Not a rest day :(

Today was supposed to be a rest day, according to my training plan.  However, I ended up missing my workout yesterday.  Yesterday, I was supposed to do Spinervals 43.0, a 2-hour aerobic-endurance workout.  But I decided to attend a seminar at Lifetime Fitness with sport dietitian Bob Seebohar. Bob is the author of "Metabolic Efficiency Training", a book I read back in January or February, and I believe I have discussed once or twice here on this blog.  Basically, the focus of the book is how to use your body's fat for fuel during endurance sports, instead of using carbohydrates.

The human body can contain about 80,000 calories worth of energy stored as fat, and only about 1,400 calories of energy stored as carbohydrates, or glycogen.  Previously, endurance nutrition plans had been based on consistently replenishing the carbohydrates to provide fuel during training and racing, by "carbo-loading" for days before a big race, and fueling with carbs throughout the race.  This causes sharp spikes and crashes throughout the race, as these sugars provide fast energy, but get depleted just as fast.  Consuming calories in this method also tends to cause GI distress, especially in long-distance events.

The idea behind "metabolic efficiency" is to train the body to depend on fat-burning for long lasting energy.  If the body can use the fats it has already stored, you will not be burning as many carbohydrates, and will not need to consume so many calories during your training or event.

The presentation I went to last night at Lifetime Fitness was mostly related to "metabolic efficiency" as discussed in his book, but the event was sponsored by Generation UCAN, a nutrition product containing something they call "superstarch".  "Superstarch" is a kind of slow-release carbohydrate, and when used in the Generation UCAN products, it is a powdered drink mix that provides long-lasting carbohydrates for endurance training and races.  The idea is that your body is burning it's own fat for most of the energy, and using the "superstarch" for carbohydrates.  But these carbohydrates last for a long time, limiting the insulin spikes you get from other sugars.  It also lets you consume far fewer calories during your event, so you are not sucking down gel packs or bananas for hours as you run and ride.


So, there was a big push at this event for Generation UCAN products, and Bob's presentation was a mix of information from his book as well as promotion of Generation UCAN.  I really didn't want to sit through a sales pitch, but I knew this was a sponsored event, so I had to assume he was going to be pushing the product.  It was great to hear Bob speak, and I really like some of his ideas.  Not too sure about Generation UCAN, but they had free samples, so I may try some during a ride this weekend, and see what I think.  I'll post an update here when I get a chance to try the stuff.

Anyway, that's a long way of saying that I didn't get a chance to work out last night, so I moved last night's workout to tonight, which was supposed to be a rest day.  That's fine for now, but it kind of messes with my weekend, too.  This weekend is supposed to be a 2-hour workout on Saturday and an easier 1-hour workout on Sunday.  I may flip those to use the easier workout tomorrow as a recovery from this evening.  And I was already planning on a 60-mile ride on Sunday, so moving Saturday's workout to Sunday will actually work out perfectly.

Tonight's workout was Spinervals 43.0 - Aerobic Engine Builder.  I really like this workout.  It is basically a Zone 3 workout, but for some reason it doesn't seem as painful as other Zone 3 Spinervals workouts.  I was feeling pretty good the whole time.  It looks like I've done this workout two other times this year, and today was a slight improvement over those two other workouts.

Three sessions of Spinervals 43.0.  Not a dramatic change, but slight improvement each time.  Click image to enlarge.

I'm looking forward to getting in a couple rides this weekend.  We'll see.  Tomorrow, we have kids sports for much of the day, and then my wife and I are going to dinner and going to watch Gravity in the evening.  Hoping to get in my 1-hour ride between sports and dinner.  Sunday, I'm planning on a 60-mile ride with a friend of mine.  Stay tuned for updates.

Exercise:

• 2 hour ride on the trainer.  Spinervals 43.0 - Aerobic Engine Builder.

Today's weigh-in:  183.4.  I'm going the wrong way.