One of the questions I was frequently asked following my 6 day race in Sardegna was “How do I keep my energy levels up over the course of a 6 day Race?”
I thought I would share with you what I did to maintain and increase my energy levels each day. It was amazing that even after very tough days(like racing over 6 hours on the Grand Fondo day) I managed to still have a lot of energy to go out and race again the next day. I believe that you can use my energy fixes in your day to day life as I do many of these same things on a daily basis to maintain energy.
Most races or events I have competed in are a single event such as a Triathlon, Marathon or swim race. The difference with Giro Sardegna is that when you race on consecutive days, you need to ensure that you recover very quickly as you need to go out the next day and do it all over again. Some of the racing segments involved racing while climbing over 2000 meters over 4-6 hours so had to maintain energy and try to avoid muscle cramping over that long period of time.
Besides measuring my energy levels each day, I also measure the stress my system is under and my ability to recover by measuring my HRV(Heart Rate Variability). This measures the Sympathetic Nervous System(Stress system) and Parasympathetic Nervous System(Recovery system) and how your body is adapting to mental as well as physical stress. My HRV readings all week were much better than last year and were Green each day and only had one Yellow reading and Zero Red readings. This means that my system was not registering as high physical and mental stress levels even though I was putting my body through the physical gauntlet each day.
Things I did to Sustain Energy Each Day
Below I have outlined what I did each day to have the necessary energy to race well each day as well as maintain my energy levels over the course of the week. I would suggest that these can be adapted into your every day routine or life in order to ensure you have great energy each and every day.
1.Healthy Carbohydrates
When hard racing, the body stores approximaltey 1 hour of carbohydrates before your glycogen stores start being depleted. Therefore, it is important during hard and long exercise(anything over 1 hour) to restore glycogen stores. Therefore all week I ensured that I was having healthy carbohydrates during and after the race. This included bananas, dates, drink powders and gels during the race. I also ensured that I replenished my glycogen stores following each race as well as all meals. This included an assortment of sprouted breads, healthy green salads, rice(great for restoring glycogen levels), quinoa, pasta with tomato sauce as well as much fruit as possible. Since I was burning such a high level of calories each day I ate as much as I could all day long.
2.Healthy Fats
We essentially have different energy systems that our body uses during exercise depending on the length and intensity of your workout. Generally for short and intense exercise you mainly tap into your glycogen levels which means you are using carbohydrates. When exercise is prolonged and over one hour(which was 4 of the 6 days I raced), you tap into your fat stores. Therefore it is important that you provide your body with healthy fats in order to effectively use your fat burning system.
Therefore during the week(and always), I consume a lot of healthy fats such mixed organic nuts and seeds, avocados, hemp seeds, flax seed and oils such as coconut and olive oils. Therefore last week I consumed a lot of olive oils(with salads, on pasta, with my sprouted bread), avocado oil and almond butter.
Each morning I would ensure that I ate almond butter and avocados with sprouted bread. On my long stages(over 3 hours) I would make avocado and almond butter sandwiches and bring them on my ride with me and consume them during the race.
3.Protein
The intense racing each day causes you to break down muscle so you need to repair that muscle breakdown as soon as possible. Therefore I would ensure that I had my plant based protein powder and maca powder following each stage of the race. I would generally have this as soon as I got back to the room prior to going to eat lunch. So following each stage I would ensure that I had a good mix of Carbohydrates, Protein and Healthy Fats.
4.Racing Supplements
This year like last year, I supplemented with powders during my races to ensure that I maintained my energy levels during the race and also recover for the following day. I have mentioned in the past that I have consulted with Dr. Callum Cowan(Advica Health Partner) who once again provided me with my Pre-Workout, Race and Post race supplements. I also went to Callums clinic prior to heading to Italy to have Intervenous Vitamin supplements which I am sure helped.
Each morning prior to my race, I would take Steam and Complex 5 powder from Rivalus that would provide me with energy and recovery. On my super long race days I would also take extra powder and empty it in my water bottle at the water breaks. Following my race I would try to consume Post Race RX from Rivals as well in order to assist in my recovery.
Since I severely cramped on my first stage(90+kms), I increased my Magnesium intake during the week to prevent further cramping. Also on my long stages I consumed Nuun tablets to once again prevent cramping. Thanks to our nutritionist (Marina Zelenovic) that helped me prior to the race with my supplementation based on my blood test results as well as my exercise regiman.
5.During Race Strategy
I thought I would share what I did during my race stages in order to maintain energy and provide recovery for the following day. One thing I did differently during this race with the suggestion of some of my fellow Milton racing pals was to consume more foods on the long stages than I have ever consumed before. I was particularly worried about finishing and cramping on the extremely difficult Grand Fondo day so I made sure I ate and drank often and a lot during the day. I did not cramp and managed to have a good stage and I believe it was because I consumed the appropriate amount of liquids, supplements and foods.
I consumed the following during my race stages and particularly on my long stages. You will notice it is largely comprised of plant based, whole foods.I would not have all of these in every stage and would customize below menu based on my race distance and intensity.
1.Steam and Complex 5(From Rivalus)
2 Avocado and Raw Almond butter sandwiches(long stages)
3.Organic Nuts and Seeds and Raisins
4.Organic Dates(my go too food when racing)
5.Bananas(long stages)
6.Vega Pre Workout drink
7.Vega Protein Bar(long stages)
8.Nuun tablets(long and hot stages to prevent cramping)
6.Stretching and Rolling
I made sure that every day I stretched my back, body and legs prior to each stage(time permitting). I also brought my roller and used it each day on my sore legs and I am sure this helped in my recovery. In particular I concentrated on my lower calves and achilles as I wanted to prevent any further injury to my achilles as I tore it last year. I am pleased to report that my achilles held up well and I did not re injure it this year.
7.Creams to prevent Saddle Sores(You likely won’t want to read this unless you are a cyclist)
As you likely know if you followed my race last year, in addition to tearing my Achilles I also had brutally sore and infected saddle sores to the point that I could not even sit on my seat the last few stages of the race. My goal this year was to not get injured, not to injure my torn achilles, and somehow prevent Saddle Sores. I was particularly nervous about getting Saddle Sores again as based on all the stationary training I was doing every day in the 2 weeks leading up to the race, they were re emerging once again. In order to prevent saddle sores this year, I did some research on what to use to try and prevent them. Each day I put on a mixture of an anti fungal cream as well as Polysporin cream with hydrocortisone. Then I would put on a generous portion of anti chaffing cycling cream and the combination of these 3 things seemed to work this year. After the first day or two, I was getting signs of saddle sores however they never came close to developing the way they did last year(thank god).
Summary
I hope that what I have shared in terms of my ways to keep my energy levels up will someone help you with your workouts or just overall energy levels. Even if you are not racing, many of these will work to maintain energy levels on a day to day basis.
Have a great healthy and Energy filled day, Kev
