Gift the athlete in your life MOTIVATION this year. How do you accomplish that? In the form of new gear, a ground-breaking new fuel source, an exciting new race, or even a new coach.

1. Race Entry: give your triathlete the gift of motivation this holiday season! Nothing keeps you going to the gym like having a race on the schedule. A fun race entry to consider gifting is Challenge Daytona in December 2020. At this event, held at the iconic Daytona International Speedway, there are sprint, Olympic, and half distance races, and even a pro-am relay where you can compete alongside your favorite professional triathlete.https://challenge-daytona.com/race-information/entry-fees/

2. XRCEL: introduce a triathlete to a new race fuel source for the 2020 season by gifting an XRCEL Athlete Fuel 6 pack. This is the gift that will keep giving and giving all year long…in the form of bonk-free and mentally charged racing and training. https://xrcel.com/product/xrcel-orange-6-pack/. USE Code XRCEL4U for 30% off. Offer valid through 12-30-19.

3. Fleece Cycling Jacket: make winter riding outside that much more bearable and have the perfect thing to thrown on for those chilly race mornings (or dog walks!) https://wynrepublic.com/collections/keep-the-peace/products/thermal-cycling-jacket-joni

4. Private Swim Instruction: whether your triathlete needs a complete stroke overhaul or some minor changes, private swim lessons will give the gift of faster swim splits. Everyone’s dream, right?? In the New York area, contact Asphalt Green to set up a lesson with pro triathlete Laurel Wassner http://bit.ly/LWSwimLesson Thinking your triathlete could also benefit from some added inspiration and motivation to super charge your New Year, check out elite cyclist, personal development coach, and XRCEL ambassador Christine D’Ercole https://christinedercole.com/

5. Garmin Forerunner 945: this is the gold standard in endurance sports watches. It has a built-in heart rate monitor, accurately tracks miles in the bike and run, yards in the swim, and even will track your sleep. You can also listen to music and receive text messages through it. https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/621922

By Rebeccah Wassner, Pro Triathlete

Bike packing. Even after 15 years as a pro triathlete, it still makes me nervous. It’s a dreaded, but necessary part of the job, but like most elements of triathlons, you can always get better at it. Here are some tips for making the process easier.

Do it yourself!

If you are traveling to the race by yourself, then pack the bike yourself. The very first time I traveled with my bike was to the age group nationals in Shreveport, Louisiana in 2003. My roommate, who knew more about bike mechanics than me, helped me pack the bike. But when it came time for me to put it back together I was frozen with fear. To the point where I felt like everything I was doing was going to break the bike. The struggle was real! To avoid that stress in the future, I practiced taking apart and reassembling my bike a few times before my next trip (…because at that race, once my bike was properly put back together, I qualified for World Champs in Queenstown, New Zealand). 

Consider the bag or case.

We prefer for the bag itself not to weigh very much because this makes the whole package that much easier to lift (on/off luggage belts or in and out of cars). One perk of a soft case, like those from the company Scicon is that they collapse down and don’t take up much space in a hotel room. Also, Laurel and I have often built our bikes in rental car parking lots so to that we could collapse the bags down and fit all of our stuff in the car.

Purchase pipe insulation + masking tape.

Cut the pipe insulation to the exact size of the tubes you are using it to protect and label each piece. Use the masking tape to secure things in place. We recommend Doing this even with a hard case because you never know what happens one the case leaves your sight. Things always move around.

Plan.

when you are going to pack your bike. Allow enough time so you aren’t rushed and, if you can, do it while a bike shop is open for business…just in case you run into a problem. True story: one time I could not get the pedals off for the life of me. They had been cranked down by a mechanic during my last tune up. I ended up having to track down the super from my building to help.

Pack your bike in an out of the way place where you won’t be distracted. 

Once I had the great idea to pack my bike in the front yard and every few minutes someone would stop and wonder what I was doing. A dog even ran over and got in by box. Cute, but I needed to focus on getting my derailleur off!

Consider what else you put in there with the bike.

I like to put my wetsuit in as extra padding. I also pack a lightweight pump (wrapped up in pipe insulation), my bike shoes, and my XRCEL supply.*

*Note: I also put some back up bottles of XRCEL in my rolling suitcase. No matter what happens, you’ve gotta have your race nutrition!

