My second day of “back to training” week was a success. The biggest part of the success was actually making it to the pool! Over the past 6 weeks or so, I had tried over and over again to get my butt to the pool. However, I just couldn’t make myself get out of bed at 6am “just for fun.” Alas, I didn’t. My training buddies, who are still training for a Half IM in November were rather unsympathetic to my need for more sleep. But they had no choice. So I had a blissful 6 weeks of not getting up at 6am to hit the poo.
This morning, though, was another story. I woke up when my alarm went off and I was ready: my swim bag was already packed and I even made a smoothie before I went. By the end of the 2000m swim, I was starving. My training buddy asked me why I hadn’t eaten. It’s because my stomach gets upset, I get cramps, and I burp up whatever I had eaten earlier and it’s just unpleasant.
Low and behold, active.com had an article about it in the email they sent out called “Breakfast and Recovery Strategies for Swimmers.” I couldn’t believe it… sometimes I think that there are no coincidences in this crazy world. They told me what I already knew: an athlete should not work out without eating food first. In the article, they said even a small snack will help, like a banana and a spoon of peanut butter, applesauce and two graham crackers, raisins and pretzels, or cereal with low-fat milk (soy or rice milk for me). I think that I will try these small snack foods because I take my dog for a short walk before I go to the pool and could easily eat some pretzels and raisins while doing that. I thought I was doing pretty good just making sure I had my post-workout smoothie in the car ready to be consumed while driving home. I also had a piece of toast with peanut butter before hopping on my bike to go to work.
This just reinforces what I already know: to be a triathlete, you must be organized and prepared. I’m still working on that.
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