This is a man's world

The 2012 ABSA cape Epic was apparently the toughest one yet. I competed in the women’s category and started my preparation well in advance. Our team MTNQhubeka used world-class equipment and we had no technical issues. My coach, Dr Carol Austin set my training schedule at a very competitive level of 20 to 24 hours a week for about 4 months building up to the event. I was well trained and tapered for the Epic. In terms of race preparation the team did everything possible to make sure that we were ready.

The race changed for women this year were there were UCI points allocated, and an increased price purse. This attracted a much more competitive field, and my hopes of getting a podium position materialised with a 3^rd position in the category. We also got 39^th in the General Classification, which would include all the men, women and mixed categories. Even though I have been in the best form of my life, it still felt as if there was so much more to do. This race just seemed so incredibly hard.

Most riders will attribute this years particularly tough Epic to the brutal weather elements. There was scorching heat, nearing 40 degrees Celsius, gale force winds, storming rain that also had temperatures plummeting and athletes treated with hypothermia. These conditions certainly attributed to a hard race in most opinions, but how can this scientifically compare to the hardest sports?

Most professional cyclists use a power meters to gauge efforts the most accurate of them being the SRM power meter. In many discussions with my coach, we debated whether this race is actually fit for women to compete in. The time and effort it takes for professional women is so much longer than for men. The question of what the effort is for women racing the Epic, lead me to a study done by Dirk Friel. He tried to illustrate the effort of racing the Tour of California to that of the Tour de France. For purposes of this exercise the comparisons of these two major tours were compared to my personal data from the Epic 2012.

Dirk Friel drew comparisons and contrasts with the 2010 Amgen Tour of California, which is roughly only one-third the length of the Tour de France. For purposes of the study he used the eight hardest consecutive stages of the Tour de France, being stages 2-9 of the 2009 Tour from Team Saxo Bank’s Chris Anker Sorenson’s. Sorenson’s race files can be seen here http://home.trainingpeaks.com/races/2009-tour-de-france-files.aspx. As for 2010 Tour of California data we looked at power files from Darren Lille of team Fly V Australia and Jakob Fuglsang of Team Saxo Bank which can be found here http://home.trainingpeaks.com/articles/cycling/2010-tour-of-california-team-saxo-bank-and-team-fly-v.aspx.


Comparing The Epic, The Tour of California and the Tour de France



To help determine the effort of women racing the Cape Epic the race data was compared to at five different categories: 


1-The Hardest Stage as Measured by Most Kilojoules


2- The Total Kilojoules Measured for the Eight Consecutive Days


3- Duration (Hours) of Accumulated Winning Stage Times


4- Hardest Stage Measured by Training Stress Score (TSS) Value


5-Total Accumulated (Eight-Day) TSS Points


1. Kilojoules- The Hardest Stage

• Lill- 4844kj, Stage 6: Big Bear

• Fuglsang- 6364kj, Stage 6: Big Bear

• Sorenson- 5652kj, Stage 7: Barcelona to AndorreArcalis

• 
Karien- 4169kj, Stage 5: Caledon to Oakvalley

Even though there is no clear winner within this category the Epic stage 5 absolutely measures up to the hardest stage of any Grand Tour
. Although this stage was not the hardest on paper, the rain created a challenging surface and the energy consumption compares well to the major tours. The reason why Fuglsang’s kilojoules were so high is because he was in the breakaway for nearly all of the stage so his intensity was much higher than Darren Lill’s who rode within the main peloton.

2. Total Accumulated KJ’s

• Lill- 28,221kj (3,527kj/day)

• Fuglsang – 29,061kj (3,632kj/day)

• Sorenson- 31,479kj (3,934kj/day)


• Karien- 25,377kj (3,172kj/day)

The highest energy expenditure is Tour de France at an 8-day total accumulated value of 31,479kj and an average of nearly 4,000kj a day. The Epic however includes one prologue of only 27km, and the final stage of only 63km. For this reason we can rather use 7 days for the Epic in this instance. Should one use this seven-day reason for the Epic, the daily energy expenditure is about 3,625kj per day. This compares well to the Tour de France energy expenditure.

3. Winner’s Accumulated Stage Times


The women’s winning time for the Epic was 38hrs and 34 mins. The winners included defending champion Sally Bigham and former world champion Esther Suss. The 2010 Amgen Tour of California’s winner, Michael Rogers, completed the race in 33hrs and 8 minutes, as compared to 33hrs and 3 minutes for the accumulated finish times for stages 2-9 for the 2009 Tour de France winner Alberto Contador.
 The women in the Epic raced for much longer than men do in most major tours. The Epic men’s winning time of 31hrs 46mins is more on par to the major tours, but there is a dramatic difference between men and women’s racing.