By Scott DeFillipis Pro Triathlete and Coach

April has come and gone and many triathletes based in North America have already begun their seasons. Some are feeling encouraged with their early season result while others who may not have fared as well have themselves feeling down in the dumps. Well, I am here to tell you that it’s ok to not be super fit in May and it’s ok to not have a personal best in your first race out of the gates.

I see more often than not athletes trying to rush into the season, forcing the training, when their mind and body are simply not ready. This can result in an injury leading into the race or sometimes happening during the first race of the year. Sometimes, unrealistic expectations can result in a bad race leaving them feeling down in the dumps come May-June which can send a season spiraling downward.

We need not look any further then the most talked about triathlete in the world, Lionel Sanders. Mr Sanders had a sub-par year in 2018, which started to go downward after the disappointment of losing to the greatest triathlete we’ve ever seen, in Jan Frodeno.  He let his own expectations affect the rest of the year. Post Kona rather than let his body recover from yet another long year of training and racing at an extreme level of intensity.  He jumped back into training and won Palm Spring 70.3 but then immediately looked towards nailing Oceanside 70.3 in early April with the goal of qualifying for Kona a few weeks later at Ironman TX. Well, he pushed and pushed and didn’t make it to the start line in Oceanside and is now forced to rest for 3 months as he is sidelined with a pretty bad stress fracture.  

This is not completely Lionel’s fault as the way the calendar is set up, WTC has jammed some of the most important races of the year all within the first 8 weeks of the season (With the year starting early April) with 3 of the biggest races in the USA all being run between April 7th and May 5th. But looking back now I am wondering if Lionel is thinking perhaps he should have shut things down after Kona last year and taken his 3 months for his body to recover, then built slowly into the year, perhaps skipping the April and May races???? He should now look to what Mr. Frodeno is doing at this very moment. Jan nailed his season opener in 2018 beating Lional and then went onto win Ironman Frankfurt and the 70.3 World Championships…But the same stress fracture that Lionel now has, Jan also had back in September.  Rather than force the early races, the greatest of all time is taking his time. He passed on a rematch with Lionel in Oceanside and still has nothing lined up as we exit the month of April.  He will race when he is ready to race and not before. 

As a coach I am constantly trying to pull back athletes’ ambition and expectations until we can get in at least 6 weeks of outdoor riding (for those that live in colder climates). We have a strong group of athletes that live in the Tri State are of NYC and every year many want to travel to Puerto Rico in March to start their year. I get it, they have been cooped up all year and want to be warm. But I tell them, “I’m happy for you to go there and race, it’s seems like a lovely place, it’s any easy flight from NYC. But, you have to have zero expectations!” If Puerto Rico 70.3 was held in August or Sept, after weeks of hot humid weather and a full spring and summer of training under their belts, they would nail it!  But, realistically, it’s not going to happen in March or April and sometimes not even in May….

So my advice to many and especially those that live in cold climates…Ease into the year! It’s ok to be carrying a few extra pounds on you in April. Don’t force anything! Use early season races to shake the cob webs, try new equipment, and practice your nutrition strategy! If you are new to using XRCEL as your fuel source, early season races are the perfect opportunity to experience just how effective it’s extended release formula will keep you moving forward all the way to the finish line! Build your confidence with each passing month and race so that come early-November you are really peaking into the offseason, not limping into the offseason!  By season-end you want to still be just as in love with your bike as you were after that first ride, rather than having the urge to stick it in the closet to collect dust until Valentine’s day.

XRCEL: What did your post-baby racing career look like to you before and after you had your baby?

I chose to have my first baby right at the height of my career and over the last five years, I have had two more children.  In between each of the kids I’ve been able to return to peak fitness, but not for very long before becoming pregnant again. The result has been that I’ve done more races with less than ideal preparation or before my body was back to normal. That’s made for some frustrating times, but also some nice surprises. Either way, my number one goal has always remained the same, which was to get the best out of myself each race.

What was your approach to exercise after the baby and what did you feel like in those first few weeks?

My approach to exercise after having Lizzy was to let my body dictate when to resume first exercising, and later, training. The first several weeks of exercise was not even a consideration. My top priority was to let myself heal from major surgery and make sure my baby was getting proper nourishment. Lizzy got the flu when she was seven weeks old, so I spent a few weeks, literally, nursing her back to health.

At what point did you decide to start properly training again?

