carry your own? One solution is to use concentrated bottles. When I ran the Paris marathon last year, I used concentrated bottles to pack in 5+ hours of nutrition into 3, 10 oz bottles. I have also had a lot of triathletes use concentrated bottles on the bike or run to allow them to have enough fuel until they get to their special needs bags where they can pick up more concentrated bottles for the second half of their race. This post will describe what concentrated bottles are, how to decide if you want to use them, and how to configure them.

Before I get into the nitty-gritty of concentrated bottles I have to mention a caveat: You MUST practice with concentrated bottles before using them in a race! If you don’t know how to use them, or if you haven’t practiced them, they can very easily go wrong leaving you on the side of the road or in a porta-potty with GI distress. Now. . . on to the topic!

What are concentrated bottles? Concentrated bottles allow you to fit a certain amount of nutrition into a smaller container than what is called for on the label. In order to make concentrated bottles, you have to be using a powdered formula.

Are concentrated bottles right for me? They can be if you have time to practice them, have a way to dilute the concentrated bottles (additional water available on the course), you need to carry a lot of nutrition with you, and you have a powdered fuel you like and knows will not cause you GI distress.

How do you setup and use concentrated bottles? Here is an example: We are working with Suzie who is training for a marathon in Europe. She does not like what will be available as on-course nutrition. Suzie does not have anyone supporting her who can hand her bottles of nutrition during the race. She needs to carry all of her nutrition with her. Suzie will be running with a belt that contains 4, 10 oz bottles. She plans on finishing around 5 hours. She has a powdered drink she has used for a long time that has 45 grams of carbohyrdate per 2 scoops. She needs about 45 grams of carbohydrate per hour (2 scoops per hour). Suzie has decided she wants to use concentrated bottles for her race and fit 5 hours of nutrition into 3 bottles, leaving the 4th bottle for water to dilute the concentrated formula.

Based on this information, we know Suzie needs to fit 10 scoops into 3 bottles. I would put 3 scoops into two of the bottles and four scoops into the third. Then, you can top off with water and mix. This can take some practice and may require you to mix the concentrated mix for each bottle in a container other than the bottle then pour it into the bottle. If you do this, you need to be sure the final mixed solution will fit into the bottle.

Once Suzie has the bottles mixed, she can begin practicing with them. This means carrying them on her long runs and determining how much water she needs to take in with each drink from the concentrated bottle. What I have found is that it is two to three sips of water for every sip from the concentrated bottle. This means that you also need to stop at aid stations and re-fill the 4th bottle with water. As concentrated bottles are emptied, you can fill them with water which results in fewer stops at aid stations. During her runs, Suzie also monitors how much she drinks. She knows that to get 45 grams of carbohydrates our of the first two bottles, she needs to drink 2/3 of a bottle. To get 45 grams of the last bottle, she needs to drink half (the last bottle has 4 scoops in it). If she starts with the bottles that have 3 scoops each, she would follow this schedule: Hour 1, she drinks 2/3 of the first bottle. Hour 2, she finishes bottle 1 and drinks 1/3 of the second bottle. Hour 3, she finishes the second bottle. Hour 4, she drinks 1/2 of the third bottle. Hour 5, she finishes the third concentrated bottle. This gives her all the nutrition she needs to finish the race in 3 bottles she can carry with her. If the bottles do not have marks on them indicating 1/3, 1/2, and 2/3, you can mark them using a permanent marker.

You can use this same methodology on a long bike. Just determine how many carbohydrates you need per hour, how many carbohydrates are in your preferred fuel, the size and number of bottles you will carry, and go from there.

Concentrated bottles are a great tool to have available when you need them. Just remember to practice, practice, practice with them to be sure they will work on race day.

Sarah Seppa, my current fabulous intern from the University of Houston Dietetic Internship, wrote this blog about using real food during endurance and ultra-endurance training and racing. Thanks Sarah!

