IMSA 70.3 Bike Route

If you are racing IMSA 70.3 in East London for the first time, it may be a good idea to know what the bike route entails (follow link):http://ridewithgps.com/routes/846560

A few tips regarding Bike Route/Training:

1. It’s a steady (undulating) climb all the way to the turn around, so save something for the return trip and especially the 21km run.

2. Do not push (overdo it) the long, tough climb up to Hemingways.

3. Try drive over the bike route to visualise what is in store for you.

4. Incorporate Hill Training into your weekly plan and do some hills in a slightly bigger gear (50-60 RPM) to build power. (gradually adapt your training)

5. To run 21km after a 90k bike, implies a need for endurance so best you do some 90km+ rides in training, thereby ensuring the 90km doesn’t sap all of your energy.

6. Practise your Nutrition on your long rides and try drink/eat just after the top of a hill or on the flatter sections as Heart Rate will be lower.

7. Don’t forget the Brick Sessions (Intro to Brick Sessions coming soon)

Here is an article I wrote on Tapering for 70.3, worthwile reading now and then again closer to race day. http://ironmansa.com/2013/01/07/tapering-for-ironman-or-ironman-70-3/

       

Week One Thoughts (Week 1):

As you may well know I started a new Lifestyle Plan last week. I prefer to call it a Lifestyle Plan as opposed to a new Nutrition Plan and it was born from a multitude of factors. Yes, I want to be a lean, mean racing machine and hopefully I will see some fruits from the choices I am making; but more importantly I am trying to be more health conscious, so this is about a massive change in mind-set for me.

In the past I’ve always been of the opinion that I can eat anything because of all the training being done. How wrong I was! Firstly and most importantly I think I have been subjecting my body and my health to unnecessary health risks by consuming anything and everything, especially the excessive refined Carbohydrates.  Secondly, it may have cost me in a few races as I probably haven’t been racing at my optimum racing weight but that is being very extreme and is not for everybody.

Carbohydrates is a hot topic right now and you will read plenty about the subject, with Professor Tim Noakes speaking out about highly processed carbohydrates. I am trying to avoid over reacting or being too extreme, while at the same time listening and reading what experts have to say on the subject. I have certainly come to the conclusion that too many refined carbohydrates have been consumed by myself in the past and that this is something I need to address.

Prof Tim Noakes & I at the Sports Science Institute

Gary Player, is arguably the fittest South African and certainly the most consistently fit over many years and he advocates if it is processed avoid it. Well perhaps his body is lucky, or maybe the harder he practised the luckier he got!

Two Week Test (http://ironmansa.com/2013/08/26/two-week-test/)

I decided to follow a two week ‘test’ advocated by Dr Phil Maffetone (which may be very similar to what Prof Tim Noakes would advocate), which eliminates most Refined Carbohydrates. Why a two week test? Well for me there are a few reasons, set out below.

1. I don’t like failing tests, so that increases the likelihood of me succeeding.
2. It’s harder to focus on 3 month, or one year goals, so 2 weeks is seemingly achievable.
3. Once the 2 weeks is concluded, motivation rises which improves the chances of continuing.
4. Two weeks is very often what is required to change habits.
5. I had publicly stated my goal and burnt any life boats or options of turning back.

Week One?

When setting Goals it is important to set S.M.A.R.T. Goals (Specific; Measurable; Achievable; Realistic; Time Bound) and my Goal was very specific and if I am serious about change then yes it would be achievable. But, it is important to realise that change does not come easy and that there will always be trouble at the border post, as we can easily visualise doing something but the execution thereof is so much harder. If you want to transform or get out of your comfort zone, there will be many obstacles and most will come from that little inner voice that is trying to discourage you.

I had done my Shopping prior to the start of Week One, ensuring I had the right foods available and thus wouldn’t be too easily tempted (very, very important). I had written down in my Journal what my Challenge was, the Choices I had made and what I hoped the expected outcome would be and read this daily to reinforce my commitment and escalate my motivation. So I think I was well prepared.

However, change is always tough and most people do not like change and I certainly found the first 2 or 3 days the toughest as your body and your mind (plays games) starts trying to adapt to this new Lifestyle Plan (or Nutrition Plan). I walked into Newton Park Super Spar and while walking down the aisle towards the Tills there was my weakness awaiting me…. mounds and mounds of chocolates. Fortunately before I walked into the Spar I had prepared my mind for the temptation and can remember laughing at the chocolates. In fact I picked one up and asked it “Will you take me closer to, or further away from my Goal?” The chocolate could not answer but the answer was easy and the temptation was laid to rest.

In past months when I hadn’t been so committed, I remember thinking just one more chocolate and I will start next week…. Well that probably happened a dozen times, as it is so easy to put off until tomorrow in this ‘instant gratification’ world that we live in. Get Started!