4. Hardest Stage Measured by Training Stress Score (TSS) Value

• Lill- 361TSS, Stage 6: Big Bear Lake

• Fuglsang- 431TSS, Stage 6: Big Bear Lake

• Sorensen- 391TSS, Stage 7: Barcelone - Andorre Arcalis

• 
Karien- 433TSS, Stage 5: Caledon to Oakvalley

The Epic TSS score of 433 is higher than any major tour. To illustrate this workload, Fuglsang recorded 431TSS points since he was in the long breakaway group. In contrast Sorensen measured 391TSS points within stage 7 of the ’09 Tour de France. Fuglsang would have had a lower value if he hadn’t been off the front for so long. It seems as if the hardest days in the grand tours measure around 400TSS points.


TSS is a very valuable metric to track since it takes into account the intensity of the race as compared to the individuals own functional threshold power value. Besides an intensity factor being accounted for, the TSS value also takes into account the duration of the race. This has much more meaning than kilojoules since kilojoules do not account for the relative intensity of a race. What might be a threshold pace for one rider may be a lower tempo type zone for another, yet if the two riders weigh the same, and recorded exactly the same watts, the KJ’s would also be the same.

5. Total Accumulated (Eight-Day) TSS Points

• Lill- 2254 TSS total

• Fuglsang- 2192 TSS

• Chris Anker Sorenson- 2152 TSS

• 
Karien- 2642 TSS

The total accumulated TSS for the Epic is higher than both the Tour de France and Tour of California.

On all accounts it was similar or more demanding for women to race the Epic than it was for men racing major tours. Perhaps a Tour de France style-training program is the way to go for women racing the Epic. This is a man’s world!

Paleo for Athletes

The basic premise of Dr. Cordain’s research on paleolithic nutrition is that certain foods are optimal for humans and others are non­optimal. The optimal foods are those that we have been eating for most of our time on Earth—more than 4 million years. Only in the last 10,000 years, a mere blink of the eye relative to our species’ existence, have we been eating non­optimal foods. Unfortunately, these foods comprise the bulk of what western society eats today and include such foods as grains, dairy and legumes. Given that our bodies have not changed, we are simply not well­adapted to these non­optimal foods and they moderate health and peak performance.

On the other hand, we have been eating optimal foods – vegetables, fruits, and lean animal protein – for hundreds of thousands of years and we are fully adapted to them. Science tells us that these foods also best meet our nutritional needs. Eat these and you will thrive. Avoid or strictly limit them and your health and performance will be compromised.

PALEO FOR ATHLETES

Serious athletes, however, when it comes to immediately before, during, and directly after workouts, need to bend the rules of the Paleo Diet a bit since we're placing demands on the body that were not normal for our Stone Age ancestors. Hour after hour of sustained high energy output and the need for quick recovery are the serious athlete’s unique demands. This requires some latitude to use non­optimal foods on a limited basis. The exceptions may best be described by explaining the athlete’s 5 stages of daily eating relative to exercise.

Stage I: Eating Before Exercise

In brief, we recommend that athletes eat low to moderate glycemic index carbohydrates at least two hours prior to a hard or long workout or race. There may also be some fat and protein in this meal. All foods should be low in fiber. Take in 200 to 300 calories for every hour remaining until exercise begins. If eating two hours

prior is not possible, then take in 200 or so calories 10 minutes before the workout or race begins.

Stage II: Eating During Exercise

During long or hard workouts and races you will need to take in high glycemic index carbohydrates mostly in the form of fluids. Sports drinks are fine for this. Find one that you like the taste of and will drink willingly. Realize that events lasting less than about an hour (including warm­up) don’t require any carbohydrate. Water will suffice for these. A starting point for deciding how much to take in is 200 to 400 calories per hour modified according to body size, experience and the nature of the exercise (longer events require more calories than short).

Stage III: Eating Immediately After

In the first 30 minutes post­workout (but only after long and/or highly intense exercise) and post­race use a recovery drink that contains both carbohydrate and protein in a 4­5:1 ratio. You can buy a commercial product such as Ultrafit RecoveryTM (www.ultrafit.com) for this. Or you can make your own by blending 16 ounces of fruit juice with a banana, 3 to 5 tablespoons of glucose (such as Carbo­ Pro) depending on body size, about 3 tablespoons of protein powder, especially from egg or whey sources and two pinches of salt. This 30­minute window is critical for recovery. It should be your highest priority after a hard workout or race.

Stage IV: Eating for Extended Recovery

For the next few hours (as long as the preceding challenging exercise lasted) continue to focus your diet on carbohydrates, especially moderate to high glycemic load carbohydrates along with protein at a 4­5:1 carb­protein ratio. Now is the time to eat non­optimal foods such as pasta, bread, bagels, rice, corn and other foods rich in glucose as they contribute to the necessary carbohydrate recovery process. Perhaps the perfect Stage IV foods are raisins, potatoes, sweet potatoes and yams.

Stage V: Eating for Long­Term Recovery

For the remainder of your day, or until your next Stage I, return to eating a Paleo Diet by focusing on optimal foods. For more information on the Paleo Diet go to www.thepaleodiet.com or read The Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain, Ph.D.