Hydration

1. Hydration {Drinking}

FS: How do you check a sweat rate?

AK: We’ll have them check a weight before they train, and have them check a weight immediately after they’re done training, and then factor in exactly in what they drank during the session. From the change in weight, we can determine how much fluid was lost—the rule of thumb is that per pound of weight you lose, 20 to 24 ounces of fluid need to be replaced. You want to come up with a plan so that they’re not dumping 36 ounces of water in their stomach as soon as they’re done, because you don’t absorb it.

Getting them to take the small, frequent doses of water is going to help them be better hydrated.

FS: Do you think hydration is something that’s often overlooked, since people are more focused on what they eat?

AK: I think it’s easy to overlook. You may not be drinking enough, or you may need to add some electrolytes to what you’re drinking. ... [Also], good hydration doesn’t stop when training stops—it’s all day. There is a pretty big tendency—athletes are good at hydrating during training, but then when the day goes on, that’s when we want to be sure we’re maintaining that hydration level.

- Richard

Nutrition for Recovery

Nutrition Article

Fasterskier.com interview with Adam Korzun, sport dietician with USSA

1. Recovery

FS: For cross-country skiers, the area of biggest concern, nutritionally, is recovery. Can you talk about the body’s nutritional demands after a workout?

AK: If you look at the basics of recovery, it’s carbs and protein, within a certain amount of time after a workout. Post-workout, your body’s in a state of breakdown—you’ve used your energy stores. The muscle’s tissue is damaged and broken down. Your body needs to repair, but it can’t do that without energy. The idea is get carbohydrates and protein into your body as soon as possible.

The carbs will stop the muscle breakdown, and start to build muscle glycogen, which is your energy. Protein comes in once the breakdown stops, and you can use the protein to rebuild your muscles. You need the protein to repair, but you need the carbs to stop the breakdown.

The basics are carbs and protein, as soon as possible. .. You’ve got a range of carbohydrates, from 30 to 100 grams, and protein, from 10 to 30 grams. It’s a pretty broad range—depending on how intense your training session was, ... If you’re doing an hour-long core session, you’re keeping your heart rate relatively low—it’s not essential that you replenish 60 to 70 grams of carbs at that point. A piece of fruit could be an adequate carbohydrate source at that point, and then adding some protein, like string cheese, could be perfect. Say you’re on the run—chocolate milk could be perfect right there.

Most foods are labeled with statistics showing the amount of carbohydrates and protein per serving.

That’s another thing: You’re looking at recovery as a snack, not as a meal. Within 20 to 30 minutes of finishing, your body’s primed to take the carbs and protein into the muscle cells. That said, you don’t need to overdo it—it’s just as snack, because then you’re going to have your meal one-and-a-half to two hours later. You look at what you depleted and how hard you worked to gauge how much you replenish.

If your session was a little bit more intense, maybe you want to have a turkey and cheese sandwich, or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a glass of chocolate milk, or maybe a fruit smoothie. You play around with the amounts, based on how hard you worked—that’s how you make sure you’re getting the right amount when you need it, but not getting excessive amounts when you don’t. I think that’s especially important in sports like cross-country and nordic combined... getting the right nutrients at the right time.

FS: Are there any methods you can use to see if you’re recovering the right way and eating the right amount—not too much, not too little?

AK: There’s some folks that will tell you that good recovery can be seen in decreased muscle soreness. I don’t necessarily believe that myself. As far as the carbs and protein component, really looking at the energy level that day into the next day—that’s how recovery makes the most difference, is in those repeat training days. If you’ve got training coming up eight to 12 hours after your first session, the faster you eat, the better fueled and recovered you’ll be next time you go out. Just seeing how you feel, knowing how you feel—that’s kind of a subjective measure, but most people aren’t going to track morning blood glucose levels at a younger level.

Dryland pole length

Skiers,

On Tuesday I saw a lot of dry land poles that were WAY too long. Your equipment needs to fit properly if you re going to get the most out of your workouts. Dry land poles should be approximately 10cm shorter than your classic ski poles. If yours are too long than cut them or find new ones. If you are unsure about how to do this than speak with your equipment managers (Jordan, Erin, Mike).

