Try & tri-again
Athletes need to replenish fluids first, experts say

By Katherine Nichols
Advertiser Staff Writer

Nutrition and hydration are key components to optimum performance — and to living well.

Yu Shing Ting takes a drink of water before running. Hawai'i triathlon coach Raul Boca recommends that runners in that kind of race take at least a sip of water every 10 to 15 minutes. Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser

Why fluids first? Many athletes who weigh themselves after a workout — and are thrilled with the lost pounds — do not realize that this sudden drop signals dehydration. "Studies have shown that most athletes drink, at best, about half of what their bodies need," Allen and Moss wrote. For a 12-mile run, they explained, you might expend 1,200 calories (most formulas for a 150-pound person calculate that running a mile requires 100 calories). Therefore, most of the drop in weight is due to water loss. The actual loss of fat would be about one-third of a pound.

"If you lost five percent of your body weight from fluid loss, your performance drops 20 percent," wrote Moss with her husband Allen, who won the Ironman race seven times. They advise carrying sports bottles or wearing a CamelBak during workouts and races.

Hawaii triathlon coach and athlete Raul Boca advocates drinking two glasses of water when you wake up in the morning, especially if you drink coffee. In his clinics, he makes sure that water bottles are empty at the end of bike rides. During a race, he said, competitors should sip water every 10-15 minutes. Some people set their watch to beep to help them remember, or time their drinking with every hill or subtle change in the course.

It's also important to replenish your body with fluids and nutrients immediately after you finish a workout. "The first half hour after you are done is when your body has the greatest ability to absorb depleted nutrients and fluids," wrote Allen and Moss. "Hitting that window with the proper foods will speed recovery and increase fitness at a much greater rate."

Their advice on hydration:

• Drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water per day. Add four ounces for every 15 minutes of cardiovascular exercise you do.
• Drink water before you work out; this helps lower your body's core temperature, reducing the added stress heat places on your cardiovascular system.
• Drink one pint of water for every pound you lost during exercise.

Allen and Moss also offered simple suggestions for managing your diet: "The best guide for eating exactly the right amount of food is a forgotten adaptation you have built into your body. It's called an appetite. Eat when you are hungry and stop when you are full."

In the book, which is filled with healthy, fairly simple recipes, Moss discussed her struggle with weight years ago. She ate two pieces of toast and coffee in the morning, followed by a day of starvation which resulted in a high-calorie dinner (and dessert, which she thought she deserved after hours of exercise and hunger).

On the recommendation of her strength coach, she changed her habits. Now she eats four to five small meals a day, and tries to make sure that each one has some protein in it. This helps her avoid grabbing the easy-to-eat snacks that are hard to burn off. The result? Once she got over the initial feeling that she was over-indulging, her metabolism increased and she lost weight. "It finally made sense how Mark was able to eat all day long, even though he never ate much at any one sitting," she wrote. "It was an amazing experience to be eating instead of dieting to lose weight."

Eating throughout the day is a philosophy many athletes also adhere to during workouts and races. But instead of munching on typical snacks, most people choose small, easy-to-eat packets of food gels. For the uninitiated, "they probably have the consistency of maple syrup, and are not as pulpy and coarse as baby food," said John Hashizume, owner of Nytro Hawaii. Ingredients often include maltodextrin, a complex carbohydrate, and/or fructose. Some brands also have caffeine and ginseng added, and most have a potassium or sodium component as well.

"The gel is very sweet, so you need to take it with (lots of) water," said Hashizume. The benefit is that the gel doesn't need to be chewed, and is easy to ingest while running or biking.

"We sell a lot of gels," said Hashizume. "There's a trend toward lower-glycemic-index products. They're cutting down on the simple sugars in the product so you don't get that energy spike and a real big low after that. They're trying to even out the metabolism." Hashizume, who competes in many local races, added, "It seems to work for me, and I've generally got positive feedback on all those products, so I think they work."

Boca agreed. "Before, there was too much sugar in every product," he said. "I think for short races, gels are the best way to go; they're easy to digest."

Even if you don't think you'll need anything during the race or workout, it's always helpful to carry a gel packet (or some sort of easily digestible food) during a race ... just in case. The same goes for daily life in the office. Keep healthy snacks and water bottles within reach. This may prevent damaging lunch and dinner binges.

Mark Allen's & Julie Moss' top 10 snacks

• String cheese and half a bagel
• Nutrition bars with a little protein in them
• Low-fat or nonfat yogurt
• Hard-boiled egg and crackers
• Cottage cheese and apple slices
• Hummus and pita slices
• Almonds
• Bowl of whole-grain cereal
• Meal replacement drink
• Leftover dinner from previous night

Future (co-ed) triathlon events

Look for applications in the current or next issue of Hawaii Race magazine.

• Hickam Triathlon, Aug. 25, 500 meter swim, 12-mile bike, 3.1-mile run
• Kalaeloa Triathlon and Duathlon, Sept. 15, 500 meter swim (or 2 mile run if doing duathlon), 13.4-mile bike ride, 3.1-mile run
• Nytro Hawaii Haleiwa Triathlon, Nov. 3, 500 meter swim, 12-mile bike ride, 4-mile run
• Pflueger Honda MountainMan Triathlon (off road), Kualoa Ranch, Nov. 18, 500 meter swim, 12-mile bike, 4-mile run