Power Snacking

People often ask me what I eat before a triathlon brick workout or one of my ultimate frisbee games.  A pre-workout snack should be nutritious, quick to prep, easily digested, and of course, delicious.  I like to make mine myself, as homemade and unprocessed is always best for our bodies.  So here is a quick snack recipe that will get you through any workout or game without leaving your tummy feeling too full: 

- mashed ripe banana 

- few chopped dates 

- low-fat vanilla yogurt 

- tbsp of flax seeds  

- mix in bowl and eat immediately.  

It's ready to go in less than 5min and totally yummy.  This recipe contains a balance of the necessary carbs (banana, dates), protein (yogurt) and healthy fats (flax seeds) that your body needs for athletic performance and healthy development.  I like bananas in particular for potassium and dates for fiber.  But you can use whatever fruit you prefer.  

People have a wide variety of tastes and tolerances, and should experiment to find what works for them, but I thought I’d share my favourite sports snack here for those that asked. So try this food for fuel, or your own creation, (and don't forget your waterbottle of course) and I’ll see you on the field! 

Are you a sporty scorpio, sagittarian? You should thank the sun.

I came across this article today which was circulating on the major news networks, and found it quite interesting, as it particulary applies to me, as I am an autumn baby.  It suggests that children born in the autumn (specifically the months of October & November) are better athletes because their mothers recieved more Vitamin D in the critical phase of fetal development during the sunny summer months before their delivery.

Autumn-born children better at sport, says study

"November- and October-born children emerged as fitter, stronger and more powerful than their peers born in the other 10 months of the year, especially those whose birthdays fell in April or June."
"For example, we found that a boy born in November can run at least 10% faster, jump 12% higher and is 15% more powerful than a child of the same age born in April. This is, potentially, a huge physical advantage," said Sandercock.
The authors believe that autumn-born children's greater exposure over the summer months, towards the end of pregnancy, to vitamin D – the "sunshine vitamin" linked to a range of health benefits – is the most likely explanation. "Seasonal differences in intrauterine vitamin D concentrations seem most plausible," they say.

Here is the link to the full article:
http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/jun/22/autumn-born-children-better-sports-study


I always knew genetics played a vital role in athletic ability, and of course, a childs access to coaching and training facilities would also play a role in athletic performance and develpoment, but never knew how important the effect of season/Vitamin D in utero was.
I wonder if mothers of spring babies supplemented with Vitamin D while pregnant would reach a similar result?  It might be interesting to discuss with your doctor if you had high hopes of raising an athletic child.

On a personal note, I was born in late Oct and my brother was born in early April and its clear that I'm definitely the more athletic of us two siblings. We had the same parents, same educational and training opportunities, but a different season of birth.  An interesting coincidence, or example of the importance of Vitamin D in fetal development?  I'm not sure it explains all of our differences but it is an interesting tidbit to consider, particularly for expectant mothers who might want to give their children all the advantages in life regardless of their date of conception and birth.

Binbrook Triathlon

I started my triathlon season a little earlier this year (June 7th), considering all the off season training I’ve been doing for other spring races (e.g. TYS 10km run, Ride for Heart 75km bike), I figured I was in good enough form to get back at it again.   

It was a beautiful Saturday morning for racing in Binbrook (near Hamilton, ON).  The weather was sunny, clear and warm, eventually rising to a temperature of 24C in the afternoon.  I was a little concerned about the water temperature for the lake swim (its still spring time in Canada after all), but it was a lovely 21C in the lake and absolutely perfect with my wetsuit on.   

The Binbrook triathlon course was a little longer than the usual sprint courses I’ve been doing the last couple seasons. This course had a 750m swim, 30km bike, 7.5km run.  The same swim distance as usual but added an extra 10km to the bike and 2.5km to the run. Making it more challenging and a good transitional race for those thinking of switching up to the olympic distance courses in the future.  

Here’s my race breakdown: 

swim 16:37 (T1 2:42) bike 1:06:53 (T2 2:13) run 43:59. 

Overall time was 2:12:21, placed 8th in my age group. 

I was quite happy with my swim time (as I was averaging 17:21 on my swim last season), my bike time was on par, but I felt I took too long in T2 (when I realized I forgot my compression socks for the run and had to stop to re-adjust them), and was disappointed in my run time, which I really wanted to be under 40min for that distance. 

Looking back, I realized that the additional 10km on the bike and 2.5km on the run really make significant impact on your body and endurance level by the end of the race, and I have to take this into consideration for my next triathlon.  I foresee more bike/run brick training sessions in my near future!  

On the positive side, I’m really happy with the progress I’ve made on my swim.  Looking back on my previous 750m swim times (avg/season: 2012 = 18:43, 2013 = 17:21, 2014 = 16:37) I can see that I’ve improved my swim time by a solid minute each season.  All that time spent in the water focussed on my front-crawl has really paid off.  

But I have to give my offseason gym routine some credit here too. I added in a couple swim-specific resistance drills in the weight room, which have helped strengthen my arms: 1) the 2-arm high-elbow cable pull, and 2) the 2-arm lateral raise and extension.  Doing both of these exercises in 3sets of 12reps, 2x/week has really helped my swim. I highly recommend this to other triathletes in addition to your usual core strengthening workouts. (Considering the swim is the only section of the triathlon where you really use your arms for propulsion you want to make them as efficiently powerful as you can). 

Overall, it was a fun day of racing and I’m super glad I made it out to Binbrook this year. I know where I’ve seen improvements in my performance (e.g. swim) and which areas require more work (e.g. run).  If you need me I’ll probably be found on the elliptical and treadmill over the next few weeks, prepping for my next race in July.  I will have a better run time in my next race you can be sure of that!   

Riding for Heart

With clear sunny skies, Sunday, June 1st, was a perfect day for cyclists to take over the highways in downtown Toronto for the Becel Ride for Heart, an annual fundraiser for the Heart & Stroke Foundation.  It was a unique perspective of the Gardiner and DVP expressways, and arguably, the best ride I ever had on those particular roads.  I mean, why be stuck in a car when you could be free on your bike, right?!

It was quite the collection of cyclists out and about that morning indeed.  Besides the usual 2 wheeled bicycles, I saw a unicycle, several recumbant bicycles, tandem bicycles, an elliptical bike and bicycles towing children in carriers along for the ride as well.  Truly an event for all ages and all abilities.  

I cycled the 75km in 2:54:10 which I'm quite happy with as I had aimed at breaking the 3 hour mark on this course.  And to top it all off, to date I've fundraised $730 for this event for the Heart & Stroke Foundation! A big thank you goes out to all my supporters for their generousity.  Hopefully, we can do it all again next year.