The Trial
Thursday, October 29, 2009 at 9:13AM I’ve heard Triathletes say over and over again, “I do triathlon so I can eat and drink anything I want”. Hell, I have said the same thing right before finishing off 30 wings and a case of beer on a fun Saturday night. I have also never walked across a finish line feeling like it was the best I could do.
I have been doing triathlons for the past 8 years. The first 2 years I was learning how to even do this sport, the 2 years after that I was enjoying college and the ability to still push hard after 2 hours of sleep. 2 years following that I was learning how to work a 9-5 and enjoying the (what seemed like at the time) GIANT pay check. The last 2 years I have watched my ability to spring back from injuries diminish and started to notice that I cant just "gut it out" like I used to.
I’m not saying that I’m old, I’m saying that I am letting myself think I’m old and using that as an excuse. I feel like a lot of triathletes use the excuse “I do triathlon so I can eat as much as I want” in order to excuse the feelings that they have a couple of days after a not-so-great race "you know if I just ate a little better, or if I had just done those couple of extra workouts".
I’ve decided to see what would happen if a triathlete decided to switch from” I do this so I can eat what ever I want” to “I eat this way so that I can do what ever I want”.
Over the next two months I will be documenting my change from your typical 9-5, find an excuse to miss 2 workouts a week, eat what ever I am craving at that moment, drink a case of beer on the weekend triathlete… to a lean, healthy, swimming, biking, running MACHINE.
The first two weeks I will change nothing. I’m only documenting my workouts, my nutrition, and general healthy and mental state. I am doing two weeks in order to get a solid baseline of your typical triathlete.
Weeks 3-6 I will meet with Christine Lynch, of www.liveandeatbetter.com and we will go over my current diet. We will talk about the things I’m doing wrong and where, with some changes, I’ll be able to be healthier. I will also be eliminating several things from my lifestyle: alcohol, coffee, soda and large quantities of red meat. Then, for 4 weeks, I will document every bit of information.
The last 2 weeks after living this healthier lifestyle I will slowly introduce things back into my nutrition plan and document how my body reacts when I have Taco bell again, and when I have my first cup of coffee, and my first beer.
I think this will be an interesting experiment to show people that by making a few minor changes in their lifestyle, they can go from “I just do triathlons so I can eat what ever I want” to competitive age group triathletes.
Reader Comments (3)
cool idea, lookign forward to watching and seeing your results. any races planned? would be curious to see how the changes affect race performance, not just the daily how-do-i-feel
interesting! can't wait for updates!
Awesome. I will be interested to see the results.
I have heard the same sentiments (I am a runner vs. triathlete, but most of my friends are triathletes) about running so they can eat whatever. I don't really follow that but I do tend to eat bigger portions than I should. I am just so damn hungry.
I am working on cutting out the wine intake. I don't drink a whole lot (maybe I do?) but it's enough that I think: maybe I would have done/felt better if I didn't drink last night?
I'll be catching up on your posts now. Just following you on twitter doesn't give me the big picture!