Happy training,

Ian

Here is the SWIX RACING CHART (Pole Length is in cm.)
SKIER HEIGHT...CLASSIC LENGTH...SKATE LENGTH...
4'11"...............120........................130
45'0"...............122.5.....................132.5
5'1".................125........................135
5'2".................127.5.....................137.5
5'3".................130........................140
5'4".................132.5.....................142.5
5'5".................135........................145
5'6".................137.5.....................147.5
5'7".................140........................150
5'8".................142.5.....................152.5
5'9".................145........................155
5'10"...............147.5.....................157.5
5'11"...............150........................160
6'0".................152.5.....................162.5
6'1".................155........................165
6'2".................157.5.....................167.5
6'3".................160........................170
6'4".................162.5.....................172.5
6'5".................165........................175
6'6".................170

order jackets and suits by Thurs Sept 23

Hi team,

Our illustrious co-treasurer has offered to order the jackets and coats using the $ from the team account. You will then include the price of clothing in your fall team fee. This will simplify things a lot but it means that we need to get the orders in right away...

***So I need to know your order by this coming THURS SEPT 23***

You can give me the form at practice or email me the size you want for jacket and suit if you can't come to practice.

Also if you are looking for a medium jacket Jordan is looking to sell one for a reduced price I believe. Just a heads up.

Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend so far!
Lindsey :)

tpyo!

It was pointed out to me that I made a mistake on the clothing order form. The jackets fit small...that means you should get a size LARGER than you think not smaller like it says on the form. My bad.

Also I forgot to mention that I have a few of the old team jackets up for sale, mediums I think. Email me if you are interested.

Lindsey

Brooke Gosling - It's the Little Things that Count

The Little Things
We have all heard the phrase “look after the little things” and most of the time we nod our heads in agreement or understanding of what that phrase encompasses. Over the last two years since I have been a part of the Alberta World Cup Academy I have heard this on an on-going basis and have indirectly been reminded of it everyday. Sometimes it causes me anxiety because when I do an account in my head it starts spinning so fast with everything I have been told to look after…and essentially all these little things are actually one big thing that can make or break you as an athlete.

The other observation that I have made about these so called “little things” is that they don’t affect you until you are at a race that matters the most. So I have compiled a list of the little thing I feel are important and also what I have been taught being on the Academy and also
from observing athletes who can hold it together when it matters. Please feel free to add to this list as I think this is an important exercise for any high performance athlete.

In no particular order, here are some “little things”:

-SLEEP: rule of thumb, you need 8-9 hrs plus whatever you trained to recover properly. This is very important for women because this is the only time that you release growth hormones= recovery of muscles.

-FUEL: plan to eat 6-8 times a day. Breakfast should be well rounded, try different things to find what works for you- spend the time to figure this out, it is key, everyone is different! You also may need to vary this for intensity or races vs. an over-distance workout or strength. After training re-fuel with a liquid recovery mix for the quickest absorption (try different products to find what works for you, ask your teammates, coaches).
Lunch should be one of your biggest meals, followed by a snack before your second training and then liquid recovery after your second training. Remember to bring a snack and sport drink for distance workouts and plan to bring recovery nutrition with you if you have to travel to and from training. Timing is key. Try to keep meals whole and well rounded- you need fruits and vegetables! if you don’t like them, take greens plus or an alternative!

-REST AND RECOVERY: Find out what works for you, sometimes this is a nap, sometimes this is reading, homework or crocheting :). This is essential between workouts and between races. You need to find a way to decompress and let your body and mind chill out. This is the toughest one for me as I work and try to run errands.

-PLAN your day and week: As an athlete or student athlete or athlete with children, time management is the key to performance and fitting in the little things. Plan your meals; plan your workouts, when you will shop, when you need to run into the city to get new roller ski wheels, when you need to get blood testing done, when you need to nap.

-Be SELFISH: this year more then any other year has to be about “you”. Always ask yourself if a decision or action is helping you achieve your goal or not. Those closest to you will understand. You can’t be stretching yourself thin or trying to please everyone or saying yes to everyone- it costs a lot of energy and stress is very hard on the body!

-Find a GOOD DOCTOR: At this point in the game you need to know what’s happening in your body. This means knowing you are not low on anything. Find a doctor who can help with regular blood testing. Make sure you keep them up to date on how you are feeling and always ask questions.

-STRETCH: This is so essential for recovery. The easiest ways I have found for stretching are the following: get a yoga pass- if you pay for it you have to go!, stretch for the duration of a half hour sitcom or other tv show, get a stretching group organized within your team- we tried this briefly last year and it definitely has potential.