I remember those first two days having a rumbling stomach in the late afternoons and in the past this would have been a signal to have a biscuit or a rusk. However, my mind was alert and ready and I told myself this was my metabolism getting ignited and starting to burn off the fat, it was like a free interval session without the blood, sweat and tears.

An interesting observation is that as the week progressed I started getting less and less hungry (hunger pangs) and this is probably because the Protein and Fat keeps me full longer and bear in mind I can eat as many nuts, kudu biltong and salads as I like, so I was consuming quite a lot of food.

Another thing I have noticed is that I don’t have a sudden loss of energy, or a feeling of being lethargic an hour or so after a meal, which I think is normally attributable to High GI Foods or Refined or Processed Carbohydrates. The reaction to High GI would normally be that the foods are digested much more rapidly; that they raise Blood Sugar rapidly but a few hours later lead to a crash in Blood Sugar. This leads to a vicious circle of on-going hunger and fluctuating energy levels.  I would advocate reading the article entitled Carb Addiction, on my Facebook page ‘Alec Riddle Coach & Athlete’ with insights by Dr David Ludwig for a better understanding of what we are up against.

Normally I would never weigh myself after one week, but wanted to do so enabling me to share with you what was happening both mentally and physically. So this morning before weighing myself I prepared myself for disappointment as I did not expect to lose weight, even though I had lost a cm around my waist (always measure yourself-as this is more noticeable than weight loss). So I hopped on the scale and I’m 0,5 kg heavier than a week ago (which is sort of what I had anticipated) and that after swimming 4 times, running 3 times and cycling twice within the week? This news could and I’m sure does derail most plans, as they expect results within a week.

As a sportsman and sporting coach I know athletes cannot expect results within a week or two and usually get slower before they get faster due to fatigue from the first week or two of training. Unfortunately we want instant weight loss, well the bad news is that there is no magic formula unless you visit a plastic surgeon. It’s important to remember that fat will be turning to muscle, that the body retains water at differing rates and I’m sure that many other things are happening within the body, so please do not be discouraged. I know next week the scale will be a better friend.

In hindsight was it tougher than I expected? No it was as I expected. Could I have done it any better? Yes, I did have one morning of Jungle Oats but it was planned and I did have 3 Light Beers on Friday night and 2 glasses of red wine on Saturday night, but they were planned (treats or rewards). I believe it is important to have a few small rewards within the week, as this provides a little more encouragement.

The best part of the week was shopping on Sunday afternoon, to ensure I had all I need for the week ahead. Walking down the aisles and thinking how nice it will be to have fruit next week (unrefined carbohydrates) and suddenly I started appreciating fruit whereas in the past I’d taken it for granted and often pushed the fruit aside for refined carbohydrates which have no nutrients to help my body. So yes, one more week to break the bad habits and then a lot to look forward to, in particular body composition changes over the longer term; hopefully improved performance on the bike and in the run, but most importantly I think I will be improving my health and hopefully inspiring one or two folk to follow suit. Good Luck!!

YES, you Can, you Will, you Want to!!

Two Week Test

A two week test as advocated by Dr Phil Maffetone:                                                   (and some comments from my Journal)

Purpose: Get Healthier; Lose Body Fat; Improve Aerobic Function & Overall Endurance!

Outcome Expected: Jumpstarts Metabolism into a higher Fat Burning State!

Objective: Restrict moderate and high-glycemic (GI) carbohydrates. (NB: not to restrict calories, or fat, or all carbohydrates more the highly processed carbs and high GI carbs).

No need to weigh foodstuffs or count calories, as this is not a Diet. Simply eat what you’re allowed and avoid what should be avoided, snack properly (every 2 hours if necessary) and don’t get hungry, all for TWO weeks!!!

Foods to Eat during the Test:

You may eat as much of these foods as you like:

-Eggs (white and yolk)

-Heavy (whipping) cream and/or Sour Cream

-Unprocessed Cheeses (real cheeses)

-Unprocessed Meats (incl Beef, Venison, Turkey, Chicken, Lamb)

-Fish and Shellfish

-Tomato or other vegetable juices eg Carrot juice

-Water

-Nuts, seeds, nut butters

-Cooked or raw vegetables (No Potatoes or Corn)

-Oils, Vinegar, Mayonnaise, Salsa, Mustard, Spices

-All Coffee and Tea

Foods to Avoid:

-Breads, Rolls, Chips, Crackers, Muffins, Cakes, Cereal, Biscuits.

-Fruits and Fruit Juices

-Pasta and Potatoes

-Sweets including products containing sugar (Sauces, Honey)

-Highly processed meats such as cold cuts

-Corn, Rice, Beans

-Milk, Yoghurt

-So called healthy snacks (including energy bars/drinks… unless long endurance training)

-All sodas, including diet drinks

Notes on Alcohol:

-Alcohol allowed includes Dry Wines and Pure distilled spirits (Gin, Vodka, Whiskey) mixed with plain carbonated water, including seltzer.