Lizzy was born on January 5th and I started a very basic training program on April 1^st. Up until that point, I was focused on feeding Lizzy and figuring out a schedule of when I’d be able to get out of the house to work out. From April to the end of June, I focused on waking up my muscles after such a long layoff by just doing easy swims, bikes, and runs. Running was difficult because every time I ran, a different body part hurt. I’d have to take a few days off to readjust and then try again. On July 1st I started adding more training volume with a little bit of intensity mixed in. The half Ironman in Ireland was my first “real” workout.

What were the biggest differences you noticed about training pre-baby vs. post-baby?

The biggest difference is scheduling and child care. I can’t just go out for a bike ride without figuring out the logistics of who is going to watch everyone. Time is more limited now too, but it has forced me to become more efficient. Also, I’m still waiting for a full night of sleep. I’m hopeful, but I realize with three kids and a dog, that may never happen!

Were there ever moments where doubt about returning to triathlon would sneak in and how did you handle those moments?

The third day after Lizzy was born was my low point. I definitely questioned if I was going to recover and, if I did, how I was ever going to take care of three kids and train. However, things improved once I got home and settled and was able to see how much support I have. There were also days at the pool when I thought I was ready to swim with other people again, but I would blow up after the warm-up. I had to remind myself that despite feeling like the slowest one around, my natural talent and ability as an athlete did not disappear. The changes that your body has to deal with after having a baby are a real thing and not just an excuse for having a bad workout.

What’s been the hardest part about juggling motherhood with being a professional triathlete?

These first few races have been hard because I’m coming into things right when my competitors are gearing up for their end of season races. I was nine months pregnant and haven’t exercised in months when most people started their seasons. It usually takes me a few races to remember what it takes to push myself, so I’ll catch up soon!

At what point after having the baby did you feel you were ready to race again?

I started feeling mentally ready to toe the line at about five months post-baby, but my body wasn’t quite there yet. I know from my previous comebacks that it’s taken me between eight and nine months to be back in fighting shape.

Why did you pick Ironman 70.3 Ireland as your comeback race?

I chose to do this race because I’ve always wanted to race in Ireland, I’m half Irish, and it was an easier race to get to. I’ve been in New Paltz all summer and our local airport, Stewart Newburgh, just started direct service to Dublin. I found a cheap ticket and decided to go. I traveled with a friend from NYC, rookie pro triathlete Nicole Falcaro and we supported each other throughout the weekend. Nicole had a great race, just missing the podium. I’m so glad I got to be out on the course with her and witness her success because I’ve seen the work she’s put in and the progress she’s made over the last year.

How do you feel your first race back from having a baby went and where will you go from here?

Any time I cross the finish line in one of these long races, it’s a win no matter what place I’m in. For this race, overall I’m happy with it. I had a great swim and was first out of the water by two minutes. I handled the cold water and the chop easily, which was a surprise. The bike threw me for a loop as it was one of the hardest courses I’ve experienced second to ISRAMAN. I hadn’t done any rides over 40 miles and only a few truly hilly rides.  I ran exactly what I thought I was capable of based on my training. I hadn’t run more than eight and a half miles before the race, so I took the first nine miles at a comfortable pace and then tried to build the last four. I zoomed through the last lap! I just needed a few more weeks to be ready to tackle the Wicklow mountains in the rainy fog. I’ve now resumed training and am continuing to build a base of miles.

How did you use XRCEL throughout your race and what do you feel are the biggest benefits of using XRCEL during a fast 70.3?

I had an XRCEL 15 minutes before the race start and continued to drink XRCEL every 45 minutes throughout the bike. I grabbed an XRCEL in T2 and drank it in transition before starting the half marathon. I felt amazing on the run and I was in the mindset to push myself the whole way. I finished the race and immediately thought “wow! XRCEL really works!”

Last month I traveled to Manta, Ecuador to race the Ecuador 70.3 triathlon.  I finished on the podium in 2nd place.  I am very happy with my performance, and especially how I successfully executed my race plan.  A large part of that was due to proper fueling.  I believe it is always good to have a plan – which I write down in my journal. I make notes of exactly when I should take my fuel (sips of XRCEL) and drink water throughout the race and rehearse it in my mind the night before the race.  The key is to know the plan, BUT also to be flexible and be able to adapt when things don’t go perfectly.