An Ironman triathlon takes a long time to complete, 11 to 16 hours for most athletes, give or take.  100-mile races take even longer, over 24 hours in most cases.  These athletes are burning calories at a extreme rate, and there is really no way to replace all the calories burned during the event, but nutrition is needed along the way to help fuel the athlete as they go the distance.  Endurance athletes are familiar with consuming supplements throughout their races such as sports drinks, gels, bars, and other engineered products, designed to deliver specific amounts of nutrients in a form that is easy to consume on the go.  But as endurance events get longer, over 5-6 hours, some athletes begin to look for something different.

Here in lies the problem.  When running, swimming, or cycling, your nervous system is in sympathetic or “fight and flight” mode.  Your blood vessels leading to your limbs are dilated, carrying nutrients and oxygen to your hard working muscles.  When you eat, your nervous system switches modes, to parasympathetic or “rest and digest”.  Blood rushes to your stomach and intestines to help you process the food that you have just eaten.  When you eat and exercise at the same time it is very difficult to digest food because your nervous system doesn’t know what to do, thus resulting in stomach cramps and other symptoms of gastrointestinal distress.  The key is to find foods that satisfy your hunger but digest easily so you can utilize the food for energy as soon as possible, avoiding an upset stomach.

Foods that are easiest to digest are carbohydrates.  As luck would have it, carbs are the preferred source of energy for your muscles.  By talking to athletes and reading a few discussion forums, it was unanimously clear that these quick digesting carbohydrates are the foods that endurance athletes competing in endurance and ultra-endurance distance events prefer.  Here are a few ideas:

• Potatoes or Yams
• Bananas and other lower fiber fruit
• Pretzels
• Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
• Crackers
• Dates and other dried fruit
• Rice Balls
• Cookies

Switching up flavors is also important.  Athletes often report “flavor fatigue” or the feeling of nausea at the very thought of having one sip or bite of the food or drink they brought with them.  One way to avoid flavor fatigue is to use foods that have a variety of different flavors: sweet, salty, savory, and sour.  That being said, it is important to be practice with the foods you plan to race with. You should also be cautious of the food provided at the aid stations in longer races.  Your gut needs training to consume food on the go, and you need to know which foods work for you and which foods don’t.  Only grab foods from the aid stations if you know they are tried and true.

So you have satisfied your hunger, but do real foods work as well as engineered foods for endurance?  A recent research study done at Louisiana State University comparing raisins to sport jellybeans in prolonged cycling, suggest that they do.  The study found that when equal caloric values of raisins and sport jellybeans were consumed in two different trials, there were no significant differences in endurance performance for time, power, blood glucose levels, or rate of perceived exertion.  In addition, the athletes preferred the raisins, as measured on a hedonic scale.  This is cool news!  More research is definitely needed comparing the use of real foods and supplements during intense activity.

If you are considering an Ironman or an ultra marathon, consider working real food into your race nutrition plan.  It will prevent you from getting hungry, experiencing “flavor fatigue” and might just add a little more enjoyment to your competition.

This morning when the alarm went off at 4:30AM, I thought really hard about turning it off, rolling over, and going back to sleep until 6AM. I laid there arguing with myself. “You need to go workout.” “Yeah, but I”m tired.” “But, you need the workout.” “I know, but I could do it later. The bed is so comfortable. I’m so tired.” “No, you can’t. You need to go now! If you don’t go, you’ll regret it the rest of the day.” Back and forth for a few minutes. I finally got up and ended up having one of the best workouts I’ve had in a long time.

How many times do we have these arguments with ourselves? Why is it that we have this evil little voice that always argues against doing what we know we want to do to reach our goals? When we have these arguments, who wins? If that evil little voice wins, does that help you reach your goals? Usually not. Usually, that evil little voice sabotages your efforts.

If that evil little voice is actually a saboteur why do we even listen to it? The key is to know that you have control over that voice. You can tell it to be quiet, or if you need to be stronger – mentally yell at it to SHUT UP! and not listen to it anymore.

