The 7 Deadly Sins (1)

Firstly,  BIG congrats to those Summit Performance Athletes completing a very difficult Ironman St George on May 5th.
David Christian, M35 28th in his highest placing ever in an IM
Scott Sutton, M25 and completing his first ever IM and did it on one hell of a day
Eric Mcrae, M45 who battled the elements all day and never ever gave up
You three should be justifiably proud of your accomplishment.
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I’ll make an attempt to convey some historical character flaws, by covering one per blog over the next few weeks. This is by no means an attempt to relate a religious connotation to cycling, running, or triathlon. However, the historical relevance is undisputed in it’s direct correlation to the flaws I commonly see in athletes. Flaws that are commonly ignored by athletes, and are, in fact, the crutch that holds them back from achieving their goals in sport. The 7 deadly sins.

Gula
Luxuria
Superbia
Tristitia
Acedia
Avaritia
Invidia

Gula
The over-indulgence and over-consumption of anything to the point of waste.
In discussion at Summit Tucson camp this spring, I suggested that athletes should in fact, allow themselves to function throughout the day with hunger twice a week, typically on the recovery days. This is presuming the athlete has put a quick thought into recovery from the workout(s) preceding the recovery day (Sat, Sunday big workouts, followed by Monday recovery day). I asked David Christian what his method was in dropping 10 pounds off his prior “race weight” going into IM St George and he replied, “Monday’s were the key.” David recovered properly off his weekend workouts, and on his lighter day Monday would eat very light, without consuming any unnecessary calories. This lead to a 1-2 pound weight loss per week.
Eating light can of course harm an athlete, and those athlete’s that I see eating a salad after a 70 mile bike ride or 16 mile run are in fact, harming themselves in terms of recovery. “Eating for the workout tomorrow” is another common misnomer and while not entirely incorrect, is not the optimal approach to proper weight loss. “Eating for the workout just completed” will allow for more rapid recovery, and will then lead to optimal successive workouts. I showed athletes at Camp how it is simple to estimate how many carbohydrate (THE rate limiting agent in exercise and the critical agent to replace between workouts for optimal performance) is needed based on the length and type as well as general intensity of the workout. This included the baseline carbohydrate needed for normal function of bodily systems on a day to day basis. Once you know this, and you know how rapid glycogen synthesis occurs (also detailed at camp), then it’s easy to estimate how much you need in the 24 hours following a glycogen taxing or depletion workout.
“Do not confuse fatigue with hunger” is another concept I attempted to reinforce at camp. If you ride 80 miles, and you take proper recovery after, then eat the correct quantity of carbohydrate and protein 2 hours later, then more carbs before bedtime to assure proper glycogen synthesis over-night…then you feel a bit fatigued the next day. Well, that is due to the lack of repolarization of muscle fibers associated with a labor intensive workout completed 18 hours prior. If you have taken the proper amount of carbs and protein to recover from that workout, and the additional amount for your normal physiology, then you are done! If you only have a swim the next day or a very light short run or spin, then it is unnecessary to consume high carb food just because you have some residual fatigue. This leads to weight gain. This is exactly how some athletes actually gain weight during a camp. Gaining weight during a training camp simply means the athlete does not know how to eat and does not have a concept of how to properly recover, simple as that. A coach may disagree with this but sorry, they are wrong. You can lose just a small amount of weight at a camp (caloric weight not water weight) and get away with it, but the optimal outcome is to remain iso-caloric, meaning very similar weight before…and after camp.

So, confusing expected residual fatigue with hunger. This indirectly leads to gluttony. The more common form is more simple. Its about your conscious decision to make the wrong choices in you diet to simple please yourself. Ordering the big  piece of cake, eating the 1/3 box of cereal at night, the 2 cups (4 servings) of ice cream, the full-fat buttered popcorn, the full-fat dish at PF Changs, the fast food, etc. Now these are quite obvious. The more subtle choices are those of eating a candy bar on a ride instead of a protein bar, and justifying it by thinking “I’m burning plenty of calories today”, or “I know pro’s that do it (and I know many athletically ignorant pro’s). Choosing to skip the 400 calorie recovery drink and opting to get the cheeseburger and fries instead. Choosing whole eggs, cheese,  and sausage for your omelet instead of egg whites, no cheese, and substitute mushrooms for sausage. Whole-cheese vegi pizza instead of simply asking them to weight out 1/3 of the normal amount of cheese when you order. Yes I can go on with numerous examples of gluttony but I think you get the picture.

Now, I am a firm believer in reward behavior. The benefits of this concept are well established. This is why I bought crispy bacon and 1/2 order stuffed french toast with my breakfast the day after IM St George, and even though I pulled out of the race, I still had one hell of a ride and a 12 mile brick, and thus rewarded myself. This is far different from eating this type of breakfast every weekend after a long run or long ride.
I had 2 McDonald’s cheeseburgers the night of St George as well (12 grams of fat each), and I specifically remember the last time I had a McDonald’s cheeseburger, and it was in November of 2005, the night of Ann’s first qualification for Kona (I was rewarding myself in her accomplishment!). This is not a load of bull, this was the last time I had a cheeseburger from McDonalds. Now, every ironman I have some form of reward meal, as well as the next day, but it simply varies each time. Regardless, you can bet it will be something I have deprived myself of for many months going into the race, and thus is even more pleasing after I’ve “earned” those meals.

I discussed self-deprivation in a prior blog. This is a powerful strategy in the psychological preparation for a key event. In fact, I bought 2 packages of Pretzel M&M’s (5 grams fat each) 3 days before St George. I am certain David, Kelly or Ann didn’t notice because this was not my intent, but I purposely left both packages on the kitchen counter and walked by them every day  going into the race. Each time I saw them, and especially in the evenings, the urge to open one and eat the entirely unnecessary pre-race calories was there. However, I deprived myself intentionally in those days going into the race, and I became stronger because of it. I had one of the packages the night following the race while packing my bike and trust me they were far better in that moment then if I had given in to my desire to eat them pre-race. What was my solution in those day’s going into the race?  Instead of opening the candy, I ate a low-fat greek yogurt, a red grapefruit, or rice and eggs. It was a simple as that.

We, as a society, are generally raised to “finish everything on your plate”, and this leads to bad behavior habits as adults. In addition, as I explained at camp, you will not pass out or die if you allow yourself to be just a bit hungry throughout the day. You do not have to place calories in your mouth each and every time you feel the slightest bit of hunger, or when your bored. Instead, allow yourself to remain a little hungry through the day. This is not just a practice of self deprivation and a method to increase your psycological strength, but it’s physiologically an advantage. By maintaining lower insulin levels, and thus higher glucagon hormonal levels throughout the day, your metabolism remains catabolic. Slight catabolism throughout the day will make you stronger by maintaining the shift to fatty acid metabolism, and preventing the anabolic state that results with insulin secretion. This will in turn lead to a slightly higher efficiency of fat utilization. Sorry to disappoint some of you but “organic” does not translate to “low calorie” or “good for you”. Some of the most unhealthy people I know eat almost exclusively organic and/or vegan. This is not a pass to consume massive amounts of calories.

Finally, the opposing character trait to gluttony is temperance.
Practice temperance
Practice some reasonable self-deprivation, but also reward yourself occasionally
Stop being weak, and become stronger
Regardless if you are a 14 hour ironman athlete, or an 8:30 athlete
This applies to all