Meal: 6:30am - ProVantage Protein Shake (1 scoop blended with 3 strawberries in 8oz. of rice milk), 7:00am - EAS "Catapult" Pre-Race Energy Fuel, 1 Clif Shot (raz) at 1:45, 1 Hammer Gel (chocolate) at 2:20
Distance: Approx. 15 miles
SUCCESS!! I can't tell you how thrilled I am by my performance during today's training! It was such a tremendous improvement over last week - My body felt good, my attitude was right on, the weather was terrific and the ocean views were inspiring! Most notably, my legs did not have any real issues for most of the run. It wasn't until the 2 hour mark that I began to feel that familiar "flu legs" feeling, but by then I was almost done and it didn't take much to perservere through it.
I also learned the importance of the right dietary supplements to get me through the practice. That pre-race energy fuel was like crack on speed as a performance enhancer! It's primary ingredient is Alpha GPC (400 mg), which is noted to support the release of human growth hormone (hGH). According to bodybuilding.com:
Ageing and prolonged stress - including athletic endeavors like marathons or 'ironman/ironwoman' events are associated with decreased hormone production, especially reduced secretion of human Growth Hormone (hGH) from the anterior pituitary. These life events are also associated with lower levels of free choline in the blood and tissues. Concomitantly, both quality of life and lifespan decrease, sexual desire and potency diminish, muscles loose both protein (mass) and tone, and body fat levels increase.
I also found some less biased information on this natural supplement here. Of course, the secondary ingredient was caffeine (199 mg). Considering that a can of Coke only has 54mg of caffeine, I'm beginning to understand why this stuff gave me such a burst of energy. I'm sure, in the long run, such large doses of caffeine cannot be good for your body.
While energy is nice, my primary concern was to reduce the onset of muscle fatigue (a.k.a my "flu legs"). Dr. Neal recommended a dietary supplement called "Pro Vantage", as he found that one scoop of this stuff per day has really enhanced his training performance. I'm not sure if it was this stuff, the Catapult pre-race fuel, or a combination of the two but I was very successful in thwarting that muscle pain in my legs. As I mentioned, it wasn't until right about 2 hours that the pain came back. I found, mentally, it was easier to tolerate since I was 2/3 of the way through the practice.
I only had one GU pack (and it was a Clif Shot so I was a little nervous after almost barfing from the mocha last week), so I waited it out as long as I could, finally sucking it down at about 1:45 (thankfully the raz was tolerable). I wonder, if I had stayed on top of those, if I could have kept the pain at bay even longer? We were reaching the final stretch once we hit the last water stop at about 2:20. I knew I only had 25 minutes to go - but it was all uphill and my legs were killing me. One of the mentors offerred me a Hammer Gel - I hesitated but decided to give it a shot...the best decision I could have made! It was amazing how much better my legs felt for the duration of the run, and how steady I was able to maintain my pace. I suppose the next step is to do a little more research on all these performance enhancing nutritional supplements to find out (a) how much of my experience was physical vs. mental, (b) what the side-effects may be from using them, and (b) which have the most natural ingredients and a lesser likelihood of causing more harm than good to my body during and after this marathon training.
In any case, I felt great about the practice. I came in right at 11-minutes per mile, which is still slower than I wish it was but I can totally live with it. I am pretty sore (as usual), but stretching well helps. My only complaint is that I feel like I may be coming down with yet, another cold so I'm just trying to take it easy...
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