I’m going to challenge you in the next week to quiet that evil little voice. When it starts talking, just say “I’m not going to listen to you” and keep doing what you need to in order to reach your goals. Because, if you engage in the argument, who really wins?

The goal I’m working towards is running the New York Marathon on November 6, 2011. I am raising funds for the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF) for this race. One of the other reasons I tell myself to do my workouts is because I am blessed to have two arms, two legs, and a body that lets me run and workout. There are many, many people who want to be physically active and who have to use something artificial to make it happen – a prosthetic leg or legs, a hand-cycle. I’m thankful I have a body that is whole and allows me to run, bike, and swim. Thanks to all of you who have given so far to help me help these special athletes. If you would like to help the athletes sponsored by CAF, you can make a donation (of any amount) here.

If you are racing a fall marathon – Chicago, Marine Corps, NY, etc. – now is the time to start planning and practicing your race nutrition. You want to have a nailed down nutrition plan for race day that you KNOW WILL WORK.  How do you put together a marathon race nutrition plan? Well. . . .

You start by deciding if you want to use the on course nutrition or if you want to carry your own. If you want to use the on course nutrition, you need to look on the website and see what flavor of the product they will have. If they have lemon-lime and you can’t stand lemon-lime, then you need to make an alternate plan. You also have to recognize your position in the pack. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for races to run out of on-course nutrition for those in the back of the pack. (If this is you, I would strongly suggest having some nutrition with you for the second half of the race just for insurance. You can either carry it with you from the start or get a handup from your support crew along the route.) If you are OK with all aspects of the on-course nutrition product you want to get it and start practicing to be sure that your GI system likes it and you really, really like the flavor.

If you want to carry your own, you need to pick the product and start practicing with it now. That way, you know it works. If it doesn’t, you have time to try something else.

The second step is to determine how much you can consume while running. I usually start people between 45 and 60 grams of carbohydrate per hour.  A product with a mix of glucose, fructose and sucrose allows your body to absorb more which can allow you to take in more fuel (which can lead to an improved performance). If you start out at 50 grams and have stomach problems, go for less or change product. If you do not have any problems, you can try going up 5 – 10 grams per hour. The key is to get in enough fuel you have a great run while avoiding GI distress. The grams of carbohydrates can come from any source you like – sports drink, gels, blocks, beans, etc. However, I would not recommend mixing sports drink with other sources (gels, blocks, beans). If you are going to take carbs in a non-sports drink form, use water (not sports drink) to dilute them. Using sports drink to dilute them can lead to the dreaded GI distress because it puts too many carbohydrates into your stomach at once.

That is the basic way of developing a marathon race nutrition plan. It also works for half-marathons.

If you have questions, let me know. Otherwise, have a great race!

You may find yourself outside in the heat more these days with football, soccer, and other sports. If you are playing, you absolutely have to watch your hydration. If you are spectating – you still need to be aware of your hydration. In Houston, we have been in the 100′s or close to it the entire month of August. College football season starts this weekend, and it is going to be HOT again in Houston.

If you are tailgating or spectating at a game or practice, be sure and dirnk penty of non-alcoholic fluids. You may want to alternate water with a product like G2 so that you also get electrolytes. If you are drinking alcoholic beverages, be sure that you drink at least one non-alcoholic drink (preferably water or a drink that contains electrolytes) for every alcoholic beverage you consume.

When you go to the bathroom, check the color of your urine. It should be the color of pale lemonade to clear. If it is darker, that means you need to increase your non-alcoholic fluid intake.

Have a great weekend! Enjoy the game! Stay hydrated!

When I started training for my first marathon in 2000, I was running with Theresa (who has become my closest friend over the many miles we’ve shared). We started talking about why we run. When she asked me my reason for running, I told her it was because I am blessed to be healthy and to have two arms and two legs that allow me to. Since that time, whenever I get down or lose my motivation, I think of all those who cannot run or participate in sports due to being physically challenged.

