The First Endurance sponsored Astana Cycling team shredded the field on the mountain top finish at  Andorre Arcalis today.  After his team mates set a blistering pace up the final climb, Alberto Contador took off on his own in pursuit of the remnants of the early breakaway.  When the dust settled, Contador had moved up to second place on General Classification with team mates Lance Armstrong in third, Levi Leipheimer in fourth, and super-domestic Andres Klöden in sixth.  Another First Endurance sponsored rider, Tony Martin (Columbia-HTC) kept his lead in the young rider competition and is now in seventy place on General Classification.

Race Recap:

A group of nine riders formed the break of the day.  The group included Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel Euskadi), José Ivan Gutierrez (Caisse d’Epargne), Christophe Riblon (AG2R La Mondiale), Nocentini, Aleksandr Kuschynski (Liquigas), Christophe Kern (Cofidis), Jérôme Pineau (Quick Step), Feillu and Johannes Fröhlinger (Milram) who built a sizable lead of more than 12 minutes over the first four climbs on the day.  Seen riding at the front were Team Astana work horses Gregy Rast, Dmitiriy Muavyev, Sergio Paulinho, Yaroslav Popovych and Haimar Zubeldia controlling the pace and keeping the team safe from mid-pack accidents. Armstrong appreciated the efforts of the team, saying, “The team is good.  You saw early on that the team was good, then there at the end Levi and Klöden were strong and obviously Alberto is strong.”  Laughing he finished with, “The team won’t be the problem!”

Once the leaders hit the climb the gap came tumbling down and splits occurred in the break as well as the peloton; most notable was race leader Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) slipping off the back to say goodbye to the yellow jersey.  Team Astana continued to drive the pace at the front, using up rider after rider as the finish line approached.   Feillu attacked his former companions with 6km to go and rode uphill at a steady pace, making a big statement about his abilities as a climber and taking a huge win in his young career.

Cadel Evans attacked at 2km to go with Contador immediately responding, as did Armstrong, Leipheimer, Andy Schleck and others, with the group reforming once again.  Then Contador attacked with a ferocious turn of the pedals that sent him soaring up the hill with no reponse from the other riders.  As teammates Armstrong, Leipheimer and Klöden sat on wheels while the rivals thought about following…..but never did.  Contador didn’t gain enough time to take yellow, but with two more days to ride in the Pyrenees and the top of the GC still dominated by Team Astana riders,  a strategic taking of the maillot jaune is probably on the drawing board at this very moment.

Contador’s fan base in Spain is huge and they appeared on the roadside in full force along the route on the first day in the mountains.  The fans chant a loud “Con-ta-dor” each time they see Alberto come out of the bus, take to the start line or fly up the mountain. He’s much appreciated in his home country.

GC After Stage 7

1 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
2 Alberto Contador (Spa) Astana 6″
3 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana 8″
4 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana 39″
5 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin-Slipstream 46″
6 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 54″
7 Tony Martin (Ger) Columbia-HTC

The First Endurance sponsored Astana Cycling Team won the 4th stage in the Tour the France, a team time trial in Montpellier over 39 km (24 miles). In the process of winning today,  Lance Armstrong just missed taking another maillot jaune by tenths of a second to Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) who remains in yellow since his opening time trial win on Sunday. Standing proudly on the podium the nine team riders smiled widely as they accepted their flowers, medallions and the congratulations of an appreciative crowd.   With Cancellara and Armstrong tied, the next three slots on GC all belong to Team Astana with Alberto Contador in 3rd at 19-seconds back, Andreas Kloden 4th at 23-seconds off the pace and Levi Leipheimer rounding out the top five at 31 seconds behind.  Haimar Zubeldia sits in 7th, Sergio Paulinho in 11th and Yaroslav Popovych in 18th, putting seven of nine team riders in the top 20.

Garmin and Team Astana were even on time at the first check point, just behind leaders Caisse d’Eparge by seven-seconds.  By the 2nd time check Astana had grabbed the lead and were 23-seconds ahead of Garmin.  Still in front at the 3rd check point the advantage had gone down to 17-seconds where it held through the finish.  Gregory Rast and then Dmitriy Muravyev were the first team riders to drop off with the remaining seven powering on until the final kilometer when Yaroslav Popovych lost contact with the team of six.  With Armstrong repeatedly taking long pulls throughout  the stage, it was Contador who led through the last rise to the finish line with the clock stopping at 46:29 on the fifth man, who happened to be Armstrong.