My plan was: 4 bottles of XRCEL in my water bottle on my bike and sports drink in the bottle between my aerobars. I alternated sips of drinks with large swallows of XRCEL every 35 minutes.  All went perfectly until 40 miles into the 56 mile bike ride when I grabbed my bottle and simultaneously came upon a very rough stretch of pavement. I was so afraid of dropping my precious XRCEL (knowing I needed that last 1/4 bottle for energy for the run), that I held on to it rather than steer my bike! A few seconds later I realized I definitely needed both hands on my bars and realized it was either me or the bottle…so the bottle rolled to the side of the road.  I momentarily panicked about not having my trusty fuel, but I reminded myself that XRCEL is time released, that I already had gotten a lot in, and that I could supplement with the nutrition they provide on the run course. Instead of getting down about it, or distracted, I just carried on.  It wasn’t ideal and I probably didn’t have the pep in my step I might have had, but I was still able to finish very strong with the fastest half marathon of the day.

It’s important to have a plan, but also to be able to come up with a plan B if you need to.

In addition to fueling properly on race day, it is equally important to eat the right things in the days leading up to the race.  Everyone is different, but for me that means extra carbs, mostly in the form of rice. However, in Ecuador, a staple food is plantains, which was also a great way to fuel.  I had all sorts of plantains: mashed, chips, in the form of a “bolon”.

Fortunately, I had many new Ecuadorian friends to translate the menus for me and help me pick out the local specialties.

Manta is known for tuna fishing and has a giant fish market we ran and rode by.  Another memorable meal was the freshest tuna (served seared with steamed veggies) I have ever had. This combination worked and I felt great on race day.

Having a plan, and also being able adaptable is the key to executing a successful race. Next time, I’ll look ahead on the road to make sure the pavement is smooth before taking a drink!

“I am super excited to announce my partnership with XRCEL for the remainder of 2018. XRCEL tastes great, gives me energy immediately and over time, and never lets me bonk! XRCEL is the best choice for race fuel!”

 Dean’s race results to date:

 1- Tritonman Triathlon – February 17^th – San Diego, California

26^th place Collegiate – 59:03 – Fastest Swim Overall 

2-  Lake Havasu Triathlon: MCTC Conference Championships – March 17^th– Lake Havasu City, Arizona

60^th place Collegiate (flatted on bike) – 2:27:24 – 2nd Fastest Swim 

 3 – Collegiate Club National Championships – April 28^th and 29^th, 2018 – Tuscaloosa, Alabama

                              100^th place Collegiate (Duathlon) – 1:46:02

4 –     Ironman 70.3 Boulder – August 4^th, 2018 – Boulder, Colorado

9^th Place AG- 4:48:57 

7th Fastest Swim Overall – 25:05

Bike Split PR – 2:23:43

 5 –     Kokopelli Triathlon – September 8^th – Hurricane, Utah

6 –     Pumpkinman Triathlon – October 20^th – Henderson, Nevada

 Read Dean’s blog for latest updates: http://oblivioustocalories.blogspot.com/

I’ve always been fascinated by the missed great race performances due to an athlete’s mental breakdown rather than physical issues. Don’t get me wrong, plenty of bad races can be attributed to acute physical problems like injury, nutritional issues, or muscle fatigue. In my fifteen years of experience with elite-level athletics, I’ve always taken great interest in the psychological side of training and racing. I’ve spent time around some of the best triathletes in the world. While their physical abilities are always superb, I’ve found that it’s their mental strength that sets them apart. On the flip side, I’ve known a lot of great athletes who didn’t reach their potential either in some races, or throughout their entire careers, because their minds have held them back. Throughout my professional racing career, I too experienced being held back by my own psyche. I also experienced some of my best performances when my mental preparation matched my physical preparation. Endurance sports are hard on both the mind and the body. As athletes, it’s important to place as much importance on our mental preparation as we do our physical training. Toeing the start line mentally ready to go can make the difference between the race of your life and a DNF. Here I want to share with you a handful of tools I learned to use to prepare my mind for race day.

