Day 14: Blackout!!!

Elle: We succeeded in getting up and out of the apartment and in the pool by 7:30am, which is always an achievement in my book. Today's swim went really well for me, and I think it has everything to do with the great swim articles in this month's issue of Triathlete Magazine, which I was reading right before I went to bed last night. There's also a great story by Macca, who I guess will be a regular columnist from now on. I for one can't wait for his new book to drop in the states, totally looking forward to reading it.

WORKOUT: Swim 1200M
w/u: 300 swim, 100 kick, 200 bouy, 100 swim
Drill: 4 x 50 underwater recovery
Main: 300 swim

Webb: Man I was tired. I am really started to feel the day-in, day-out fatigue with each stroke. Not sure how I feel about the drill. I need to read more about the purpose. As it was, it felt like I was supposed to learn not to take a normal recovery stroke for granted.

Elle: Still on my swim high, I got to work and the best thing happened - the building was closed, so no work today! There was a blackout in Boston, a transformer caught fire, causing a loss of electricity throughout the Back Bay. No one was hurt, but a lot of businesses were closed and traffic lights were out, so there were police at all the intersections directing traffic. It was kind of exciting. And I had the day off, woohoo!

Webb: While Elle was enjoying a day out of the office, I was hard at work sneezing my face off. Physically I feel fine, maybe even great. So I am not sure if this is sinusitis, and if so, if the cause is allergies, chlorine, both or a low-level cold complicated by those two. I decided to deal with it the way any obsessive endurance athlete would: I went for a run.

Dr. Allen Lim

After work I went for a short, easy 30:00 aerobic run. My hope was that some physical exertion would allow me to breathe freely (instead of say, every third step) and clear out my sinuses. No such luck. Oh well, it was good to add some miles to my legs. This nearly made me late for our evening plans though.

THE 4TH DISCIPLINE OF TRIATHLON: Nutrition?

Webb: We had plans to see Dr. Allen Lim (Garmin-Slipstream and Team Radio Shack) discuss nutrition. Some people call nutrition the fourth discipline of triathlon. Others assign that distinction to recovery. I might write a post some day listing all of the fourth disciplines of triathlon, which may include, transitions, strength training, visualization/mental toughness, among others.

Elle: I was excited to hear Dr. Allen Lim speak at Landrys. And when I walked into the store, Mark, the manager, was right there opening a beer for me. Score. The talk was really interesting, Lim, along with Chef Biju Thomas spoke about the cookbook they wrote called “The Feed Zone” to help teach cyclists how to cook fresh simple meals for themselves using real whole food ingredients. They also spoke about the shop they opened up called Skratch Labs. Afterwards we had the chance to speak with them and buy the cookbook. I can't wait to experiment with the recipes.

Lim, me, and Biju

Webb: What a great talk by both guys. As a fan of Team Garmin, I knew about Allen. I've watched all of his youtube videos and made his sushi-rice bars in lieu of packaged products. He talked a lot about what goes on in our stomachs. His explanation of how the gut seeks to establish equilibrium, which leads to that bloated feeling (if a sports drink is too dense) was eye-opening for me. Last year I decided to go away from solid foods on the bike. All of my calories came in liquid form (e.g., drinks, gels). It had mixed results in training and questionable results in my priority race. I decided to switch to lighter drinks and whole, solid foods for this year. As luck would have it, and that is what it was, this is what he recommends. If I am going to take nutrition advice from someone, then it might as well be a TdF veteran.

I am also looking forward to the book after listening to Chef Biju talk about its genesis. He does a great job of both explaining why it is important and letting you know that this is really simple stuff that anyone can do. In fact, it is a waste of time to make food complicated. For many of us, time management (wait! another fourth discipline!) is a huge issue for us; why should we make it harder?

If you get a chance to see either Allen or Chef Biju speak, Do Not Pass It Up. They are informative without being stuffy or overly academic and are prone to talk story. Have questions about food? They'd love to answer. Have a questions about the pro peloton? They'd love to answer. Look for the book, look for the tour.