Internal Mono(b)log

Wow, getting to the big day so quickly.  Today’s training was just a 30 minute light run to keep the legs moving and more mental prep/visualization.  I also have to pack today because tomorrow I move from Richard and Jamuna’s place in Playa Coronado where I’ve been since I got here on the 1st, to Panama City and the Ironman Village.  The biggest challenge from Friday onward will be sticking to my plan and not getting pulled into the hype and hysteria in the village.  I anticipate a lot of time solo, in my room, with the lights dimmed and chill music playing. 😉

Tomorrow is also carb loading day.  I like to do this on the day 2 days from the race, not the night before.  The night before I find that I’m frequently just too heavy feeling heading into the race.  2 days gives your body time to digest and synthesize as much glycogen as possible and refill those muscles.

Normally, I try to maintain at a daily 500 calorie deficit which, to me, represents a bit of a slush fund because I don’t weigh and track everything.  It probably really reflects 100-200 calories of deficit/day.  Yesterday and today, I aim to eat to a zero deficit or perhaps a small surplus.  I drop my dietary fibre intake from it’s normal 70+g/day but keep my diet essentially the same.  In fact, other than dropping the fibre intake and any spicy/challenging foods, I don’t change my dietary constraints heading into race day _at_all_.   This follows my Coach Approved “don’t change anything” philosophy.  Much as you may want to try the super tasty food from the street vendor, this is not the time!

There’s been a lot written about carb loading.  A couple of recent articles that I really like are this sweatscience.com article and this one in the Globe and Mail.  In general, there’s little doubt that carb loading works and recent studies seem to imply that between 7 and 10 grams per kilogram of body weight is the right amount.

Given that, my aim for Friday will be to get 500-720g of carbs into me, along with my usual 150g protein.  With a little good fat in the mix, and my super reduced activity level due to the taper,  this will be a definite calorie surplus day. That’s ok though: It’s not like I’m not going to need it and burn it off in a couple of days 🙂

For me, since I don’t eat grains (bread, pasta, rice, etc.) the carbs will be in the form of sweet potatoes, fruit, veg, coconut water, and likely some sport drink to bring the total grams of carbs up and add some electrolytes to the mix.