|
Nutrition and recovery
 This epic was definitely an
eye-opener when it came to nutrition. I had my tried and
tested system of packed food and organized energy drinks
that I had trained with and raced with before, and I tried
to stick to my normal eating habits and so on. But by day 3
it started coming undone. The monotony of the same energy
drinks, all the sweet stuff and a growing lack of appetite
called for some in race experimentation. With a growing salt
craving and the smell of bacon in the morning I eventually
gave in to an egg and bacon roll in the morning. And it was
a life saver. In an event like this palatability starts to
become a critical factor, more so than nutritional value and
what is best to eat. So I gave in and ate what my body asked
for knowing that whatever I could get in was going to be
better down the line. On the bike I started drinking some
powerade as well as my own energy drinks and the oranges and
apples at the feeding points were becoming invaluable.
After the finish getting the
recovery drink down immediately was very important and then
something to eat. Re-hydrate must be one of the best kept
secrets for post race recovery. I always felt better after a
couple of re-hydrates, and they were actually quite tasty
after the sweet energy drinks. Some Pizza on day 6 was a
real boost and made you realize that there is another
culinary world outside of the Epic dinner tent. A protein
recovery drink in the evening before bed made sure that I
had topped up with as much as I could.
I really think that we made
huge progress with recovery at this epic. On the previous 2
epics we had concentrated on making the days, keeping our
bikes in working order and being organized with the rest of
the daily Epic admin. But 3rd time round everything seemed a
bit simpler. Sure we had a support team who always had food
and drink for us and helped with washing and a bit of
running around. But this time we concentrated on us, the
focus was recovery, rest, relax and chill out. It dawned on
us that the first step to quick recovery is a shower as soon
as you can. It is a big mental step because suddenly you
feel more relaxed and out of race mode. It made the
afternoon seem longer and generally left us feeling quite
relaxed.
The massages were something
we learned the last time. Without a doubt they saved us this
time again. So much so that Al is thinking of doing double
bookings next time around. Some days were very painful but
the next morning your legs would feel almost normal again
and we started each morning feeling as good as we possibly
could. |