Lance Armstrong Comments:

- Is this a bittersweet victory because of missing yellow?

“Yes and no. We did what we could. That’s cycling. We can look at each other and say that we did our best. The most important thing is that we won the stage and took time on the other rivals. I said it earlier to Alberto as well that it is so important that we take time to Evans, Sastre and the others. We were fairly successful. I wouldn’t like to be two minutes down right now.”

-The race was perfect for you and the team?

“We came last week to Montpellier to see the stage. Johan Bruyneel already had the order of riding in his head. We tried that order that day and we did the same today. Like usual, he was right. The result speaks for itself. You always feel that somebody is stronger than you. For me, if  I analyze our performance, I would say that Klöden and Popovych were the strongest, but overall the team was consistent. We were smooth. We didn’t make any mistakes. No mis-turns, no crashes, no flat tires.”

- After your return, did you expect to be so close now?

“No. What happened yesterday, you couldn’t expect that neither. It’s nice to be close, to win a stage, to win an event we like so much. We will see now.

This is a confession: 12 months ago I expected it to be easier, so yes, I expected it. Six months ago I did not expect it any more. I realized that it was harder than I thought. I was just disrespectful to Carlos Sastre or Cadel Evans. This is not easy at all. Today I am realistic. I have both feet on the ground. It will not be like in 2001 or 2005. It will be harder. That’s as honest as I can say it.”

- You came back after four years and you brought to the race in the last four days more spectacle than in the last four years…

“I think there was excitement the last four years. A day like yesterday was just a surprise. There were questions about the tactics of yesterday. It was just luck. Tomorrow Evans can be in the front and we might not be.”

- Are you one of the favorites now?

“I am happy with where I am. I don’t know if I’m the best in the race. I came in this race thinking that I would be one of the best, based on the trainings and tests that I’ve done, based on the trainings with Levi Leipheimer. “

- How do you keep the cohesion in the team?

“It’s not nearly as difficult as the media makes it up to be. The first week of the Tour the media have to find something to write about. In Monaco it was about Vinokourov and Bruyneel, yesterday it was about Contador and me. Next week it will be something else. In the mean time we just ignore those things and Alberto does that too. We proved today that we are just a good team. Most of this falls to the responsibility of Johan Bruyneel and our directors. They have to direct the team and the tactics and attitude in the team. We go forward with two leaders. I am confident we will find a good solution. “

- Now your team doesn’t have to defend the yellow jersey?

“There will probably be less pressure, but this will not change the race for us. We wouldn’t have tried to control the race tomorrow anyhow. The Tour will not be decided in week one but in part two of week three. “

- A few days ago the old president of ASO, Patrice Clerc,  said that your return to cycling brought with it the return of doubt.

“Was the Tour of ASO in a perfect situation when I was gone? He was the boss. Under his leadership cycling was not perfect. The question should be returned to him. “

Alberto Contador Comments:

- Are you happy or not happy because of missing the yellow jersey?

“I think that today we have to be very, very happy. We have distanced enough riders like Sastre, Evans, Menchov and even the Schlecks. It’s only a pity we missed the yellow jersey. Always you like to have the maillot and especially Lance, with what it means for him. On the other hand, this allows us to ride more relaxed.”

- How did you feel during the stage?

“I felt like I was one of the strongest riders but the course was not so good for me personally. It’s a pity that there were not more climbs. It was especially in the climbs that I felt comfortable.”

- After only four days, it looks good for the team

“For the moment things are very good in the overall, but it is necessary to keep concentration, because we have completed only four days, though it seems that we’ve passed a lot of days of the Tour. The coming days in the Pyrenees will be interesting. Our rivals will have to attack. We will have to be awake.”