I was in San Diego last week. On Saturday, I ran 8 miles along the water. As I ran enjoying the view and the cool weather, I came upon two athletes out for a ride using handcycles. They were sponsored by the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF). This reminded me that I had neglected something. . .When I ran the Paris Marathon last year, I raised money for CAF. I chose CAF because. . . I am blessed to be healthy and to have two arms and two legs that allow me to – and others have the desire but are not so physically blessed.

CAF’s mission is to “provide opportunities and support to people with physical disabilities so they can pursue active lifestyles through physical fitness and competitive athletics. CAF believes that involvement in sports at any level increases self-esteem, encourages independence and enhances quality of life.” They provide legs for amputees so they can run. Racing wheelchairs for others. And, handcycles for those who need them. Seeing those two cyclists reminded me of my commitment to CAF.

I am training for the New York Marathon in November and the Goofy Challenge at Disneyworld in January (the half marathon on Staurday, and the full marathon on Sunday).  As I train for NY and the Goofy, I committed to CAF to raise money for them again.

I would encourage you to think about why you run, ride, swim, or participate in your favorite sport. Find the blessing in it. And, if you would like to help me help CAF, you can make a donation here. Any amount helps those who want to be physically active but need help to do so.

I run because. . . .I can.

Have a great weekend!

P.S. If you want to learn more about CAF and its mission, here is a great YouTube video about Challenged Athletes Foundation.

I was working with a new client the other day who brought in a food log he had been keeping. As we reviewed it, I becamed alarmed at his sodium intake. It was sky high – between 3,000 and 4,000 mg per day! The current recommendation is 1,500 mg per day (however, athletes typically need a bit more, but not necessarily that much more). When we started looking at where the sodium was coming from, we discovered it was from the meats. Not the lunchmeats, but from the regular chicken breast, turkey breast, etc. he was eating. What’s up with that?

The meat industry engages in a practice called “plumping.” Sounds not so bad right? Not so fast. Plumping is the practice of injecting saltwater, chicken broth, or other water + flavor concotions into meat. This helps make the meat harder to dry out when you cook it, but raises the sodium content. And . . . .you are paying meat prices for saltwater! Yes. . . you are paying $3 or $4 or more per pound for saltwater. Up to 15% of the chicken you purchase can be saltwater! You could be spending up to $1.50 per package for saltwater! Plumping can increase the sodium content of your chicken by up to 500%! Can you tell this makes me mad?

Meats that are “plumped” can still be labeled as “all natural” so you can not necessarily trust the larger print on the label. What do you do? You have to read the nutrition facts pannel, the ingredient list, and the fine print. For example, if chicken has more than 70 mg of sodium per 4 oz serving, it has been “plumped.” Chicken does have up to 4% retained water, so that is normal. If there is an ingredient label, look for “saline solution” or “sodium” or other flavorings. Somewhere on the label it should say, in tiny print, “up to 15% saltwater” if it has been plumped.

It is for each of us to decide if we want our meat “plumped” or un-plumped. I prefer mine un-plumped, thank you very much. I do not need or want the extra sodium. I like to add my own seasonings. And, I don’t understand why I need to pay meat prices for saltwater. What about you?

One of my first blog posts was on using low-fat chocolate milk as a recovery drink. Looks like the research is continuing to show it as a great recovery meal. This blog/newsletter was written by my latest intern Nicole Impero. Thanks Nicole! She graduates from the University of Houston Dietetic Internship today. Good luck Nicole!

The advertisements for sports drinks like Gatorade make a convincing case that you need the additional nutrients included. However, a recent University of Texas study suggests that for post-workout recovery, chocolate milk may be your best choice. This study, conducted by UT kinesiology and health education expert Dr. John Ivy, argues that low-fat chocolate milk provides a superior balance of carbohydrates, fat, and protein as compared to sports drinks. According to Ivy, these benefits included an increase in oxygen uptake, an increase in muscle mass and reduction in fat, and increase in power and speed in their exercise routines. Best of all, the benefits were seen by amateurs as well as professional cyclists. The research participants followed a regimen of 90 minutes of moderate cycling interspersed with 10 minutes of high-intensity cycling, and then recovered for 30 minutes before drinking 8 oz of the low-fat beverage, which is pretty intense for most of us. However, these results are convincing. Why not think about a glass of chocolate milk for your post-workout recovery instead of more sports drinks?

