Iron deficiency and nutrition

COMBATING IRON DEFICIENCY

One of the most active problems I've heard about on our team is iron deficiencies. This is of course a concern, one that shouldn't be ignored and one that can be fairly easily remedied with proper diet practices.

The simplest way to get a high quantity of iron into your body is to eat lean red meat....BUT that's not enough....your body also needs vitamins to aid in absorption of iron!! The best vitamin to help with this is the easiest and most common...VITAMIN C...which we all know can easily be provided with real fruit juices and fruit. 

White Meat - chicken and pork are also excellent sources of iron....absorbs much less iron / lb of meat than red meat though. 

Green/Red Vegetables - beets, broccoli, sprouts, and lettuce are all very high in iron as well....but that absorbs much less than white meat even

Iron Tablets - are obviously high in iron....but when it isn't a natural source it doesn't absorb well AT ALL....

General rules of thumb for combating iron deficiency- 

1) If you eat something green/red then eat/drink something orange too...Iron + Vit C = increased iron levels

2) Food is always better than supplements for stabilizing nutrient, vitamin levels in your body.

3) Supplements don't hurt....a multivitamin or prescribed dosage from a Dr should be paid high attention to.

General Nutrition - 

Athletes have VERY high metabolisms, therefore we burn much more energy than the average person. It seems sensible that more output requires more input...the Canada food guide is a good start for a general nutrition guide...but feel free to multiply all the daily servings by 1.5 or even 2....you aren't a slob....you are eating what your body needs...SO EAT!!!11one

Metabolism requires A LOT of water to function...the general 2L of water isn't enough for a middle distance runner either....feel free to multiply that by 1.5 as well......8 cups becomes 12 cups or ~3 liters of water a day (this can be made up with Milk and Juice as well). 

Pay close attention to intake of Dairy products post workout. Research has shown that the intake of lactate helps muscle recovery....for someone in Chemistry you may be interested to know that lactate is the conjugate base of lactic acid...intake of lactate increases cellular enzyme levels that help metabolize lactate/lactic acid. 

Research also shows that people that drink 3L of water a day instead of 2L actually burn more calories...water feeds your metabolism....therefore gives you more energy stores and faster recovery.

These are all things that will help you go faster....

End Wall of Text,

Cheers,

Dan Toogood

P.S. For those going to Winnipeg be sure to get some pasta into you the night before your race...in case I forget to mention that :)

 

I wanna go fast Part Deux

Dan I wanna go fast ...Part Deux

REST

Another intuitively obvious thing about running is that you need to rest. There are very few sports/exercises that are more strenuous on the body than middle distance running.

What does rest mean?

1) Well for many middle distance runners a rest day involves a 15-20 minute JOG with light stretching to follow.

2) For the introductory runner a rest day means no running at all. However, even some experienced athletes physically need a day OFF...not a light run.

3) Another option for rest days is to cross train...other sports are A LOT of fun when you are middle distance runner because you are generally faster and have more endurance then everyone you play with J ANYTHING...rowing, swimming, basketball, volleyball, Wii Boxing...it doesn’t matter...but not pure running.

4) Rest can also mean between seasons taking successive weeks (usually not more than 2 – 3) where you don’t run above race pace for that time period. We’ll be doing a lot of threshold runs as workouts after Winnipeg for instance...and that is rest as well.

I’m not in fantastic shape right now but I personally train 3 days on, one day OFF...So some weeks I’ll run 6x a week and others it will be 5x a week...just depends on how the rotation is working. If I run that fourth day, I become exceedingly tired and lethargic in my daily activities...I’ve learned to understand what I need.  

The most important thing to do is listen to your body...that doesn’t mean muscle soreness by the way (unless it feels like an injury)...it means that you feel physically and mentally exhausted. On days that you feel like that PLEASE come to talk to Murray and me about how you feel. If we know that you are tired, we can watch your first few intervals and judge your daily progress. When you get to practice and Murray and I ask...How are you feeling today? THAT’S what we are asking....

The most unique thing about human beings is that we all have very different needs...this applies to running as well.  If you feel you need more rest OR for that matter LESS rest, then we can discuss options for your own personal needs.

When Murray says DAY OFF....make sure you take it...

Days off are as important as training days...IF YOU WANT TO GO FAST!

Cheers,

Dan

P.S. If you ever do a mile run / cooper run in gym class at school......please let me know, kthx 

DAN!! I WANNA GO FAST!!! Part One

So on my first day at the track I asked what everyone’s goals are and I heard a lot of “I want to go fast Dan...”

SO...Every once in a while I'll write about a way I think you can...the first is the most obvious and most important!!!

CONTINUITY

Nothing benefits a middle distance runner more than consistent training. Every time you run/do a workout/train you have an experience as a runner. Think of each experience as teaching your body how to do something...RUN!!...over time these experiences add up!! As your body learns to take on more and more stress...YOU GO FASTER! Over time Murray and I can develop your workouts to be at a higher level...BUT NOW...at equal difficulty to a more developed athlete.

As an analogy that you all can relate to...imagine you go on a 3 week vacation from school during the semester and all your other peers are still in school...is it possible for you to catch up instantly upon return? Can you expect to be at the same level of development when you return? The people who had that experience will continue to develop and you will not!!! People you used to be ahead may now be ahead of you! :P

In a scientific way of looking at it...when you take 3 weeks off, your VO2 Max drops ~17% (the amount of oxygen your body can supply to your muscles)...and it can take up to 6 weeks to get back to the same VO2 max levels.

I know 3 weeks in an extreme example...but know how big a difference it makes if you do 2 workouts a week instead of 5. Be consistent, put the work in and you'll reach your potential!!!

I like to go fast too,

Dan