Result Stage 4: Montpellier, TTT, 39km/24mi

1 Astana 0:46:29

2 Garmin - Slipstream 0:00:18

3 Team Saxo Bank 0:00:40

General Classification after Stage 4

1 Fabian Cancellara10:38:07

2 Lance Armstrong (Astana)

3 Alberto Contador (Astana) 0:19

4 Andreas Klöden (Astana) 0:23

5 Levi Leipheimer (Astana) 0:31

FIRST ENDURANCE was started by two racing fanatics (a cyclist and a triathlete) with a healthy obsession for sports nutrition. The idea was simple. Give endurance athletes access to formulas that are developed for one specific reason-to maximize endurance performance. First Endurance is committed to using only the highest-quality ingredients and uses the latest scientifically validated technological advancements. First Endurance proudly sponsors the Astana Cycling Team, the Columbia-High Road Professional Cycling Team, the Bissell Professional Cycling Team, Tina Pic (5-time Pro Criterium Champion), Heather Gollnick (5x Ironman Champion), Michael Lovato (2x Ironman Champion), Josiah Middaugh (3x Xterra National Champion), Sarah Haskins, Andrew Yoder, Julie Swail Ertel, Justin Park, Amando Lovato and Joanna Zieger (8008 70.3 World Champion). These athletes work closely with First Endurance on new product development, like the new and improved OptygenHP that will be introduced later this year. Input and trials from the First Endurance athletes allow our research and development team to continue to push the limits of endurance.

In the women’s masters 45-49 division Endurance Research Board member Kris Walker won the overall title for the individual time trial after taking 3rd place in the road race.

“I’ve found that 1/2 scoop of PreRace in my bottle is plenty for me. During the hour leading up to the time trial, I warmed up and drank a bottle of  EFS with PreRace added.  I had a few sips on the start ramp and left a few sips in my bottle for the turn-around.  It was cool enough and the race was short enough, though, that I didn’t drink at all during the race.” explains Kris following her national title.

“I got 3rd in the road race as well.  It was really hot, so I didn’t use pre-race, but the lemonade EFS was perfect for hydration during the race, not too sweet and no cramping at all.”

1st  Kris Walker  34:30

2nd Terrie Clouse 34:39

3rd Cathrine Dickson34:58

Research Board Member Kris Walker MD lives, works and plays in Pocatello, Idaho. She started her athletic career as a Triathlete back in 1983 before changing her focus to cycling in 1985. Kris athletic talents have won numerous state championships in road racing, time trials, criteriums, mountain bike cross country and cyclocross. In 2005 Kris won the women’s 40-44 master’s national criterium championship and in 2006 finished 2nd in the 45-49 cyclocross Nationals.

Kris Walker brings a wealth of knowledge and endurance racing experience to the Endurance Research Board.  Kris partakes in literature reviews, product formulations and innovative approaches to endurance nutrition.  Her collaboration with athletes and First Endurances allows us to stay at the forefront of endurance nutrition.

First Endurance rider Mark Cavendish (Columbia-HTC) won stage 3 today at the Tour de France and further distanced himself from the rest of the riders in the Green Jersey sprint competition.  Cavendish also won stage 2 yesterday.  After Columbia-HTC shattered the field, Cavendish was once again the fastest in the 196.5-kilometre stage from Marseilles to La Grande Motte.  Cavendish’s victory was the sixth Tour stage win and 43rd victory of his career, and came after 27 riders, including the entire Columbia-HTC team, broke away from the peloton around 30 kilometres to go.  The 24-year-old rider made a gesture of using a mobile phone as he crossed the line, and he explained that it was in honor of his team’s new sponsor, HTC.

“This gesture was dedicated to HTC because they [introduced] a new phone last week and I said if I win I’d do that for them,” Cavendish explained. “There are eight sprint stages we have targeted here, so hopefully I’ll get a few more before the end of the Tour, and one of them will be a win on the Champs Elysées.”

Speaking of the Columbia-HTC squad’s coordinated teamwork, he explained, “It was brilliant. We were the only sprint team that wanted to ride today in the front group, but it worked out and the other teams had to ride behind anyway to chase us.  You could really appreciate how strong we were as a squad and we took a lot of time out of the guys behind.  It was a hard last kilometre, but I had five guys around me in the last build-up for the sprint.  Mark [Renshaw] kept his cool and left it very late because there was a headwind but it worked out well.  It doesn’t matter who you are, if you work hard you’re going to succeed, and if you’ve got a team like Columbia-HTC that are able to ride for you and they are such a great mix of the best young talented riders in the world and the best older experienced riders in the world, then it’s a real winning formula. When we all work together it’s bound to work out.”

The Columbia-HTC mass attack also allowed Tony Martin to move into the lead of the Best Young Rider’s classification.

Cavendish completed a hat trick of victories for Columbia-HTC on Monday after Switzerland’s Michael Albasini won stage two and moved into the overall lead of the Tour of Austria, and Mara Abbott of the USA scooped first place in stage three of the Giro d’Italia Femminile.

