‘The cramps hit so hard I looked like the girl at the start of Jaws’
So we’ve passed the mid-point of this year’s race season, and it’s throwing up some interesting questions for 220 readers on our forum….
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5 foods… that may prevent or ease cramp
Like what causes rust on race medals? How to speed up recovery between heavy training sessions? And what can be done about double calf cramps in the swim that make you look like an early casualty in a shark film?
First though, here’s Andrew Humphreys with a more natural approach to race nutrition which he picked up from the punishing sands of the Sahara:
“I have come to triathlon from a ultra marathon background and whilst doing long run training found that energy gels would often give me a quick lift and then I would get a rebound low. This set me on a mission to find alternatives to the energy gel/ manufactured approach to race nutrition, I decided to take a leaf out of the Moroccans’ book and try dates, dried fruit and nuts; a lot of the Moroccan runners eat these to sustain themselves over the course of the Marathon De Sables.
“Since trying this approach I never seem to get the highs and lows associated with manufactured products and can sustain myself for extended periods with limited intake; on a fasted six hour bike ride I will normally take in 2 bananas, 4/ 5 dates and a small handful of nuts.”