References:

Randall, Kay. (2011, June 22.) “Chocolate milk gives athletes leg-up after exercise, says University of Texas Austin study.” Retrieved from < http://www.utexas.edu/news/2011/06/22/milk_studies/ >

Does it seem like just when you get your good habits rolling and into a routine, something happens and the bottom falls out? Everything goes off track. This happened to me a couple of weeks ago when my father was unexpectedly admitted to the hospital. We went in for a normal doctor appointment that resulted in him being admitted to the hospital for a couple of weeks. He lives away from me. I had gone to the appointment with my purse and cell phone (hence the lack of blog post and newsletter for the past couple of weeks). I ended up staying with him for a week, came home for a weekend then back for another week. This experience taught me a lot and was significantly different from prior times I have been with him when he was in the hospital (for planned reasons).  What I learned (or learned to practice) is that even though a lot was outside of my control, there were still BIG things I coI still had a lot of control and could use it to help my father, my family, and me to get through the past couple of weeks.

The biggest thing I learned is to focus on the areas I can control. One of these is, not surprisingly, food. Whenever the bottom falls out food tends to be one of the first things that becomes hard to control. However, we still do have control – at least some – over our food choices. Since all I had with me was my purse and its contents, I had to go shopping for clothes, toiletires, and food. I found a Super Target and was able to cover a lot of the bases. One thing I picked up was nuts in individual serving size packages. Nuts can be a great snack between meals. And, the single serving size packages can help keep you from eating too much compared to eating nuts out of a bag or can. They don’t require refrigeration, and I could keep them in the hospital room. I discovered my dad also likes nuts, and we ended up sharing a few of the bags.

I also ended up at the grocery store and picked up some cherries. Cherries are one of my favorite foods, and really qualify as a comfort food for me. I discovered that, in addition to nuts, my dad also likes cherries. I ended up back at the grocery story every day or every other day buying more cherries. With the nuts, the cherries gave me a couple of great snacks to keep in the hospital room so I didn’t have to rely on the vending machines. The other food choices were what I ate for meals. At each meal, I learned to make the best choice possible. I found that if I didn’t fuel myself right with my meals, I was not alert enough to be a good advocate for my dad.

The second major thing I could control was sleep. I did get a hotel room each week. I don’t know why hotels have to use these huge pillows. After the first nigh, I woke up with a horrible pain in my neck and one shoulder. Back to Target I went to get a pillow and pillow case that would work for me. This allowed me to sleep better, and again be a better advocate for my dad. I also learned when to tell him I needed to go at night and when the doctors made rounds so I could be there in the morning.

Now that he is out of the hospital and I am back home, I’m focusing on the things I can control again. I’m getting caught up at work and on sleep, as well as getting back in touch with everyone (including my blog and newsletter readers).

When the bottom falls out for you remember to look for those things that you can control and that will help you get through until you can get your feet back on solid ground. Food and sleep are usually two of the things that can seem very hard to control in these kinds of situations. However, look for ways to make it easier. Find a grocery store and stock up on foods you feel good about eating and that help fuel you. Look for ways to get better sleep. And remember, you can handle anything that comes your way (you have so far). You just handle it until you can get back into your routine, or establish a new one, and get your feet back on solid ground.

My Fabulous Intern Christine Scarcello is back with another blog post about protein. Her post last week generated some questions about what type of protein suppplement is best. Below is her answer. Thanks Christine!

If you’re health or fitness conscious, there’s a good chance you’ve tried a protein shake at least once in your life.  If you are a serious endurance or strength athlete, protein shakes may be a regular supplement to your training or part of your daily routine. Though a lot of athletes will use what works best depending on personal performance goals and taste preferences, there are some basics to know about the different protein supplements out there.