First Endurance rider Mark Cavendish (Columbia-HTC)  blasted to his first victory of the 2009 Tour de France on today’s 187-kilometre stage from Monaco to Brignoles, a victory that also places him in the green jersey as the leader of the race’s points classification.  This is Cavendish’s fifth Tour de France victory in two year and his fourteenth win of the 2009 season.  Cavendish now heads the Tour’s points classification and for the first time in his career.  On Monday’s stage three, he will wear the green jersey as leader of that competition in the Tour de France.

Afterwards Cavendish hugged and thanked his Columbia-HTC teammates for having given him such strong support during the stage.  “The team were superb, they’re all great riders and I’m just glad I can win at the end of everything they do for me,” he said.  “There were a lot of squads trying to get past us.  They were all very keen  to get a result, but we kept going and kept going and when we do that there’s only ever going to be one result.  I was able to go all out and get the win. It was perfect for us, and it’s perfect to be able to do that after such hard work by my teammates. It’s a very special result and now I’ve got the green jersey, I couldn’t be more satisfied.  I have two goals here. My personal goal is to finish the Tour, and my job, my second goal, is to win stages.  I don’t think it’s wise to go for the green jersey right from the start, so now I’ve won one stage I want to go all the way to Paris and see if I can win some more and maybe take a last win on the Champs Elysées.”

Cavendish’s fifth Tour de France stage win of his career takes the total of wins for Columbia-HTC men’s team to 51, and comes a few hours after his teammate Andre Greipel won the opening stage of the Tour of Austria.

Results:

1. Mark Cavendish Team Columbia - Htc in 4:30:02

2. Tyler Farrar Garmin - Slipstream

3. Romain Feillu Agritubel at 00:00

After the race Contador said, “I am very glad with the result. I didn’t come here to win the stage but to go as fast as possible. I knew Cancellara would be to hard to beat. In the Tour of Switzerland he was already flying. I took not much time on the favorites for the GC but this is good for my confidence.” Asked about leadership for the team, he continued, ” I don’t want to talk about who is leader now in our team. Most importantis that I saw that I am in good shape.”

Starting just seventeen minutes into the event was Lance Armstrong, making his much-anticipated return to the Tour a reality at last.  Straight out of the blocks and up out of the saddle, Armstrong gave it full effort right from the start.  Showing steady rhythm and power on the bike, he looked entirely comfortable on his time trial machine as he methodically went about setting the best time in the early part of the stage, stopping the clock at 20:12 on the finish line along the port of Monaco.   But his top position didn’t last long as just behind him Columbia-High road rider Tony Martin (who’s also sponsored by First Endurance) quickly took over the top slot with a finish time of 20:05.

After the race Armstrong talked about the course saying it was “very technical, hard to find the rhythm but I am happy with the ride. I had no real racing after the Giro. It was a tough way to start but I am content about it.” Commenting on his ambitions coming to the race, Lance said, “I didn’t have big illusions. I didn’t expect to win or take the jersey. I was nervous which is logical. It’s been a long time since I was on a ramp of a TT in the Tour.” He continued, “I am happy and having fun. I really wanted to be here. What a beautiful setting here in the Principality. The people were great.”

Leipheimer then established the new time to beat at 20:02, making the top three Levi, Tony Martin and Lance in the opening hour of racing. Levi’s time held up for well over an hour until teammate Klöden became the first rider to go under the 20-minute mark with a time of 19:54, showing that he is another card the team can play in the three-week Tour.  Later in the stage Wiggins displaced Klöden with a new best-time of 19:51.

Alberto Contador set the fastest time at the top of the only checkpoint.  Riding for the first time in his Spanish national Time Trial kit won last week, Contador looked truly fast to the naked eye as he pushed over the pedals and chased Cancellara.  But the Swiss champion dominated his specialty once again and claimed the spoils in the opening stage of this year’s Tour. Other team riders rode well too, with Sergio Paulinho taking 33rd at 1:15 off the winning pace.

