Is this your year to tackle a duathlon???  The Bridgewater Triathlon Club will be hosting the 5th Annual Riverport Duathlon on Sunday October 3rd and this introductory session will take you through the steps of a run – bike – run event with details of what’s required to successfully complete your first duathlon.  Appropriate for all fitness levels, ages 12 and up.

• LOCATION: Riverport Elementary School
• DATE: Saturday September 11, 2010
• TIME: 1pm – 3pm
• EQUIPMENT: running shoes, bike, helmet
• COST:  $5
• REGISTER: contact the Municipality of Lunenburg Recreation Dept. – 541-1335
• QUESTIONS: contact the Bridgewater Triathlon Club at bridgewatertriclub@gmail.com

The latest information about the 2010 Riverport Duathlon is online at : http://www.bridgewatertriclub.com/riverport-duathlon/

You can also follow us on Facebook at : http://www.facebook.com/pages/Riverport-Duathlon/120167141366195?v=wall

[Patrick Hirtle - SouthShoreNow] – Bridgewater Triathlon Club member Cliff Worden-Rogers turned in a remarkable performance in the Bridgetown Triathlon’s Half Ironman on August 1, finishing first overall.

But, as wonderful as the victory was, he will be the first to say that it wasn’t a race that went exactly as expected.

For the complete article, go to : http://southshorenow.ca/archives/2010/081010/sports/index007.php

Three BTCers took part in the 2010 Yarmouth Triathlon on Sunday August 8th:

• Cliff Worden-Rogers (pictured above) was the overall winner in the individual, male category
• Bev Richardson was the 2nd place female in the 50+ age category
• Steve Saunders was the 3rd place male in the 50+ age category

It was a new course this year that included a 1500M lake swim, 40k bike route and 10k run loop along Yarmouth’s waterfront.

More information about the Yarmouth Triathlon : http://ymcayarmouth.net/triathlon.html

Recovery nutrition includes refueling muscles and liver with stored carbohydrates (glycogen), rehydrating and restoring electrolyte balance, making new muscle protein and boosting the immune system to be able to handle the stresses of training.

The Recovery Window

There is substantial evidence that supports eating a recovery snack within the first 15-30 minutes after training to enhance muscle glycogen recovery.  This is frequently referred to as the “window of opportunity” for refuelling.  The amount of carbohydrate recommended is between 1-1.5g/kg body weight.  For example, a 140lb (64kg) athlete should aim for 60-90g of carbohydrate which could come from a smoothie with a large banana, 1 cup of plain yogurt and 1 cup of orange juice.  These snacks or meals should be repeated every 2 hours until normal meal patterns resume as part of your overall food intake.  Taking in this quantity of carbohydrates and calories within the immediate window may not be necessary if the duration of activity was short, low-intensity or skill based and thus doesn’t lead to a high expenditure of energy and carbohydrate depletion.  For example, for a triathlete, an easy 5km recovery run may not require aggressive recovery nutrition.

Sufficient carbohydrate intake after exercise may also help enhance the immune system.  Intense training may suppress the immune system, which can place athletes at higher risk for illness and infection.  Having adequate carbohydrate intake before, during and after training is thought to promote a healthy immune system by reducing stress hormone responses to exercise and supplying glucose to white blood cells.

Muscle Repair and Building

Athlete training is a cycle of muscle breakdown followed by repair.  Muscle breakdown occurs during the training when muscle tissue and is damaged.  Muscle repair occurs during the recovery phase which is highlighted by the increase in the anabolic (building) processes.  This cycle can occur in both strength and endurance training.  Consuming amino acids in the form of protein-rich foods in the recovery period can enhance muscle protein rebuilding.  Athletes should consume 10g to 20g of high quality protein within the first hour after exercise.  This should be combined with carbohydrate not only for the reasons mentioned previously, but also to stimulate insulin secretion which can help enhance the rebuilding process further.  While many athletes feel protein is the most important part of recovery nutrition, it is relatively small compared to carbohydrate needs.  While supplements can be used, obtaining 10 to 20g of protein from food is simple and likely to provide greater overall nutrition.

Recovery Snack Examples

• Smoothie:  1 cup fruit juice, 1 cup plain yogurt and 1 large banana = 74g carbs, 16g protein
• 2 cups chocolate milk (or fortified soy beverage) 8and a large banana = 84g carbs, 18g protein
• Sandwich:  2 slices whole-grain bread, 1 tbsp peanut butter, 1 tbsp jam = 51g carbs, 10g protein
• Trail mix: ½ cup raisins, ¼ cup dry-roasted soy nuts, 1 cup Cheerios = 65g carbs, 13g protein
• Smoothie:  1 cup vanilla soy beverage, 1 cup each blueberries and mango (frozen) = 62g carbs, 10g protein

Rehydration

Maintaining optimal hydration when training at high volume or high intensity can be a challenge for many athletes. Using a scale can be helpful to determine pre and post-training weights and ensure adequate fluid is consumed to rehydrate.  For every 1 pound weight loss during training, the athlete should consume 3 cups of fluid (for every 1kg loss this translates to 1.5L).  Athletes should avoid losing more than 2% of their body weight in training by consuming adequate fluids.

Water alone will not suffice to replace lost electrolytes and rehydrate the body properly.  The major electrolyte lost in sweat is sodium and athletes should take this into consideration when planning recovery hydration, particularly if they sweat heavily or know themselves to be salty sweaters. 

Sodium concentration in sweat varies widely between individuals but can be clinically measured by laboratory testing or through practical evaluations such as looking for white streaks on dark clothing or salt lines on the skin after training. For every 1kg body weight loss, the sodium losses can range from as little as 300mg to 3500mg, which for someone at the top end of the range could present a major deficit. 

