Dieting/training..at the same time?

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Permalink Reply by cxchiva on July 2, 2009 at 2:39am

A cross race is a painful but shortlived experience. You don't bonk because the races are 40 min. to 1 hour. I would mainly focus your training on being able to have your heartrate very elevated for that period of time. Most guys will have their last food 2 hours before a race. Experiment what works for you as you train. Get together with others or do a CX clinic and see what people are doing to prepare for the season. Be flexible in the approach to your body/training as you learn more about what your needs are. Most of all, keep at it and have fun.

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Permalink Reply by David Hutton on July 2, 2009 at 11:31am

As coach there are a few things that should be brought up. 1: is how much are you trying to lose. Too much and power goes out the window. Be sure to stay reasonable in your goals to weight loss. 2: never ever try and cut much weight once you are racing. Off season and early season are perfect especially considering your miles will be up as you are base training therefor you are burning larger amounts. If intensity is lower then less is needed for recovery. 3: The biggest mistake is to cut intake ON the bike. Bad Idea. If you are cutting calories have some calorically dense breakfast but not a ton. Eat to stabalize energy on the bike, and cut calories around dinner time. Get a small meal in post ride if long or if a lot of stress was placed on your body. You can have a fairly small dinner if you are hydrating and taking in the PROPPER food post ride and recover just fine. Just my take. In the end find what works for you, dont try and lose too much and if it becomes a stress focus your energy elsewhere. Don't let it dominate your life.

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Permalink Reply by John Osgood on July 3, 2009 at 7:41am

South Beach Diet! In 2007 I lost 50 lbs from Jan-May and trained the whole time. It has been 2 years and I still have kept all the weight off. In fact I still follow the diet today because of its benefits you get from nutritional needs for training and racing. The beautiful thing is, it is easy to follow, makes sense on how it works because it focuses on the "right" kind of carbs, and I can eat like a horse -- you just eat the right foods instead. It's worth a look. You can pick up the book anywhere for around $11.00

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Permalink Reply by Katsu Tanda on July 3, 2009 at 3:23pm

Never ever cut calories when out for a ride. Nothing is worse than bonking 2 hours out and have to struggle to hold wheel of the guys trying to tow you back home.

I'm currently trying to cut down on my last 5 pounds. I'm not recovering as fast and fatigue does linger longer than when I simply eat what I want.

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