Top Ten Results

1	Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team Saxo Bank	00:19:32  (47.80km/h)
2	Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana	+0:00:18
3	Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin - Slipstream	+0:00:19
4	Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana	+0:00:22
5	Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence - Lotto	+0:00:23
6	Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana	+0:00:30
7	Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas	+0:00:32
8	Tony Martin (Ger) Team Columbia - High Road	+0:00:33
9	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas	+0:00:37
10	Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana	+0:00:40

South Dakota State University conducted an independent study on PreRace to determine its effectiveness on cycling endurance.  The yet to be published, double-blind placebo, controlled study used seven trained cyclists in a 40K time trial.  Each cyclist performed two 40K time trials.  On the first TT the cyclist consumed either a placebo or PreRace mixed with one serving of EFS 30 minutes prior to doing a 40K TT.  One week later each cyclist would switch the protocol and receive the opposite of what he/she received the previous week.*

THE PRERACE GROUP, ON AVERAGE, HAD THE FOLLOWING RESULTS:
-Time trial was 3′ 17″ faster than with the placebo

-Watts increased by 15

-Work output increased

-Percent of Lactate Threshold increased

-No significant change in heart rate

-No significant increase in RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion)

Further details of this study will be available once the study has been published.

Discussion:  These results, though surprising in their magnitude, are precisely what we would expect from PreRace.   The ingredients in PreRace have been studied extensively for their ability to improve cardiac output, stimulate nitric oxide and stimulate the central nervous system in addition to improving mental acuity.

Nitric Oxide stimulation causes the blood vessels to dilate which, as expected, allows more blood to pass through.  L-Taurine improves cardiac output so more blood can be pumped through blood vessels.  The caffeine, theobromine and quercetin stimulate the central nervous system so the athlete is mentally and physically prepared to go harder.  It stands to reason that this clinical study demonstrated improvements in performance, watts and work output even though there was no increase in perceived exertion or heart rate.

*Note: Preliminary Results

“Since I started to use Optygen and PreRace in 2007, I’ve captured all three Grand Tour titles. Based on these results, Opytgen and PreRace will certainly continue to be part of my daily racing and training routine.” –Alberto Contador

“I started using PreRace in the 2007 Tour de France take it in time trials. I don’t drink coffee so when I take PreRace, I really feel it, it’s a huge boost. I find even half a scoop is enough for me.”

- Levi Leipheimer

This past weekend, I headed to the City of Brotherly Love and competed in the Philadelphia Triathlon. The race is held in Fairmount Park and features a river swim, two loop hilly bike and flat out and back run. The competition looked solid with defending champ David Thompson returning.

With many former D1 collegiate swimmers in the field, I knew the swim would go out fast. I lined up away from the main group hoping for clean water. It ended up being a great decision and I found myself in 2nd chasing swim leader John Kenny. About halfway through the swim, Eric Limkemann came by and set a hard pace. I managed to stay on his feet and exit in 3rd about 30 seconds behind John.
I went right to work at the start of the bike and moved into 1st by mile 5. I focused on keeping my cadence up on the climbs and staying aggressive through the technical sections. I had the advantage of knowing the course so I knew where to ride hard and where to conserve. By the end of the first loop, I built up a 1:45 lead on Thompson. I struggled on the second lap and only put another 10 seconds on Thompson.

Coming off the bike, my legs just weren’t there. I had no power but focused on making the most of what my body was giving me. At mile 3, I still had over a 1 minute lead but Thompson was charging hard. I ended up getting passed around mile 5 and came across the line in 2nd. Overall, I was pleased with my swim and bike and will use this race as motivation for NYC in four weeks.
Thanks to my sponsors: Elite Bicycles, 1st Endurance, BodyZen, and PBN.
See you at the races.
Andrew
RESULTS

1. David Thompson (Saint Paul, MN) 1:49:52
2. Andrew Yoder (Columbia, PA) 1:50:52
3. John Kenny (Philadelphia, PA) 1:53:05
4. Greg Remaly (San Francisco, CA) 1:53:32
5. Derek Oskutis (Hummelstown, PA) 1:54:16

By Neal Henderson MS CSCS
Boulder Center for Sports Medicine, Sport Science Director

For years, well intentioned coaches and exercise physiologists have given endurance athletes very strong recommendations to ensure high carbohydrate intake during training and racing to optimize performance.  Some recent experimental evidence and the actual practice of some very successful athletes has many of us rethinking our previous advice especially in regard to training.  As a coach, I sometimes encourage my athletes to purposefully deplete glycogen stores during training or to limit the intake of carbohydrate during certain endurance training sessions.  One of the researchers who has studied this idea presented a keynote lecture at the American College of Sports Medicine conference in Denver a couple of years ago regarding this practice titled: “Train low, compete high”.  At the time I was a little resistant, but the idea intrigued me – especially based on the scientific findings.