Sodium can be replaced by beverages such as vegetable juice, milk and sports drinks.  It can also be replaced by consuming a high-sodium food, such as cottage cheese, or canned fish as part of the recovery snack.  With concern over sodium excess in the general population, it’s important for athletes to realize they may not need to be on a low sodium diet, but rather may need to add salt to their recovery nutrition. Not replacing sodium will affect the body’s ability to retain fluids consumed in the post-exercise period and can result in high urine output.  Muscle cramping can also be attributed to dehydration and/or sodium depletion.  Although cramps are not well understood, for some athletes salt deficit is a component of this problem.  Sodium will also promote thirst and help the athletes be able to take in enough liquid to replace sweat losses.

References:

1. Hartman JW, Tang JE, Wilkinson SB, Tarnopolsky MA, Lawrence RL, Fullerton AV, Phillips SM. Consumption of fluid skim milk promotes greater muscle protein accretion after resistance exercise than does consumption of an isonitrogenous and isoenergetic soy-protein beverage. Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Aug;86(2):373-81.
2. Lemon PW, Berardi JM, Noreen EE. The role of protein and amino acid supplements in the athlete’s diet: does type or timing of ingestion matter? Curr Sports Med Rep. 2002 Aug;1(4):214-21.
3. Australian Institute of Sport. Recovery Nutrition, 2009. www.ausport.gov.au. Retrieved June 22, 2010.

The above article was used with permission.

Alexis Williams, B.A.Sc., M.A.N., RD
IOC Diploma in Sports Nutrition
Transition Health
378 Plains Rd. E.
Burlington, ON   L7T 0A4
905-483-0216
www.transitionhealth.ca
alexis@transitionhealth.ca

Eleven BTCers took part in the 2010 Bridgetown Triathlon on Sunday August 1, 2010.

Hilites:

• Lisa Leahy-McIsaac was 1st in her age group in the Try-a-Tri
• Liam Patterson was 3rd overall and 3rd in his age group in the Try-a-Tri
• Janelle Knickle was the 2nd fastest female/1st in her age group in the Sprint
• Wade McIsaac was 3rd in his age group in the Sprint
• Ron Allen was 3rd in his age group in the Olympic
• Cliff Worden-Rogers was 1st overall in the Long Course
• Tammy Slauenwhite was 2nd in her age group in the Long Course

The complete results are on Atlantic Chip at : http://www.atlanticchip.ca/events/results.php?year=2010

Photos from the event are at : http://picasaweb.google.ca/bridgewatertriclub/2010BridgetownTriathlon

Congratulations to everyone that took part.  It was a beautiful day, challenging swim, near perfect bike and a hot run … followed by lots of cheers.  Tammy and Dion — great job with your first Long Course race!  Lisa … a fantastic start to triathlon!

On Wednesday July 26th, Cliff Worden-Rogers (above left) and Mark Campbell (above right) made two presentations to members of the BTC and friends:

• Cliff’s presentation dealt with nutrition for athletes shooting for peak performance
• Mark spoke about his experience during his solo run around the Cabot Trail

In the picture above, Cliff is presenting Mark a donation on behalf of the Bridgewater Triathlon Club for the Brigadoon Children’s Camp, the charity that Mark supports through his efforts.

We’d also like to thank Karen Weagle from the Bridgewater Pharmasave for the Sigvaris athletic compression socks used for the door prize.

What: Aquathlon – swim 350m / run 2k / swim 350m / run 1.6k (distances are approximate)

How : individually or as a team, first swim lap you can wear a wetsuit, second lap must be without a wetsuit

When: Sunday July 25, 2010, race start at 6:30pm, pre-race meeting at 6:20pm

Where: Mush-a-mush Municipal Beach [ map ]

Cost: no charge

Notes:

• FUN EVENT – PARTICIPATE AT YOUR OWN RISK AND YOUR ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN SAFETY
• open to all
• timed event, BTC members can use th epoints in the BTC Race Series and Warrior Award
• random draw for a very cool xterra t-shirt

Questions?  contact bridgewatertriclub@gmail.com

Cliff Worden-Rogers writes … for the past 5 years, I’ve been competing as a multi-sport athlete (running, triathlon and cross-country). This required countless hours of training and enormous amounts of calories! From this experience, I realized that having a “healthy” diet was important to my success. On July 28th, I would like to share some of the secrets that I have found.

Included in this presentation is:

• what to eat for an early morning workout
• what are the right foods to consume during and after a workout
• which foods to avoid

On this night, a special guest will also join me, local long distance champion Mark Campbell. His recent accomplishment was tackling the entire 300km Cabot Trail Relay by himself! He will be showing his video from his adventure.

Open to all.

When: Wednesday July 28, 2010

Time: 6:30 – 8pm

Where: Bridgewater Superstore Classroom

Cost: $5 to cover expenses, all proceeds to to Brigadoon Children’s Camp

UPDATED – Photos from the 2010 South Shore Kids of Steel : http://picasaweb.google.ca/bridgewatertriclub/2010SouthShoreKidsOfSteel

The 2010 South Shore Kids of Steel takes place on Thursday July 1st.  They are taking registrations up to the end of the workday on Wednesday June 30th … call Bridgewater Park and Rec at 543-2274 to register.

We’ll post photos here after the event that you are welcome to download for your personal use.  We do not identify individuals and if you don’t want a picture online, just let us know and we will remove it.

If you are looking for more info about the event, click on the KOS link at the top of this page. 

The weather forecast sounds near perfect, it should be a great day!