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.

Epic mind games

We are in the final stretch before the most significant bike race race commences, and all I can hope for is that it must just start now. Why would I edge on such a hard experience such as the Cape Epic if I had done it all before? Truth is, I can not remember the suffering. I remember crossing the finish line at Lourensford with my hands in the air, happy to have finished the race, and not only finish it, winning it! Winning in the sense of finishing first in the woman's category was the ultimate for me, but winning is the feeling for every competitor crossing the line. The 8 gruelling days is what you need to complete for you to have the most incredible experience of your life.

So for the last 4 months I have been training for the Epic and may have sacrificed some other races in the process, but there was always one big goal in mind. Now that we know how incredible it is to finish the Epic and also how much training goes in to it, one can understand that doubt may set in from time to time. Doubting, especially in the last few days before the race when your training is tapering off. Have you done enough hours? Should you rest more now, or be training a bit harder? Will your equipment be good in the race? Will you be good enough for your partner? The list goes on....

I know the answer to these questions. I am stronger than ever. Well rested, and ready to race. My equipment is tested and it is good. The partnership is already strong and we have the same goal in mind. Instead of doubting, I am now making these my mantras. Coaches, spouses and friends help us remember this, cause when we not training we are thinking too much.

USN - Stage racing 9 May 2011.mov

Small team, big heart and even bigger ambitions

The Nashua team might be one of the smaller professional women’s cycling teams, but their results during the past few weeks show that bigger does not necessarily mean better.

The Nashua girls have proven that they are not just there to make up numbers in the peloton. They are racing to win.

Just during the past two weeks Cherise Taylor won the mixed category of the Panorama Tour with Graeme Cronjé; Milandi Cronje and Sarah Chemaly won the women’s category of the Panorama Tour in which Jeaun-Mari Breytenbach and Eugenie Gouws finished 2nd overall.

Actually, the Nashua riders dominated the tour with their three teams by winning a total of eight stages.

The past weekend Karien van Jaarsveld finished 2nd in the Tour Durban.

Nashua can also boast with four SA road champions. Taylor is the elite champion, Gouws the junior champion and Monique Gerber the u.16 champion, while Heidi Dalton is the u.16 time trial champion. Moreover, Chemaly won the SA Junior Tour for girls.

All of this happened in just four months.

Chances are excellent that there will be a Nashua rider on the winner’s podium during the prize-giving ceremony at the forthcoming Karkloof Mountain Bike Marathon on Sunday, 9 May.

In the last three MTN marathons Van Jaarsveld finished 2nd twice and Taylor was in the 4th position.

Van Jaarsveld cannot wait to get dirty at Karkloof, but Taylor is not quite sure that she will enjoy it.

“I will be honest. I really did not enjoy racing at Clarens. It is, therefore, important to prove to myself at Karkloof that mountain biking can actually be an enjoyable sport,” the SA road champion said.

Reverting back to the Panorama Tour, it is interesting to note that a bathroom scale has probably, albeit indirectly, played a role in Milandi Cronjé becoming a winner on her bike. Earlier this year she also won the Cormorant race.

The 21-year old Cronjé said that she only started to cycle two years ago. One of the reasons for taking up cycling was that she did not appreciate the numbers she saw when she got onto her bathroom scale.

“I realized that I had to do something if I wanted the scale to show me smaller numbers. It seemed logical to start cycling because my boyfriend was also a keen cyclist. At first I did not even have a bicycle of my own, so I had to borrow my brother’s.

“Cycling is definitely addictive. The moment I started to master the various cycling techniques and began to understand what the racing tactics were all about, I could not wait to test myself against the other riders. It is exciting to watch yourself getting stronger with every race but, if I am honest with myself, it will still take a while before I will be able to consider myself a really good cyclist.”

Cronjé describes herself as an all-rounder.

“I can climb with the best and I am also a capable sprinter, but I don’t think I will ever be the best sprinter or climber. My best chance to win races will be in a breakaway by a small group.”

If there is one race that Cronje would love to win, it is the OFM Classic because she is a born and bred Bloemfontein girl.

She also looks forward to the Amashovashova because she reckons that there will be a good chance that a small group of riders will manage to get away in a break and stay in front.

Van Jaarsveld nearly misses the win at Tour Durban

Karien van Jaarsveld (Nashua) produces a surprise every time she gets on her bicycle.

She did it again this past weekend when she finished 2nd in the women’s race of the Tour Durban. Marissa van der Merwe (MTN-Energade) was the winner, with Robyn de Groot (MTN-Energade) finishing 3rd.

What is amazing about the 28-year-old Van Jaarsveld’s performance, is that this is only her first year of professional racing and it was only the 2nd time that she represented Nashua in a road race.