It’s long been understood that a limiting factor to endurance racing is the sparing of stored glycogen.  Athletes cannot consume carbohydrates at the same rate they can burn carbohydrates.  So when the exercise bout is long enough glycogen stores are depleted and exercise performance suffers.  The theory is that depleting glycogen during specific exercise bouts allows the body to become more efficient at utilizing fat.   It can take many weeks for the body to adapt to low glycogen levels.  The downside is that with low glycogen levels it is difficult to conduct high intensity training sessions since these require glycogen (carbohydrates) almost exclusively. What the researchers propose is varying the intensity and the diet so high intensity exercise bouts are done with high glycogen content and long slow endurance training sessions are done with low glycogen content.  This will help the body adapt to a more efficient substrate utilization that can correlate to a sparing glycogen and enhanced endurance. This ability to sustain endurance with a higher reliance on fat utilization through training adaptation can play a key role in reducing gastric distress associated with the need to consume high levels of carbohydrates for long endurance sessions like Ironman, Ultra running or Century rides.

In one of the studies that supports this idea, Bente Pederson of the University of Copenhagen in Denmark looked at the responses to endurance training using an interesting model.  The subjects served as their own controls by having one leg train each day for 1 hour and while the other leg trained twice a day for an hour at each session every other day.  All subjects ate a controlled diet with 70% carbohydrate, 15% fat, and 15% protein content throughout the 10-week study.  The total amount of training undertaken was equal in both groups, and the increases in maximal workload during a progressive exercise test was equal in both as well.  The biggest difference in performance was found in a time to exhaustion test while exercising at 90% of maximum power, which was increased nearly twice (190%) as long for the twice a day training group compared to the daily 1 hour training group.  It is interesting to note that the resting muscle glycogen content in the leg when performing the 2nd training session in the two a day group was significantly lower at the start of each session.  There were also significantly increased mitochondrial and other metabolic enzyme levels in the twice a day group leading the authors to conclude that training with low muscle glycogen content increased both the responses to endurance training and performance in a sub-maximal endurance task. (Pederson et al, 2005)

This practice seems to be supported by the records and anecdotal practice of many very successful endurance athletes including Miguel Indurain (five time winner of the Tour de France), some Kenyan distance runners, and from American professional cyclist Tom Danielson in a recent interview on Cyclingnews.com.  Often, the goal of these training practices is to improve the ability to use fat as a fuel source and spare glycogen stores.  There is also support for this idea in the training practices of elite athletes by looking at the distribution of their training intensity.  Several studies show extremely large portions of training occurring at fairly low intensity, with just a small percentage of training actually occurring at a high intensity.  The studies which have shown these practices include elite performers in cycling, running, and rowing. (Seiler and Kjerland, 2006; Lucia et al, 2007; Schumacher and Mueller, 2002; and Doust et al, 2006)

Another even more recent study using running as a training model replicated the findings of increase endurance enzyme activity after 6-weeks of training but did not find an associated improvement in endurance performance.  (Drust et al, 2009)  This study did not necessarily have their subjects train with low glycogen content, though, they simply did not have one group take in any carbohydrate beverage during training while the control group did.  From what I see in the research, it is the training that is performed with low glycogen content in the muscles that is key to the positive signaling and adaptive responses.  It is well known that reducing carbohydrate intake during training increases the body’s ability to oxidize fats.  It is also well known that very high intensity training which relies almost exclusively on carbohydrate as fuel can only be performed with adequate glycogen stores.  In order to maximize both performance during high intensity interval sessions and also maximize the body’s metabolic responses to endurance exercise it might be helpful to vary your training sessions relative to glycogen content.

My suggestion would be to undertake high intensity interval training with relatively high glycogen content…and ideally, to perform these training sessions in the morning.  Meaning, you want to be well fueled (high glycogen content) prior to the start of your high intensity training sessions.   For multisport athletes, you should vary which sports you do in these morning sessions to ensure that each sport has appropriate high intensity sessions in your workout plan.  Some days the morning high intensity session is focused on swimming, some days running and some days cycling.   In order to prepare for your lower glycogen content workout later in the day it is important NOT to fully replenish lost glycogen.  I would recommend eating a diet containing a low to moderate carbohydrate content (around 40 to 50% of total calories) after these sessions. Then, later in the day a longer but significantly lower intensity session focused on building pure endurance should be performed later in the day with little to no carbohydrate intake during the session (0- 40 grams per hour.).  After the longer session, a high glycemic recovery drink or a more typical moderately high to high carbohydrate meal should be eaten (60-70% carbohydrate content).  Following this session the goal is to fully replenish lost glycogen so you are fully fueled and prepared for your high intensity training session.   For athletes who only train once per day, you could modify this strategy to include a high intensity interval session on the first day and then eat the low to moderate carbohydrate meals following this session.  The next day, your training session should be the low intensity longer duration workout with limited carbohydrate intake.  After this session is completed, then a moderate high to high carbohydrate diet should be maintained.