1) Visualization – This is probably the most powerful tool in the mental preparation box. The key to this technique is to start your visualization practice months before your key race. Think through your race day. You can even think through the days leading up to the race as well. Go through the entire race day, from when your morning alarm rings until after the finish. You can even include how you’re going to celebrate a great race. Think through every moment in between. Think about what an amazing experience it is going to be, think about how you will thrive in the race. Think about how you will feel at each moment, your emotions, but always in a positive light. Think about how calm and collected you will be through the whole day. How will you execute every aspect of the day? Address how you will embrace the pain and the tough moments. Dictate all of your thoughts throughout the day. Again, you need to make sure you maintain a positive take on every moment. After you’ve envisioned all of these thoughts and moments, make sure to write it down in a journal. Then as you approach your race, spend a little time every day thinking through your scenario. Every time you think through or review your visualization, you are creating your own reality. Those positive thoughts and emotions are being programmed into your brain and you’re actually deciding now how you will feel. This will become ingrained in you psyche and creates your future.

2) Confirmation – As race day approaches, athletes may start to doubt themselves and their preparations. When this happens, you can start to talk yourself down and not trust in your preparation. Negative perspectives like this do you no good. You need to focus on the training you DID do, rather than the training you DIDN’T do. You need to confirm that you are indeed prepared to race. An easy way to do this is to spend time reviewing your past training plans/logs to reinforce and remember all of the hard work and sweat equity you put in to be ready for this race. I once heard a world-class triathlon coach say that endurance athletes have about a three day memory. They can’t seem to remember the months and years of good training they’ve done. If they haven’t felt a certain way or done certain workouts for a few days, they start to doubt themselves. We tend to remember only the few bad workouts or that maybe we missed one key workout. I can remember being stressed about a race because I was sick for a week and missed 7 days of training. I didn’t think about the seven months of great training leading up to that one week in bed. If you take the time to read through your training logs, it can help reinforce how much work you’ve done to prepare for your race. Use this tool to confirm to yourself that you’re ready. As you read back through all of your logs, you will realize how far you’ve come as an athlete. You want to stand on that start line confident in your fitness and this will help remind you of all of the miles you put in to get to where you are.

3) Affirmation – We are our own worst critics and we tend to talk negative to ourselves. This is especially true when we are experiencing doubt about an upcoming race. Motivational speaker Les Brown says that there is an old African proverb “if there is no enemy within, the enemy outside can do you no harm.” By affirming your strengths to yourself, you can eliminate that enemy within. Of all of the mental preparation tools, I feel that self affirmations are the one that some people struggle to do. It can feel awkward or maybe corny to tell yourself positive things. You need to get over any feelings like this and begin to tell yourself how good you are. Like visualizations, your thoughts will begin to create your own reality. A great way to do this is to start writing down positive thoughts, phrases, or sentences on flash cards. Think about your future state. How do you want to feel? Then each day, in a quiet and peaceful moment, read through your flash cards. Ideally you read them out loud so you can hear yourself say those positive things to yourself. At first, you may feel like you’re telling yourself fibs, but the more you practice, the more you will internalize these statements and believe in them. This will become who you are. For example, you could write down something like “when I run, I am relaxed and my legs feel light and springy, like a deer galloping through a field.” It may feel hokey or strange to recite that to yourself, but that will become your reality. You will to eventually feel more relaxed and springy as you run.

4) Worrying Time – One of the best tools I’ve come across to avoid excessive pre-race nerves is to schedule worrying time. As race day approaches, anxiety around all of the ‘what ifs’ can build in your brain. Some nerves are inevitable. In fact, a certain limited amount of the butterflies in your stomach is healthy and can help your performance. This is because it helps release your stress hormones designed to increase our physical abilities as a natural defense mechanism to stress or danger. However, too many of these nerves, for too long (days and weeks) before a race can leave you mentally exhausted and physically hamper your performance. A sports psychologist I worked with gave me this great technique to deal with those nerves in the days before a race. He recommended scheduling time to worry about those ‘what-ifs.’ Start by setting aside 30 minutes at a certain time on a certain day. If you feel anxiety before then, tell yourself “it’s not time to worry right now, I will think about this today at 3:00pm (or whenever you decide).” Then during your time slot, worry as much as you want about what could go wrong. Go crazy with it. Then think through how you will handle all of those scenarios. Use that time as contingency planning. When the time is up, then you tell yourself that you’re done with the worrying and it’s time to move on. You can schedule more time later or the next day. If you feel those jitters creeping in again, tell yourself you can’t worry now, but you can during your next worrying session You have the ability to tell yourself that you can’t worry about what could possibly happen all of the time. I found this to work really well for myself. Give it a try, you may find it really helps to mitigate your pre-race anxiety.

5) Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail – If you think about everything that goes into your race itself, there are a lot of moving parts that make it a fairly complex endeavor. The more you can plan out and address the details that go into every aspect of the race, the better. Spend the necessary time to think through all of the steps and details surrounding travel to the race, going through all of the motions of the final days leading into the race, executing every step of the race, and contingency planning for potential issues that could arise. For instance, think about your race nutrition. Spend the time well ahead of race week to think through how much XRCEL you need to bring to the race, where you will pack it in your luggage, which water bottles it will go in for the race, how much and how often will you drink it, will you have spare XRCEL if you drop a bottle, etc. Spending the time to think through these kinds of details ahead of time can save you a lot of stress in that final week before the race. This shouldn’t be limited to your nutrition planning, but you can do this for all aspects of your race; from travel logistics to your equipment. With forty full-Ironmans to my name and even more half-Ironmans, I’ve heard of, seen, or personally experienced almost everything that could go wrong. The better prepared you are going into the race, the better you will be able to handle any issues that Murphy’s Law will throw at you!

6) Victory Lap – I once spoke with a sports psychologist before a race. He said one sentence to me that has stuck in my head ever since. In fact, I stole it and say it to many of my friends and athletes before they race. It’s a very simple but a profound idea. He said, “Tomorrow’s race is your victory lap. Go take you victory lap.” We often think of the races as the end point of our journey. That viewpoint tends to place too much gravity on the results of that race. It can make it appear as an all or nothing event. Instead, try to look at the race as your reward for all of your hard work and preparation over the previous months. Getting to the start line healthy and rested is the hardest part about any endurance sport. Look at the race as your celebration for all of your sacrifices and everything you overcame in your training. You get to go race because you did everything you could to get yourself to that start line. The time you spend actually on the race course is a small fraction of the time you spent training. Enjoy every minute out there. This is your time. This really is your victory lap.

Endurance sports are hard enough, don’t let your mind make them any tougher. Place the importance on training your mind as it deserves. It doesn’t matter if you’re physically fit and strong, if you’re mentally weak you may crumble as soon as the race gets hard. Just like every other aspect of your physical training, mental training takes effort and practice. Make it a priority and you may find it opens up your potential for your best performances yet.

XRCEL: What initially attracted you to racing the New Jersey State Triathlon Championships?

Brian Norling: Since I started racing triathlons, the NJ State Triathlon has been one race I’ve done almost every year starting back in 2009. I’ve only missed it when the race conflicted with other races. It is one of the largest race in the area and gets great racers from all over the area, which makes for great racing. You have to always come into the race in great race shape because the race is very fast right from the start. I used to race the Olympic distance here, but the last two years, I have raced the sprint distance.

How did placing 3rd overall in 2017 fuel your training and focus for returning to race in 2018?

Placing 3rd last year was a great feeling, but it also gave me the drive to try to win the race this season. I knew I had to be faster at 43 years old than I was at 42, which was not so easy. I had to look at what I did in 2017 and find where I could make up some time. The months leading up to the race I did a few more sprint triathlons than I normally would, which gave me the chance to work on the race as a whole and see what I needed to change. In sprint races, every second counts, so I knew I couldn’t have any race hiccups if I wanted to come out on top.

At 43 years old, you were competing against guys nearly half your age and still won. How has fueling with XRCEL in your training and racing these past few years elevated your overall performance and allowed you to beat some very fast, and younger, opponents?

I use XRCEL in all of my training sessions, which gives me the edge because I don’t have to worry about how I’m going to feel during the race. I know that I’m not going to have any cramping or stomach issue when I use XRCEL, so it’s one less thing to worry about during the race. XRCEL gives me the fuel I need to race to the best of my ability.

What do you see as the biggest difference in using XRCEL when training and racing compared to the products you have used in the past?

XRCEL is easy to use as I can easily fit the easy-to-grip bottle in my jersey pocket when I train and race. You can drink half of a bottle and put the cap back on without a problem. There is no ease like that with a gel. Also, the amount of nutrition is always the same, so I don’t have to worry about measuring and mixing of a powder to make a drink.

Once you realized you were the overall winner of the sprint race, what emotions did you feel?