Listening to Van Jaarsveld talking about Sunday’s race, it sounds as if she might have surprised even herself.

The deciding moment of the race occurred after about 20 kilometers of racing when Van der Merwe decided to launch an attack.

The moment Van der Merwe managed to open a gap, Van Jaarsveld decided by herself: ‘No, you are not getting away’.

After a hard chase, she caught up with Van der Merwe and the two of them worked well together to obtain a lead of about 55 seconds.

Van Jaarsveld admits that she did not expect at any stage that they would stay in front for 85 kilometers.

“There was a time when Marissa contemplated to sit up and let the bunch catch up with us. I persuaded her to keep going and from then on we managed to keep increasing our lead. At the turn-about we had a gap of about five minutes.

“It was reassuring for both of us to know that, if we should make a mess of things, it would not be the end of the world. We had team-mates back in the peloton who could finish what we had started.

“Unfortunately I messed up my sprint because I was in a too heavy gear when Marissa accelerated. But, luckily, it was not the end of the world. It is exciting for me to notice that I improve with every race.

“At the moment I am just so hungry to race. I actually wish I could race again today.”

According to Van Jaarsveld the fact that she also competes in mountain bike marathons definitely helped her during Sunday’s race.

“During a mountain bike race you learn to push yourself through the pain barrier and this enables you to race for a few hours at a fast pace.”

Judging by Van Jaarsveld’s performances so far this year, it would not be wrong to give her the nickname of ‘Silver Maiden of SA women’s cycling’.

Van Jaarsveld finished 2nd in both the MTN Barberton Mountain Bike Marathon and the MTN SA Marathon Championship in Sabie.

She is quite confident that she will take the step upwards on the winner’s podium before the end of the year.

“I know I can win. It is just a matter of biding my time and making the most of my opportunities.”

The Karkloof experience for Nashua Ladies

For the average mountain biker fixing a puncture is simply a matter of ‘doing what comes naturally’, while a road cyclist who punctures only has to raise a hand to ask for help. Nine times out of ten, a team car will pull up alongside the cyclist within a few seconds and a mechanic will jump out to fix the puncture.

In view of this, funny things can happen when a road cyclist decides to get ‘down and dirty’ by participating in a mountain bike race and then punctures during the race.

Cherise Taylor (Nashua), the South African road champion, can vouch for this after this past weekend’s Karkloof marathon in KwaZulu-Natal.

Her race began quite comfortably. She actually surprised everybody when, after the first few kilometers, she became involved in, and survived, a tactical battle with Carla Rowley and Karien van Jaarsveld (Nashua) for the third place.

Yolandé Speedy and Mariska Strauss (both MTN-Energade) continued their dominance in local mountain bike races by not wasting any time to ride away from everybody else.

In what certainly was a first for Taylor, she managed to open a slight gap during one of the technical sections to progress to the third place. But this small victory quickly turned into a comedy of errors the moment she punctured.

“Luckily another rider stopped to try and help me. At first we tried to plug the puncture but we did not succeed. The problem was that the guy who tried to help me, was also a roadie. Next we tried to ‘CO2 bomb’ it but we were unable to open the ‘CO2 bomb’. I then borrowed a ‘CO2 bomb’ from another rider, but still my problems continued.

“The ‘CO2 bomb’ got stuck because it froze onto the valve. We, mostly roadies, then had to wait for it to melt down. It was quite funny because my helpers and I all ended up sitting on the ground, trying to fix the puncture. Eventually we succeeded.”

But this was not the end of her problems. Just when Taylor managed to get into a nice rhythm again, she punctured for a second time and was again brought to a halt. She again had to beg other riders to lend her a tube.

Burry Stander (Specialized/MR Price), Taylor’s biggest fan for the past few years, was apparently quite excited afterwards when he was told about Taylor’s puncturing problems.

He reasoned that the only way to puncture during a race, is to ride really fast. This means that, by puncturing, Taylor has proven that she is actually becoming a true mountain biker.

Taylor was also all smiles about her racing experience afterwards.

“I really enjoyed myself out there. I could ride most of the technical sections without once taking a tumble. My biggest scare occurred while I was racing just behind Carla (Rowley). I was so busy watching her wheel that I did not really look where we were going.

“The next moment I found myself on the ‘Super Tube’. It is a section of the route where you first race down a steep descent on a very slippery road. Immediately afterwards you are faced with an extremely tough climb. I was racing downwards before I realized what was happening. When I looked up and saw the climb ahead of me, I got such a fright that I pulled my breaks. This turned out to be a big mistake because at that stage I was halfway up, but pulling the breaks made me slide down all the way to the bottom.”

According to Taylor it will still take some time before she wins a major mountain bike race.