-MASSAGE: You need to budget 2 massages a month at the very least. Do some research and talk to other athletes about who they have seen and who they like. You don’t want to waste your money on blindly going to see a massage therapist that can’t go deep enough.

-PHYSIOTHERAPY: Skiers are prone to overuse injuries. We are constantly on edge of pushing our bodies too far. Try to see someone once a month to ensure you have good mobility and biomechanics, get them to give you strengthening and balancing exercises. We are all good had hammering, but sometimes taking time to realign is a chore.

...
-SUPPLEMENTS: A good coach will know physiologically what you need. Talk to them or talk to a doctor or sports doctor. Endurance athletes are usually depleting everything everyday, you need to be sure you are starting each day topped up and ready to go. You don’t want to feel tired for two months and find out it was because of low iron or low vitamin D. This is another avenue to help you keep track of where you are at in
training and feeling especially when there are a few months on your ilog that have feeling level of 3.

-PSYCHOLOGY: At this level everyone is as fit as the next. The one who will win is the one who can push past the pain for the longest. I would definitely suggest budgeting in a sport psychologist. They can help you get stronger and help you with race plans, strategy, imagery and overall well being.

-SUPPORT Network: Ensure that the people you have around you are “in the know”. Your family and true friends will understand where you are at and why you are going to bed at 9 or yawning at the bbq at 7. You want to feel comfortable in your circle, not that you have to stretch yourself out to maintain good relationships.

-FINANCIAL Stability: Nordic skiing in North America is a tough career to get wealthy off of. It is getting
better, but a lot of athletes struggle. Work on making your sponsorship package stellar, plan a few days to go and seek out sponsors, cold call companies, talk to other athletes who have had success with getting financial backing. If you want this to happen, you really have to make it happen. It takes work, people will not just hand you money, especially with the economy’s current volatile state. You can also set up a meeting with your bank to talk to someone about budgeting and financial planning. Financial stress is just as much an
energy drain as any other type of stress.

-COACH Relationship: An athlete needs to have 100% confidence in the coaches prescribed program and the coach needs to have 100% confidence in the athlete’s ability to recover and look after the little things to execute the program. Find out what works for you: email, phone, face time. Always ask questions, keep track of how you are feeling and how that fits into the period of training, be honest with your coach and speak up if you are not sure. You have to be proactive about the program.

-EQUIPMENT: Be prepared the night before a workout. Don’t show up with classic poles for a skating intensity because you left your skate poles in the team van. Make sure your pole tips are sharp. Show up with enough water and fuel for the workout. Show up early to wax skis and be ready so you can get a quality warm-up in.

-Pay attention and Observe: who are the fastest on the team, what do they do differently to get to that level (within reason). Pick their brain, ask questions and in harder workouts use them to bring you to the next level. If you are the fastest female use the boys for benchmarks. Don’t be afraid to go with the fastest athlete.

-Know the purpose of the workout: Each workout has a purpose. Pick two technique cues and then follow the plan. If it is a low z3 workout, go low z3. It is important to write this down in a book or in your training log, you need to have a quality workout!

-Balance: Staying happy and excited for training and racing is probably the most important. Obviously it is tough to stay even-keel all the time when you are pushing your body so hard and you are constantly on hormonal peaks and valleys. Take the time to make sure you have a good balance. Be aware of you happiness and ensure you have a balanced lifestyle.

Hopefully that can help some of you. Obviously some people may not agree with all the points, but I encourage you to make your own check list!
Happy training!
Brooke

- posted by Coach Richard

Team Meeting #1 - Agenda

Thurs 9 Sept, 6:30-730 pm
AC #202

welcome & intros
What are your season goals?
Training programs
Race schedule - a new "University & Colleges Ontario Cup" , race licenses
Team selection
Coaching - Richard Lay, Ian Ritchie, Curtis Donnahee
Manager - Shaun Guerin
Communications (blog, press) - Patrick Twohig
Finances - Laura Hewitt, Kyla Vanderzwet - team fees
Wax & Equipment - Jordan Forsyth, Erin McLean-Purdon
Roller Ski rentals - Mike Weersink
Clothing - Lindsey Chapman
Athletics Dept - Health & Waiver form, Eligibility Form, Handbook, varsity fee, drugs policy, code of conduct, full-time studies requirement
Fun Stuff

- posted by Coach Richard