It was a tough race for me. I went from thinking the race was over for me to “wow, I won!” in under an hour. I didn’t have a good swim at all, coming out of the water two minutes down from the leader, which is not where I wanted to be.  I had to put in a great bike leg and run to make up  time and I ended up with the fastest bike split of the day and a top five run time. Coming down the finishing chute and raising the tape was a surreal feeling. The energy was so high and I was so stoked to win the overall race and become the NJ State Sprint Champion. It was such an awesome feeling!

How do you use XRCEL in shorter, faster triathlon races like the NJ Tri Championships?

In a short race like NJ State, I drink one bottle of XRCEL, followed by some water, about 15-20 minutes before the race starts. I’ll also have one bottle of XRCEL on the bike and drink about half of it with a few miles left in the bike portion. This strategy helps me stay fueled up for the entire run.

With consistent success and wins in your races, who inspires and drives you to continue to push yourself at such a high level?

My kids and family are my inspiration to keep going. I like that the training and racing is teaching my kids a healthy lifestyle. Now that both of them are getting older, I do some training with them as they are both into sports. Getting a couple runs in with them is the best time.  I try to do most of my training early in the morning so I don’t take away from the family time. I have to keep an open mind about my training schedule because with family and running a business, things can change at any time. I do believe in quality workouts, which is why I make them all count.

What are your racing goals for the rest of the year?

I have a few more triathlons on the schedule for the year. Ironman 70.3 Atlantic City in September and another late season sprint in my hometown. After that, I will do a few fun cross country races and a six-hour mountain bike race to end the season in November.

Calcium (in leafy greens and dairy) is involved in muscle contraction (in addition to the more familiar function of bone strength).

Potassium (in bananas, potatoes and a host of other vegetables & fruits) helps maintain fluid and electrolyte balance.

Beta-carotene (in orange fruits & vegetables) is important for our eyes & vision.

For many, the first thing that comes to mind when they hear the word “vitamin” is a pill.   Sadly, taking a vitamin supplement is not the best way to provide your body with the vital nutrients it needs.  It is always best to get your nutrition from foods.  Unfortunately, many Americans, even fit athletes, do not always hit the mark when it comes to well-balanced, high-nutrient-density intake.  That, coupled with the athlete’s higher nutrient needs sometimes means a supplement is necessary.  It’s best to have a dietitian assess your dietary intake to determine if a vitamin or mineral supplement will be helpful or just a waste of money for you.  (Important note: most vitamin/mineral supplements are not harmful for the body, but there are a few that can build up to toxic levels if taken in excess.)   A focus on vegetables, fruits and whole grains is the best way to get the nutrients your body requires.

Now a note about water.  While everyone understands the importance of hydration in athletic performance, succeeding at it can be a whole different story.

Here are some useful tips for making sure you stay hydrated at all times:

—have a cup or bottle by your bed and drink at least 8 ounces right when you get up
—carry water in a vessel that will not spill and set a goal to drink 5-10 ounces per waking hour
—train yourself to drink room-temp water so that you don’t limit yourself in any way from drinking at any time
—download a water-tracking app and set a goal for 0.5-1.0 ounces per pound
—do not count caffeinated beverages in with your intake; while regular caffeine consumers will likely not experience much of a diuretic effect, it’s hard to determine if there is extra fluid loss, so it’s better to exceed your needs than to end up short

Remember, it is best to be in a constant state of hydration instead of just focusing on “getting hydrated” for an event.  On the morning of your event, it’s important to start hydrating early, just like it’s important to start eating early.  It’s best to drink at least 20 ounces 3 hours before the start of the event.  It will also help to drink a bit more about 30 minutes before starting, but the amount depends on what you can tolerate without feeling full or bloated.  Also, during an event, it’s best to drink at least 16 ounces per hour, but your stomach will thank you if you space this consumption out through the hour & don’t try to drink it all at once.  All of these numbers are fairly arbitrary, as everyone “loses” fluid at different rates, but they are at least a good guide.

Janet Carter, MS, RD, LD, CPT, CLS
Dietitian/Sports NutritionistEndurance Athlete
dietjc24@yahoo.com
774-400-7566

Coming Soon: Performance Nutrition Advanced, Leg One; Maximizing Carbohydrate Intake for Peak Performance

This blog is written using the most updated scientific information available.  The author has no financial stake in anything that’s discussed, nor is she benefiting financially from writing the blog article.  In other words, you are receiving un-biased, science-based sports nutrition information from an experienced professional who is also a seasoned endurance athlete.