Nourishing Athletes

Triathlon-running

Janet — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 13:50:00 +0000

I found my stride!~ I am a Happy Camper! After a year of not running secondary to injuries, my trainer ran me this morning at 7.2 MPH. I could only sustain it for three minutes at a time, but it was “my stride!” Not bad for a 4′11,” 62 year old woman…:)

I have a name for when I hit my stride; “God is in His Holy Temple; all is right with the world. That is just how it feels to me.

Have you found YOUR stride? How does it feel to YOU?

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Triathlon

Janet — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 13:44:59 +0000

It is March 1 and today I begin my triathlon training!! It has been two years since I have competed due to some injuries. I am VERY excited!!!

My running schedule is in place; we are knee-deep in snow, so my biking will be indoors for awhile; swimming…I still have a wrist injury, but plan to give swimming a “try.”

Nutrition? Of course! I am working my way into Metabolic Efficiency (by Bob Seebohar) If you have not read it; order it today! (No, I do not own stock in or get “kick-backs” from Bob…I just LOVE his stuff!)

Journey with me as I train for and compete in I-don’t- know-which-yet-triathlon!

And…YOUR encouragement, PLEASE!

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I Love This Quote!

Janet — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 16:05:12 +0000

Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up.
It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed.
Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up.
It knows that it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re a lion or a gazelle
when the sun comes up you’d better be running.

(But, unless you’re a runner, you won’t understand.)

-Anon

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Supplements in Sports Nutrition

Janet — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 13:37:51 +0000

Last week my collegue, Melissa, and I submitted a proposal to develop and teach a course in sports supplements. The proposal was immediately accepted and it will be taught this Spring at Eastern Michigan University! Melissa and I are VERY excited about it! What would make us even MORE excited is if we knew what YOUR questions are about sports supplements!

We welcome you to either respond to this post, or email (me) at janet@nourishingathletes.com

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I have been away

Janet — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:26:14 +0000

I have been away for a few weeks; not on vacation or even an amazing triathlon experience… I have been away from my computer while I have healed from wrist surgery.

To make a long story short, this wrist injury was born about 25 years ago. The birthing process began with a car accident (the story of junkyard Janet)->broken arm->surgery->oops! we nicked her radial nerve->tendon transfer->and now, that tendon became frayed and needed repair again…Bummer!

Why am I telling you all of this? For two reasons:

1. Because I have not been able to work-out for two weeks now and I am not a happy camper. My life is totally out-of-balance when I cannot, at the VERY least, get out and RUN!

2. When I went into pre-op, and the surgeon saw my blood pressure of 80/60 and resting heart rate of 42, he thought I needed an EKG before he could give me a general anaestetic. My husband contributed, “but she is a triathlete!” The surgeon replied (with a smile) ” then, off to surgery!!!” I felt “validated” that all of my hard work had payed off for my physical well-being in a surgical risk! Yes! I will be back!

Back to reason #1-of course, there is more to life balance (believe it or not)than swimming, biking and running…For me, there is the Word of God…and my pastor just happened to give sermon on “balance” just when I needed it the most. I would love to share that sermon with you:http://vimeo.com/8655651

How do YOU find YOUR life balance? I would love to hear from you.

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Spice it up!

Janet — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 00:37:42 +0000

Down through the centuries, spices have been used for everything from medicinal purposes, to food preservatives, barter and trade. I am fascinated by the history of spices and the benefits we are continuing to discover!!

What does this have to do with the athlete? Great question! I know the health benefits are amazing, and as I researched this, I came across the website of one of my very most favorite elite triathletes, Bob Seebohar!

He just happened to be blogging on this very subject! So, I am going to turn you over to “Bob” and his expertise .

Let me know what you think!

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Why Mom told you to eat your fruits and vegetables.

Janet — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 15:27:16 +0000

Great question, Nicole: “what is the importance of eating fruits and veggies for the athlete?”

Remember sitting at the dinner table and Mom saying, “Now (insert your nickname here) eat all your vegetables; they are good for you.” Mom was right! And as the years have gone by, and research has progressed, we are learning more and more about the health benefits of fruits and vegetables; ESPECIALLY FOR ATHLETES!

Fruits and vegetables, along with whole grains, nuts and legumes, contain valuable nutrients called phytochemicals. Phyto (meaning plant) chemicals are naturally occurring chemicals that have been associated with the prevention of cancer, heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure (to name a few.) Athletes may be at high risk for these diseases, because of a process called oxidation. Oxygen is, of course, essential for life, but a small percent of it may become harmful as it is transformed into free radicals. Free radicals are very unstable. As these free radicals try to stabilize themselves, damage is done to cellular and molecular structures. This damage is called oxidation. When oxidation occurs, the cells lose their protective cell membrane, putting our bodies at risk for disease.

So why are athletes at a higher risk, you ask. Great question! Think about your last training run. Remember breathing harder than usual? The harder breathing is causing you to take in more oxygen to accommodate and increase your lung capacity. That is the purpose of a training run, right? Right! However, along with the training benefits, some of the additional oxygen is also being changed into those nasty free radicals…A more immediate result you may see (feel) is inflammation (sore muscles, joint pain, etc)! Inflammation is also a result of oxidative damage to your cells. What is an athlete to do? Eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and legumes!

Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and legumes are antioxidants. Antioxidants are free radical scavengers; molecules that stabilize the free radicals. That is a good thing! The next question, is how many? The general recommendation for is 4-5 fruits, 4-5 vegetables, and 11-13 (or more) servings of WHOLE grains a day. Add in nuts and legumes for a balanced food plan. On hard training days, throw in a few more fruits and vegetables, immediately following your work-out! What kind? Try to eat a rainbow of colors. The different colors of fruits and vegetables, along with the vitamins and minerals, actually contribute to the preventative properties. So, variety is the key…

The book, Superfoods Rx by Pratt and Matthews, lists these “foods as dramatically better than others for health and longevity:” beans, blueberries, broccoli, oats, oranges, pumpkin, soy, spinach, tomatoes, and walnuts (along with salmon, turkey, tea and yogurt). These are great foods to include as often as possible, but not to exclude others.

My challenge for you is to eat as many different colors and varieties of fruits and vegetables as you can this next month. Next month we will talk more specifically about the health benefits of each group.

Until then-Play hard and Eat well!

Love,
Janet

p.s. Don’t forget to thank your mom!

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Welcome to Nourishing Athletes!

Janet — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 01:25:52 +0000

Welcome to my first BLOG of Nourishing Athletes. I have had information on this website for some number of years. Now, it is my wish to connect with YOU!

Whether you are new to swimming, biking, and running, or are a seasoned athlete, I hope that you will find this website to be your HOME.

Being a “later-in-life” triathlete (my first competion was when I was 57 years old) my passion has become educating, encouraging and supporting others that have a dream to become an athlete and their brain is saying (exactly what mine said), “Oh ya, right! At this age?”

I did it and YOU can too!

I would LOVE to hear from YOU.

How may I best support you?

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“The Breakfast of Champions”

admin — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 18:58:26 +0000

A hearty nutrient dense training breakfast

Makes 1 hearty serving-about 1 1/2 cups
Ingredients

¼ cup dry quinoa (rinse well before cooking)
¼ cup dry old-fashioned oatmeal
1 cup water
¼ cup walnuts (or other nuts you enjoy)
¼ cup dried fruit (i.e. chopped apricots, blueberries, raisins, etc.)

Directions

1. Bring water to a boil
2. Add quinoa, stir and simmer for 10 minutes UNCOVERED.
3. Stir in oatmeal, COVER, and remove from burner.
4. Allow to sit for 10 minutes.
5. Stir in walnuts and dried fruit
6. Take a deep breath, envision yourself crossing the finish line, and ENJOY!

Variations: To boost your antioxidants, replace water with green tea.
To increase carbs, replace ½ water with fruit juice.
Add pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, ground flax seeds, or wheat germ.

Nutrition facts (basic recipe)
Calories=475; carbs=61 grams.; pro=12.5 grams; *fat=22grams; fiber=11.5
*18 grams from walnuts-an excellent source of HEALTHY fat

Excuse me now, gotta run.

Love, janet

“Inspiring, educating and supporting athletes (like you) to exceed your personal best.”

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The importance of nutrition in your quest towards achieving your personal best….

Janet — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 22:07:47 +0000

Proper nutrition is an essential part of any training regime and since every body is different, every nutrition plan will be different.

The first step in developing an optimal nutrition plan is to carefully assess where you are right now, not only with regards to your diet, but also your training and even your level of motivation.

This is what makes creating an optimal nutrition plan more of a journey than a task.

In addition to the wide range of variables present as you begin fueling your body for optimal performance, there are variables that arise throughout the training process.

In the April 2005 issue of “Runner’s World”, Paul Scott writes of the phenomena of “bonking”.

“We’re not talking about the mere cramping of a calf, or the everyday slowing caused by lactic acid build-up, or the deep muscle pain sometimes caused by downhill running. Marathoners used to call bonking “hitting the wall,” but it’s actually a bodily form of sedition. In some form or another, it becomes a collapse of the entire system: body and form, brains and soul.

Consider the muscle-glycogen bonk, where the brain works fine but the legs up and quit. Then there’s the blood-glucose bonk, where the legs work fine but the brain up and quits. Let’s not forget the everything bonk, a sorry stewpot of dehydration, training errors, gastric problems, and nutrition gaffes.”

Even if you haven’t experienced bonking to the degree of seeing tiny purple men running up and down the sides of cliffs, unless your second passion is nutrition, you may not be properly fueling your body for the upcoming commitment to running a race.

Are you looking for increased speed? Then you may want to shift to high glycemic foods to fuel your burst of energy.

Want to run longer? Have you tried a careful balance of foods with a high, medium and low glycemic index?

Once an optimal nutrition plan is developed and implemented, we evaluate it for its success.

Just as this race is part of training for the next one, so goes the development of optimal nutrition. It’s a life long journey of learning and growing.

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