As a graduate student deep into research at U. Penn tabulating and calculating are part of my daily existence. However, I never thought my level of dork would reach such new heights until I read the amazing blog at www.sportsscientists.com. Today after my run I felt a cold coming on. With a marathon coming up in March my training load has increased dramatically this January. One of my goals this New Year is to complete my first ultra, which means I don't want the training to stop anytime soon.
Anyways, I was reading the Sports Scientists post on the gross challenge of balancing our calories in vs. calories out and I was about to go get the chocolate chip cookie cake out of the freezer and call it quits with the whole health thing until I read an interesting statement, "there is compelling evidence that the biggest risk factor for becoming sick during intensive training is an energy deficit." Hmmm...
The Scientists state that, "Perhaps the biggest trend in fad diets in recent years is the shift
away from carbohydrates, with the principle that fat can provide
energy. That's true, but only up to a point, and an athlete without
carbohydrates is a dangerous proposition - impaired performance and
immune function are two of the consequences." It is also recommended by many nutritionists that endurance athletes get 60% of their caloric intake from carbohydrates.
So without boring you with a discussion on the other processes of my mind post-read ("Marge, Lenny called me slow") a few hours later I decided to spend a week tabulating (to the best of my ability) my calorie ratios. Then I can tell you my oh so interested readers about what I found with respect to my athletic performance. I can't help but wonder if my super-protein yogurts and high fiber wraps are not providing me with an adequate carbohydrate balance. Maybe I really should go get that delicious frozen treasure out of my freezer box.
Later, I'll post today as a baseline so I can see what my current ratio looks like. In the meantime, I recommend that you all go check out the Sports Scientists because they're super smart and have lots of great information about exercise, performance, weight loss, and of course, running.
So Happy New Year and welcome back to blogging me.
~URA
PS. GO COLTS!
