Your Leading Brain - Beer, St Paddy's Day, and Endurance

I need to understand more about my changing metabolism, because for some reason, I cannot eat cake. Those of you who exercise a great deal may know more about this phenomena.

I was talking with Lisa Rainsberger the other day (who coaches me, see her profile), about alcohol.

"The more fit you become, the quicker your body will metabolize the carbs in alcohol, so the result is..." she trailed off.

You get drunk, with less, faster.

The body is hungry for carbohydrates, and when we're at a party, some of us like those carbohydrates in alcohol.

My relationship between sports and beer, by immediate association, begins in Europe. When I ran my first marathon at age 25, I ran it in Vienna. When we crossed the finish line, we were handed a banana and a beer. I put the cold beer to my head (I was terribly sunburnt - first marathon mistake - and had been wearing no hat), and stumbled to the medical tent.

I woke up 30 minutes later on a medical tent cot, with the beer still clutched in my hand, and drank it on the train ride home. Then I ate the banana.

It's been 20 years since that time, and I am still trying to figure out metabolic changes and the nutritional needs that result from exercising.

But my two kids had birthdays this month, and each time I ate a piece of cake with icing, I got an enormous headache. I know it was from the sugar.

So then I went and got a beer. JUST KIDDING!

More to come on this topic, as it's my new fascination. There are great chapters on food in three books I've been reading, one of which I reviewed (The Corporate Athlete - http://hpinstitute.com/). I can also recommend the food chapters in The Power of Full Engagement (Andrea promised to review for me, also linked to those guys at the Human Performance Institute, now owned by J & J), and Fit Soul, Fit Body (which maybe I can talk Lisa into reviewing - http://www.fitsoul-fitbody.com/).

Cheers, Happy St. Patrick's Day,
Nancy

Gritty Training Log: March

To see this training log in larger detail, just click on the image. Please do not attempt to replicate these workouts; these are customized for me. They give you some idea of the build up for an IM. If you're interested in a similar event, please consider hiring a coach with certification to train you properly. As always, seek the assessment of a physician before engaging in any vigorous physical activity.