Dr. Martin Gibala stated in research with the Gatorade Sports Science Institute that the timing of protein intake after your workout – rather than the specific mixture of amino acids or type of protein ingested – may be the most important factor for influencing muscle growth. However, many individuals prefer certain forms of protein over others. While this blog post is not meant to persuade you to try one protein source over another, you should be more informed about the different protein formulations when you are done reading. There is an abundance of misinformation about protein and its various forms, so let’s break it down and look at the nitty-gritty details of protein powder supplements.

Whey: Whey protein comes from milk protein as a by-product of making cheese. Whey has a high biological value, which means that it is more easily and quickly absorbed in the body than other forms of protein. The only other protein with higher biological value is a whole egg. Whey protein powder comes in isolated, hydrolyzed, and concentrated formulas. In isolated whey, most of the lactose has been removed from the protein, so this formulation is better for those with lactose-intolerance. Isolate is also 90% protein by weight, though it is heavily processed and loses some of its original bioactive compounds through processing. Hydrolyzed whey is partially pre-digested and can be absorbed in the body very easily. Concentrated whey is the least altered, which means that it contains the highest amount of bioactive compounds (including lactose). Whey is known as a “fast” protein because it is digested and absorbed quickly.

Casein:  Casein is another milk-derived protein, so it also has a high biological value and bioavailability. However, unlike whey, casein is known as a “slow” protein because it takes longer to digest and absorb. With longer digestion times, casein isn’t as quickly utilized as whey is. Why is this important? Casein may be a great source of protein before bed (since it will work while you’re sleeping) or a few hours before a workout during the day, but not in situations when you need a quickly absorbed, digested, and utilized form of protein. Protein should be restored following a workout rather quickly, so casein is not an appropriate post-workout protein source.

Soy: Soy protein is found in soybeans, and is generally not as favored among strength and endurance athletes as whey protein. But before you give up on soy, there are a few interesting facts you should know. Soy contains more glutamine and arginine than whey protein, and is a great protein source for vegans who do not wish to ingest dairy products (like whey and casein). While soy is easy to digest, it does not mix very well and requires more mixing or shaking than the dairy-based powders.  Soy also has many health benefits because it contains antioxidants and can help lower cholesterol, which helps prevent heart disease.

BCAAs:  If proteins are the building blocks that make up muscle, amino acids are the tiny building blocks that make up a protein. There are 20 amino acids, nine of which are essential because our body cannot make them. Three of those nine essential amino acids are the Branched-Chain amino acids (BCAAs), who get their name from their structure, which look like branched chains. The three – leucine, isolucine, and valine – are prominent in muscle development and repair, which spawned the myth that these isolated proteins are more beneficial than any of the others. Protein powders, amino acids pills, and concoctions containing the exclusive BCAAs are expensive and purported to be anti-catabolic and more easily digestible since they are isolated on their own, not contained to a casein or whey component.

Research is mixed as to whether BCAAs are that much better than other forms of protein, and many studies have found that BCAAs are no better than any other form of protein in terms of muscle repair, growth, and performance gains. As long as you’re eating a mixture of protein foods (which provide a variety of different amino acids), specific mixtures and combinations of amino acids do not improve performance any more than a regular, nutritious, protein-rich diet.

Dr. Penny here. Christine did a great job discussing the different protein supplement sources that are on the market. Someone asked if supplements are better than “real food” like chicken. I always advocate food first. However, there are situations where supplements can be used because of issues such as convenience, refrigeration, etc. If you need a “fast” protine after a workout, whey is a great choice. If you are looking for a good genernal protein source, “real food” is great (meats, eggs, dariy, etc.) and is often much cheaper than supplements. Another condsideration is if you are looking to build or maintain lean mass, research has shown that taking in 20 – 30 grams of protein at each meal or snack is all you need. That would be about 3 to 4 ounces of meat. If you are using protein supplements that have more than 30 grams of protein, you are paying for that extra protein to be used as energy or, more likely, stored as fat.

What questions do you have about protein and its sources? Let us know!