“In my eyes Yolandé and Mariska are, at the moment, super human beings when it comes to mountain biking. I cannot see myself beating them in the foreseeable future, but after Karkloof I know that a podium finish in a mountain bike race is not an unrealistic goal.

Taylor flies to Italy on Monday where she will compete in the Italian version of the Argus Tour.

Van Jaarsveld finished 4th in the cross-country race which took place the day before the marathon.

She admits that, with hindsight, it might have been a mistake to race the cross-country and marathon in two consecutive days.

“I definitely did not have the best pair of legs during the marathon. But I am not complaining, because being able to compete in the Karkloof was certainly one of my best cycling experiences ever.

“There is only one word that can describe the single-track sections at Karkloof and that is the word ‘amazing’. It is like riding a never ending super tube.

“One of the sections of the cross-country track is called the ‘Soul Fly’. It is very descriptive because when you are riding it, it really feels as if your soul is flying into a fantasy world - something like a TV game.”

Argus 2010

This year Argus was a particularly special one. Be it that we are rubbing shoulders with the likes of Lance Armstrong, or the general excitement with the upcoming soccer world cup, or that we are just blessed to have the most spectacular coastal race in the world, it was just special. Windy, as you may expect it to be in the Mother city, but that did not stop the 35 000 keen cyclist from being part of something big. Something like a world championship or a tour de France.. It is certainly a highlight for any cycling enthusiast.

The ladies race was about survival of the fittest! Starting in a pack of about 200 cyclists along with the vet men, which include great riders like Andrew Mclean, it was holding on for dear life. Great international riders like Fabiana Lupevini from Italy was also in the starting ladies group. The first challenger of the race was the climb at Smits se winkel. A long drag, which gradually sifted the bunch. The second was Chapmans peak, the climb as much as the dangerous descend and then finally Suikerbossie. With the original ladies bunch down to about 15 riders, the final kilometers to Greenpoint was about getting into position for the line. A tough task with most men holding the same objectives and the road starting to be filled with slower riders. The sprint to the finish line came a little bit too early for me with my first sighting of the powerade banners. Alas, when i saw there is still 150m to the line after the banners! By then most girls kicked up the gears and sprinted for the line. Congratulations to Anriette Schoeman who won the battle. The results were as follows:

Elite Ladies

1. Anriette Schoeman (3.06.11)
2. Robyn de Groot
3. Catherine Williamson
4. Cherise Taylor
5. Jo van der Winkel
6. Jennie Stenerhag
7. Marissa van der Merwe
8. Chrissie Viljoen
9. Mariske Strauss
10. Fabiana Lupevini

Sabie XCM 3 SA champs

The beautiful Sabie hosted the spectacular 2010 SA championships. With nature doing its best to try and accommodate, the weather also came to the party. Well, sort of, it had rained prior to the event but race day was perfect. So nature and beauty aside, there was some serious racing to attend to.

The ladies 70km started with the 110km men, with the first serious climb staring just 3km into the race. This does not give you a lot of time to warm up but the ladies where in the mood to race. At the foot of the climb Carla Rowley described Yolande Speedy's last look to the rest of the field as " come on, you are not going to let me go now already?", but she did and she stayed in the lead to win the SA gold medal. Congrats Yolande, it is encouraging to see you still push hard when you are not being chased.

The rest of the race proceeded where Samantha Oosthuizen crested before Carla, followed by Mariska Strauss. The pace was quite fast and following a conservative approach the race only changed after half way. Carla had a 2 minute lead on the rest of the field by then, but my first objective was to gain some time on the second major climb.

This steep one changed the profile dramatically. I managed to move up two positions and only had Carla ahead of me. Riding at my own pace I then chased to the finish and catching up to Carla about 5km from the finish. By this stage there were plenty of fun riders on the course, and at this point I must apologise to the riders if we passed unexpectedly. Sorry riders!

I rode with Carla till the last moments, and had to kick up a little sprint to get the silver medal. What a race. It felt good.

The results:

1. Yolande Speedy (MTN/Energade)

2. Karien van Jaarsveld (NATRO)

3. Carla Rowley

4. Mariska Strauss (MTN/Energade)

5. Samantha Oosthuizen

Bestmed Campus to Campus 2009

The race is won or lost on the mountain- very simple Ertjies?

The Bestmed Campus to Campus race is named after Ertjies Bezhuidenhout. He became a legend after he would make such a huge gap on the notorius Groot Ertjies, that he would proceed to win this race every time with his solo break away attempt on the hill.

The ladies elite started with the vet men, which ups the speed quite a bit. One gentleman joked on the start line, these guys are here discussing their pensions on the line while we are getting ready to race. Well, pension or no pension they make great pace!

