TRIATHLON AND ENERGY II

I have mentioned that timing is extremely important to perform at a top level.  Timing in the case of eating while competing has a framework.  From the two studies mentioned in part one, we know two things:

1)   An hour and twenty minutes after taking the last load of carbohydrates while biking at 70% VO2 max, the exogenous carbohydrates are metabolized to CO2 contributing a 60% to the total metabolism.  This is not a conclusion from the previous study, but it can guide us to experiment empirically without harming the athlete.  The worst thing it can happen is that the athlete could not finish the race because of abdominal malfunction (don´t do it before an important race!).  I will copy what is said in the article (GRAMS OF CARBOHYDRATES VS TIME) http://arno.unimaas.nl/show.cgi?fid=1598 :

MIN                                  TOTAL CHO                       EXO CHO

0-15                                         41                            1.3

15-30                                       38                            7.1

30-45                                       42                            10.6

45-60                                       42                            12.2

60-75                                       39                            12.8

140-155                                    42                            25.8

155-170                                    38                            19.8

2)   The exogenous carbohydrates metabolism increases when increasing our VO2 max to 85% because apparently 10% of the metabolized carbohydrates come from exogenous sources the whole time except when we let time between warming up and competing (http://arno.unimaas.nl/show.cgi?fid=1598), letting time between warming up and the competition increases the carbohydrates contribution from external sources more than half, according to the mentioned article.  It could be that carbohydrates are already incorporated into the cell and used afterwards (140 minutes); but we can see that the exogenous carbohydrates utilization increases over time from the same series of numbers.  After three hour of exercising the exogenous plasma glucose starts to decline according to the numbers above. I am assuming, (perhaps incorrectly) that it is exogenous plasma glucose being used, instead of assimilated exogenous glucose from the cells.  THE EMPIRICAL RESEARCH WILL GUIDE US AT THE END.  That is the reason why we use 400 calories an hour, our empirical research tell us the direction to get the best way of maximizing energy use.

We should take into account several other things:

1)   Hydration is extremely important to absorb glucose.  How much? The only way to drink during a triathlon is while riding the bike as well as the only way to eat.  During this time we should drink and eat the most we can and feel comfortable with.  A liter of fluids during the bike is good enough as well as 700 calories in complex carbohydrates (GU is a good choice).  We do not need to eat or drink water during the run if we do it this way for an Olympic distance triathlon.

2)   Complex carbohydrates are better absorbed by the intestine from what we read on the article above.  Check your brand for complex carbohydrates.  Coca Cola is not the best because it brings water from the gut to the lumen; instead of doing the opposite as it happens with complex carbohydrates.  Please see the articles mentioned in part 1 of this series.

Guennadi Touretsky told me that he prefers to train several times for 40 minutes than two hours straight.  He also mentioned that 40 minutes warming up is enough for a swimmer to start the real training later (the Russians kept secrets like the one I mentioned).  This is according to what I mentioned in the first two points above.