Ep 5 Project ZENdurance: Overtraining Signs, IMTX Race Plan and Goals

May 15, 2015
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IMG_1217Our ongoing series with Brett from the Zen Triathlon podcast continues, be sure to listen to episode 1, episode 2, episode 3, and episode 4 first!

In this show we’ve strung together a couple recent conversations between Tawnee and Brett.

Part 1 deals with stress, symptoms of overtraining, and more, using Brett’s situation as an example:
-reactive hypoglycemia
-what is reactive hypoglycemia, the symptoms and how to resolve it
-glucose monitoring for athletes
-Brett’s battle with vitiligo
-the gut-brain-skin connection
-chronic stress leading to an exacerbation of skin conditions
-pressure to perform

More resources:
Reactive hypoglycemia 
-Chris Kresser on stress, gut, skin and overtraining 

Part 2 is the pre-IMTX race plan and goal-setting chat.
-Feedback on final taper workouts, HR issues, etc
-Brett’s past performances at IMTX and using those splits to guide this year’s goals
-Gauging past and future performances
-How hard to go on the bike
-HR or watts for Brett on the bike?
-IM wattage based on FTP
-How to execute the run
-Realistic goals for Brett based on past runs at texas
-Nutrition protocol

Comments (7)

  • Clinton says:

    The piece on hypoglycemia was very informative. I used to have slice of bread every morning before running 5 mi and became prone to hypoglycemic events. Now I run fasted or eat small portions of fruit with no hypoglycemic event.

  • Craig Parsons says:

    This series is awesome. I really appreciate hearing the relationship between coach and athlete stuff. But when the neck is He going to listen. IMTX bike 5:21 nice but I’m pretty sure he promised to hold back. I can’t wait to hear his excuse this time! I say get rid of all that sugar cra p he eats.

  • Bill Carlin says:

    Tawnee mentioned a specific blood sugar level when discussing doing a regular stick-test. Where can these guidelines be found? Is there a response test that can determine these values. I started taking morning glucose readings to get to the bottom of feeling like crap when I wake up only to feel stoked and ready to train a couple of hours later… unfortunately, that’s the time to go to work

    • Tawnee_Prazak says:

      Hi Bill, The following is taken from an article by Chris Kelly: "Achieve blood glucose stability: This step resolves a myriad of common health complaints, in addition to optimal body composition and fat adaptation. Buy a blood glucose meter from Amazon. Usually the starter kit comes with 10 strips, but you might want to buy some extras. They’re really cheap. Next, check your fasted morning level, that should optimally be 85 mg/dL or less. You can also check right before eating and then 30 and 60 minutes after. These times are of particular interest, but in general you’re looking to maintain stability in the 80 – 90 range. Does it matter that it’s 92 every time you take a reading? No, absolutely not. These meters are not calibrated for that type of accuracy. What you’re trying to achieve is overall stability. If you are consistently seeing spikes up and over 100, then you are eating too much carbohydrate in one sitting. You may still be able to eat that many carbs, just not all at once. Reduce the number of carbs and add more fat, like an extra avocado, or gobs of coconut oil, grass fed butter, tallow, bacon grease, MCT oil."

  • I’m also enjoying the heck out of these podcasts, though sometimes I find myself yelling at my iPhone, trying to get Brett to truly listen to Tawnee. I know he says he does, but as one who has been there myself, there’s listening and there’s listening. I, too, can’t wait to hear what happened at the race, although I actually think that Brett’s outcome is probably more related to his overtrained state. With that said, his recent 1 hour and 45 minute run in hot weather, with an elevated heart rate, so close to IMTX, did not bode well.

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