The first 50km was a nice consistent pace. Klein Ertjies was the first hill that changed the profile a bit. The second climb, groot Ertjies was the determining hill though. Wait in the pack too long and you have missed it. By the time you look up from the wheel in front of you, the gap is too wide. *Note to self* Get in the front.

After the hill I could see the ladies take off with the men, there was no one coming for quite some time, so I made the chase on my own. With the men pulling in front it was a bit of a long shot to chase down, but I was joined later by 3 other ladies and a few men. We put in a solid effort to chase down and had a fast pace all the way home. We finished the 106km with a little sprint which got me into 8th position in the ladies category.

Lost city cycle races

Race organisers are optimising the infrastructure of races with back to back road and mountain bike races. This suits an inbetweener like me just fine, but it was an interesting weekend after a two week break... The road race was the Saturday and the road race on the Sunday. The road race was defined at about halfway with a small breakaway and a chasing peleton of about 10 others. A few individual attempts of chasing came from the peleton, but with the big team riders in the breakaway, chasing was certainly not objective of the chasing peleton.

The mountain bike race was huge fun. The course consisted of two 35km laps and it was fast and not too technical. “It was certainly very fast and I enjoyed it tremendously,” said Swanepoel. “There was loads of traffic on the second lap but slower riders were very courteous and kept to the left, so it wasn’t a problem.”

I realised that I cycled the day before shortly into the second lap, and just managed a consistent pace for the remainder of the race. Yolandi du Toit was the first lady home, her scorching time of 1hr28min no less impressive than that of the men. Overall runner up was Theresa Ralph and me, Karien van Jaarsveld on the third step of the podium.

Rooiberg- 4 June 2009

Rooiberg is a small town in the Waterberg area near Bela Bela (Warmbaths as we know it). All around a great experience being out of the city and having 2 days on the bike in the real bush veld. Day 1 was 75km and day 2 85km. The ride was interesting, testing and so much fun!

Interesting. These days you choose your equipment based on the ride- very rocky, your dual-suspension, and tires with more or less grip depending on whether it is rocky or muddy or sandy, etcetera. Well, the Rooiberg had something of everything! Quite challenging to make decisions on equipment… There were steep climbs, and even steeper descends- steep and rocky. Then in between the climbs was lots of loose sand. Another interesting part is that the veld caught fire about midway though day 1. Now rumor has it, that a cyclist paddle scraped a rock, which made a spark and set the entire veld alight. I arrived at the scene quite early and managed to pass through the catastrophe fire. Shortly after that, most cyclists were re-routed and got some form of distance discount.

Testing. Day 1 was shorter than day 2, which could be a psychological disadvantage if you think the worst is still to come, but to be honest day 1 had all the possible curve balls. There was 1450km of vertical climb on day 1, other to that 53km of purpose built single track. This tested mental and physical ability. I got a puncture on day 1, plugged bombed and took off but had to wait for some time on single track which had very little passing opportunity. Day 2 was slightly more relaxed with 1292m of vertical climb and way more jeep track. The first climb, with 7 switch backs came as soon as in 5km of start, now with tired legs from yesterday, it was testing…

Then fun. As mentioned, day 1 had 53km of single-track. Yes, as much as it takes a lot of concentration, you eventually get into a rhythm and it almost starts to feel like snow boarding (without snow). Day 2 gave you the opportunity to look up and admire the beautiful surrounds of the Waterberg mountains and the bush veld. Apparently there are hippos, crocodiles and rhino but fortunately I did not come across any of them.

All together, a great weekend race and I came 4^th in my category. Learnings from this race, you want to push hard to get a good position in the beginning, especially where there is single track involved where you can only ride in single file!

Jock classic- 18 July 2009

This 150km race was a real challenge and one of the harder races in my books. It started off in the blistering cold, but with the first notorious hill with its six hairpins, did not only the body temperature change but also the field. The strongest climbers won the day. Having started with the men, the first to ascend could only make bigger caps. We managed to pull a group of girls together to face the second hill, which was even longer.. However, what goes up must come down, and down was much more fun. In fact, the best ever! The latter half of the race was quite misleading, perceiving that most of the work has been done at the hills, However, we had quite strong head winds on the last 70km. Finished 10th overall ladies.
WOMEN
1 Ashleigh Moolman – Toyota Supercycling 04hrs26min22sec
2 Anriette Schoeman – Nashua Telecoms same time
3 Jennie Stenerhag ¬– Alpha Pharm 4:31:39
4 Yolandi du Toit – Konica Minolta 4:34:10
5 An-Li Pretorius – Nashua Telecoms
6 Joanna van der Winkel – Toyota Supercycling all same time
7 Lizanne Naude – Toyota Supercycling
8 Robyn de Groot – Nashua Telecoms 4:36:57
9 Lylanie Lauwrens – MTN Energade 4:44:35
10 Karien van Jaarseveld