-Alcohol not allowed includes sweet wines, beer, champagne and alcohol containing sugar (Brandy, Rum) or Alcohol with Tonic/Soda water.

When in Doubt, Avoid It!!!!

Burn the Boats & Maximise Your Potential!

How to maximise your Potential

We could all improve ourselves, our situation and our life, but most fail to do so. Why?

Well it is said that 97% of people on Planet Earth just ask their brain to do what it did yesterday and Albert Einstein once said “The height of stupidity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results.”

So how best can we transform ourselves? My personal experience’s and my experiences as a Coach and a Financial Planner have taught me that there are a few key areas that one needs to focus upon, to increase the likelihood of being successful.

1.        Burn The Boats: To be successful you need to have a Plan and you need to take action, but more importantly you need to be accountable. So commit your goals to stone, share your goals with your trusted friends and family and you will increase your chances of success.

If you have done so, it is far harder to turn back or to quit and when the General who ordered his Lieutenant to ‘burn the boats’ on the beaches, before going to war, was asked why? His response was that he needed 100% commitment from his army, there had to be no alternative, no thought of surrender if they were to succeed.

Success is doing what you said you would do. Period! So to be successful there can be no turning back. By sharing my Goals, I have not only committed them to stone but I have put them out there, which escalates my commitment and there can be no turning back, no thoughts of slowing down, no white flag.

Ask yourself what Boats are holding you back from achieving your Goals? It’s a lot easier to move forward when there are no Life Boats!

Dream Big, but focus on winning the daily Battles (journey) and not the War (destination)!

2. Mental Contrasting:People who practice mental contrasting almost immediately start pursuing their dreams, putting a stop to procrastination (our biggest enemy). Start by imagining what it is you want to achieve, then contrast that with where you are now. The result is that your present situation becomes framed as an obstacle standing in the way of your dreams.

When I was getting back into training and chasing my dreams, my perception was that I doing okay, until a friend sent me a photo of me running in a race. I was shocked, as I looked like Ollie ‘The Burger King’ and this picture was the catalyst to me striving harder, to making more sacrifices.

It is important to see ourselves as we can become and not as we are.

3. Success Spirals: Accomplishment, no matter how small is the first step to self improvement and creates confidence, which creates effort and fuels our passion, resulting in more accomplishment.

The secret, however, is to start small (but start) and pay attention to incremental improvement, breaking down large and intimidating tasks into manageable bits. It’s also important to build in some achievable accomplishments and reward them as you progress.

When people aim to do an event like the Ironman, they very often cannot run 20 minutes without stopping. I certainly couldn’t 8 years ago. The key is to get started and one small step becomes two, the days become weeks, months and years and before you know it an extraordinary transformation may have taken place. Remember that progress fuels our motivation levels.

Dawson Trotman said “The greatest time wasted is the time getting started” and more often than not, it is the first steps which are the hardest, so focus with all of your might for the first two weeks and then momentum takes over.

4.       Keep a Journal: This is paramount to being successful and my journal is always at my side. They say that people who keep a food journal lose twice as much weight as those who don’t. Focus on your goals, chart your progress and acknowledge change. This will encourage you and then your confidence and enthusiasm will grow.

Have a daily to do list to focus upon, to help you achieve your goals, but never have more than five items on a To Do List, otherwise it becomes intimidating. It’s also as important to have a ‘Not to do” list, so you can focus upon the things that are distracting you from your Goals.

It is key to ask What’s Important Now (W.I.N.) and check to see if what your about to do (or consume), will move you closer to your goal, or further away?

5.      Quiet Time: Your opening minutes set the tone for the day. Choose to be positive, irrespective of the weather or which side of the bed you get out of.

Try to awaken 15-30 minutes earlier and spend some quiet time with your Journal, where you are in control of your thoughts. (Alternatively spend some quiet time before going to bed) They say that the mind is either a terrible Master or a fantastic Servant. It’s your choice.

In closing, remember that the person who challenges themself often and experiences the most wins.

Follow Alec on Twitter @alecriddle:

A Dream is a Wish until commited to a Plan!

“Why am I doing this & Why am I sharing?”

Just short of a Decade ago my 19yo Stepson Reece passed away very tragically and his passing was the catalyst to me reinventing myself & getting fit once more. My weight had peaked at 103kg and I was not in a good place from a physical, mental and health perspective.

Reece was the catalyst to me thinking of doing an Ironman and I finished my 1^st IMSA one year (2005) after his passing, in just short of 13 hrs. That little spark became a flame and then a fire within, as I began to Dream and see myself as I could become and no longer as I was. I was committed and trained very hard, culminating in participation in a number of World Championships events, including a treasured finisher’s medal at the Kona Ironman World Championships in 2012.

