Dave Corbin
04-12-2006, 04:43 AM
Hello All,
This past weekend, racing was interesting but not quite as physical as the previous regatta. Winds were lower, maneuvers were less brutal. However, courses were shorter and maneuvers were more frequent. A fun time was had by all.
But that is not why I am writing. This weekend marked the first Fuel experiment. Yoplait Nouriche Light feeds the engine.
First, Eating on the boat during a 6 hour racing day has traditionally been Turkey sandwiches and Water with some chocolate chip cookies. I know, I Know... this can't be good but at least we got rid of the chips. Generally, we would eat a half sandwich and pound one or two waters between races. nothing during a race.
Second, eating while racing has been oddly spaced. Thom and Scott suggested eating the right kind of thing more often to feed the engine more evenly.
Third, there is no concept of sitting for a few minutes during a race and having a snack. Usually there is less than a minute between maneuvers during each race so having food and water naturally fell between races.
Fourth, Thom and Scott talked about chocolate milk as an alternative to synthetic fuels since I generally have an aversion to "additives"... Why? well, I don't think of myself as an elite athlete for this ameteur sport and I am always sceptical of any food with a long list of chemicals as ingredients. But I don't want to get hurt and I want to recover faster.
I looked at the paper published about chocolate milk and even though is was partially sponsored by the dairy industry and didn't have a good control group (difficult since the bicyclists can taste the different drinks)... I gave them credit for at least admitting the faults.
Then i tried Choco milk as a protein, carb and low fat energy food before and after workouts... I like a little but a lot makes me want to scrape my tongue on a tree.
it turns out that Yoplait Nouriche Light has the same ratio of carbs, fat, sugars and protein as low fat Choco Milk but Scott was worried that the small amount of fiber might slow digestion so it might not be as good. an experiment was needed.
Anyway, the experiment this weekend was to pound the drinkable Yoplaits evenly through the races to see how I felt.
The Results based on one sample were good... I will check again on the next city front race but I got some good indications.
For the 6 hours of racing (3 races) on saturday and 4 hours on Sunday this was not as intense as the previous regatta... my heart rate was 120 average with peak of 174 compared with the last regatta where I was 134 average with peak of 178. This past saturday I did about 50 tacks compared with more than 100 and each tack was much easier this time due to the lighter winds. The peaks are usually maneuvers where something strenuous happens physically and mentally... ie, something is going very wrong and will hurt someone if we don't get it fixed.
This time, each down wind leg, after the jibe, I pounded one Yoplait (170 cals)... about 30 minutes apart. between races, I had a half sandwich and a bottle of water though I only had a single sandwich total... at the end of the day, I had some red wine and veggie pu pu when the party got started.
Overall, I was much less sore, and considerably less famished at the end of the day compared to the unfuelled exercise of the regatta before. Admittedly, it was less effort overall but last winter, I had a harder time recovering from similar races.
For the weekend, I finished up the Regatta tired but not wiped out. By tuesday morning, I had no effects and had fully recovered save for two small things that are not related to energy or intensity. (I got hit with the boom and the lump on my head is almost gone on tuesday night and the Spinnaker yanked me off my feet once so I am sporting a sprained bicep.)
Generally, I think the Yoplait as Fuel solution worked. Only once did a bottle of Yoplait squirt out of my foulie pocket and land in the cockpit. fortunately, it didn't burst open.
anyway, I will be trying it again during the next regatta. soz the newz. dc
This past weekend, racing was interesting but not quite as physical as the previous regatta. Winds were lower, maneuvers were less brutal. However, courses were shorter and maneuvers were more frequent. A fun time was had by all.
But that is not why I am writing. This weekend marked the first Fuel experiment. Yoplait Nouriche Light feeds the engine.
First, Eating on the boat during a 6 hour racing day has traditionally been Turkey sandwiches and Water with some chocolate chip cookies. I know, I Know... this can't be good but at least we got rid of the chips. Generally, we would eat a half sandwich and pound one or two waters between races. nothing during a race.
Second, eating while racing has been oddly spaced. Thom and Scott suggested eating the right kind of thing more often to feed the engine more evenly.
Third, there is no concept of sitting for a few minutes during a race and having a snack. Usually there is less than a minute between maneuvers during each race so having food and water naturally fell between races.
Fourth, Thom and Scott talked about chocolate milk as an alternative to synthetic fuels since I generally have an aversion to "additives"... Why? well, I don't think of myself as an elite athlete for this ameteur sport and I am always sceptical of any food with a long list of chemicals as ingredients. But I don't want to get hurt and I want to recover faster.
I looked at the paper published about chocolate milk and even though is was partially sponsored by the dairy industry and didn't have a good control group (difficult since the bicyclists can taste the different drinks)... I gave them credit for at least admitting the faults.
Then i tried Choco milk as a protein, carb and low fat energy food before and after workouts... I like a little but a lot makes me want to scrape my tongue on a tree.
it turns out that Yoplait Nouriche Light has the same ratio of carbs, fat, sugars and protein as low fat Choco Milk but Scott was worried that the small amount of fiber might slow digestion so it might not be as good. an experiment was needed.
Anyway, the experiment this weekend was to pound the drinkable Yoplaits evenly through the races to see how I felt.
The Results based on one sample were good... I will check again on the next city front race but I got some good indications.
For the 6 hours of racing (3 races) on saturday and 4 hours on Sunday this was not as intense as the previous regatta... my heart rate was 120 average with peak of 174 compared with the last regatta where I was 134 average with peak of 178. This past saturday I did about 50 tacks compared with more than 100 and each tack was much easier this time due to the lighter winds. The peaks are usually maneuvers where something strenuous happens physically and mentally... ie, something is going very wrong and will hurt someone if we don't get it fixed.
This time, each down wind leg, after the jibe, I pounded one Yoplait (170 cals)... about 30 minutes apart. between races, I had a half sandwich and a bottle of water though I only had a single sandwich total... at the end of the day, I had some red wine and veggie pu pu when the party got started.
Overall, I was much less sore, and considerably less famished at the end of the day compared to the unfuelled exercise of the regatta before. Admittedly, it was less effort overall but last winter, I had a harder time recovering from similar races.
For the weekend, I finished up the Regatta tired but not wiped out. By tuesday morning, I had no effects and had fully recovered save for two small things that are not related to energy or intensity. (I got hit with the boom and the lump on my head is almost gone on tuesday night and the Spinnaker yanked me off my feet once so I am sporting a sprained bicep.)
Generally, I think the Yoplait as Fuel solution worked. Only once did a bottle of Yoplait squirt out of my foulie pocket and land in the cockpit. fortunately, it didn't burst open.
anyway, I will be trying it again during the next regatta. soz the newz. dc