Kona Ironman

After 70.3 & more particularly IM 2013 (I had qualified for both Las Vegas and Kona and had every intention of going), I picked up an injury which set me back quite considerably. One of the biggest problems I seem to face, is that I am an extremist and can either be totally committed & disciplined, alternatively I am in the doldrums & tend to binge eat, or perhaps just eat what I am used to when training 3 hours/day. Also, when I am injured I throw myself into my work as a Financial Planner in an effort to compensate for the hours lost when in serious training, so training of any kind becomes virtually non-existent.

It’s a challenging transition and at one stage I was very ‘depressive’ if one can use the word in a lighter form, but I think my mind (and body) were saying enough is enough, time to slow down or to retire from this level of competition. However, being Isuzu’s Ironman Brand Ambassador, it wasn’t that easy and I certainly wanted to remain committed to them as they had been committed to me. The three months that I was in a time warp were not wasted, as not only did I give my mind & body much needed rest & recovery, but I also started thinking of my health, in particular my ability to pack on the Kilos when not training.

At IMSA in April 2013 I weighed in at under 80kg and 3 months later when my clothes were struggling to fit I revisited the scale and to my horror I was 90+. I was shocked and if I’m brutally honest ashamed that I could let myself go and it all happened at the blink of an eye, but then I started asking questions. One hears lots of talk of Carbohydrate Intolerance, so I phoned up my friend Professor Tim Noakes and asked him what he thought? He suggested a GTT test so I duly went for the Test and followed the test up with a visit to the Noakes at the  Sports Science Institute in Cape Town.

Prof Tim Noakes & I at the Sports Science Institute

Thinking you may be CI is disconcerting to say the least, so when Tim looked at my results and said you are anything but Carbohydrate Intolerant, I was a very relieved man. We chatted about a variety of health and nutritional issues, about the populations excessive intake of Refined Carbohydrates, about my ideal weight and in essence I realised that I needed to up my game, if I wanted to compete with the World’s best in my AG at Kona in 2015. (One of the highlights of my visit was chatting about the 1985 London to Paris Triathlon Relay-Tim was our Team Doctor on that trip & Bruce Fordyce our run coach)

I was started to think out of the box and I was starting to Dream again after my discussions with Prof Noakes and also due to having read the book ‘Endurance Training and Racing’ by Dr Phil Maffetone, Mark Allen’s former coach. I realised that I had been racing about 4 % ‘overweight’- so yes those brave souls who asked me about my puppy fat were correct, I did have a bit of a spare tyre even though I didn’t want to admit to it. This could relate to time savings on the bike & run, which may translate into quite a significant time differential in a 70.3 or Ironman.

Just prior to visiting Tim in CT, I monitored good friend Colleen De Reuck’s performance in her first 70.3. I coached Colleen in her earlier years at University and she went on to become a great runner, breaking a few World records and going to 4 Olympics. Colleen is 49 and ran 81 minutes for the 21km at Boulder 70.3 and that performance got me thinking. As a 51yo I had won my AG at Las Vegas with a 90min half marathon and thought that was quite fast, but Colleen has raised my belief ceiling to what is possible and the need to believe I can go faster, which is what I will have to do if I want to be competitive over the next year or two.

So I’ve decided to commit to being more astute on the Nutritional side and to try and learn more, in an effort to see just what can be achieved and in an effort to look after my health, as a number of friends/clients have been affected by severe health issues recently and our health is our greatest asset. If our health attacks us, no amount of money in the world can restore our health so we need to look after our bodies from both a nutritional and physical point of view. In addition I believe I could improve my aerobic efficiency by changing my eating plan & focussing upon Nutrition.

The reason I’m sharing my challenges, my choices and my actions is twofold, firstly sharing is part of a successful training/mental method I use called Burning the Boats (see http://ironmansa.com/2013/08/22/burn-the-boats-maximise-your-potential/) and secondly, I think there are many people facing similar challenges to what I face. I still have some Dreams & Aspirations of my own, but I would like to think I may be able to help other people to transform & to dream again as we did when we were kids. I trust that sharing my inner feelings, fears, dreams, experiences, obstacles and challenges will have a positive impact upon those who are seeking inspiration or knowledge.

You are welcome to follow my progress on Twitter @alecriddle or on my facebook page entitled Alec Riddle Coach and Athlete (https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Alec-Riddle-Coach-and-Athlete/145665372127708) ! I will post links to this Blog via Twitter and FB, but you are welcome to follow this Blog, as I post weekly updates of my progress.

Next Week: The Mind Games when trying to Change!

YES, you Can, you Will, you Want to!!