*This change in training fueling strategy may take 6-8 weeks before a significant adaptation can occur.

Recommendation:

High Intensity Training Session: Begin session well fueled with glycogen stores topped off.  Finish session and do not consume a recovery drink.  Instead consume a balanced meal with only 40%-50% of calories coming from carbohydrates.

Low Intensity long training session: Begin session low to moderately fueled, where glycogen stores do not need to be topped off.  Consume about 20-40g carbohydrates per hour (about one serving of EFS drink) which should be less carbohydrates than you would normally consume.  The goal is to exercise and finish the session with relatively low glycogen stores.  Following this session immediately begin to replenish lost stores through the use of a well formulated recovery drink and/or high glycemic foods.

Racing: During your racing you should consume 50g+ of carbohydrates per hour.  With proper substrate adaptation this should be sufficient to fuel you for long endurance races.

References:
A. K. Hansen, C.P. Fischer, P. Plomgaard, J. L. Andersen, B. Saltin and B.K. Pedersen. Skeletal muscle adaptation: training twice every second day vs. training once daily. J Appl Physiol 98:93-99, 2005.

Ingrahm, S. A., H. Carter, G. P. Whyte, and J. H. Doust. Physiological and Performance Effects of Low- versus Mixed-Intensity Rowing Training. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc., Vol. 40, No. 3, pp. 579–584, 2008.

J.Esteve-Lanao, C. Foster, S. Seiler, and A. Lucia, Impact of Training Intensity Distribution on Performance in Endurance Athletes. J Str and Cond Research. 21(3), 943-949, 2007.

J. P. Morton, L. Croft, J. D. Bartlett, D. P. M. MacLaren, T. Reilly, L. Evans, A. McArdle, and B. Drust. “Reduced carbohydrate availability does not modulate training-induced heat shock protein adaptations but does upregulate oxidative enzyme activity in human skeletal muscle” J Appl Physiol 106: 1513-1521, 2009.

K.S. Seiler and G.O. Kjerland. Quantifying training intensity distribution in elite athletes.  Is there evidence for an “optimal” distribution? Scand J Med Sci Sports. 16: 49-56, 2006.

I work at Mellow Johnnys Bike Shop in Austin and have the advantage of trying out a lot of products, one that really caught my eye was First Endurance. They sponsor Astana, thus Lance uses the stuff (not bragging but he turned me onto First Endurance). I found that First Endurance’s products are loaded with a lot more electrolytes than the stuff out there. This is HUGE for me because I sweat like crazy and loose a lot of salt.

One of the products they sell is a gel flask that has 1500mg of electrolytes and 400 calories. Basically it is 4 packets of other gels but the electrolytes in it are a lot higher. I took a “shot” every 3 miles and at special needs I had another one in there that I took every 3 miles. I also made sure to drink 2 cups of fluid at every aid station. 1 water, 1 Gatorade.

This formula work perfectly. I ran the entire marathons, something I havent done the last 2 IM’s because I blew up on the run because of dehydration. The only thing I changed was my nutrition. First Endurance is great stuff!

email me if you have any more questions: vince@mellowjohnnys.com

Vince Rosetta

I have to tell you again how great 1st Endurance supplements are!  I have continued my use of Optygen and it seems to be cumulative.  I just took 13 minutes off of my marathon PR and ran a 2:27:32  at Vermont City. I used the Pre-Race mix before and at mile 16 and felt the engine rev!  I love this stuff!

Justin Fyffe
La Sportiva Running Team

I love the first endurance liquid shot, its great. And the Optygen seems to be helping keep the energy high here in victoryville!

I used it to win race two of the National Ultra Endurance Series! www.cyclingnews.com/mtb.php?id=mtb/2009/may09/mohican100_09

Jeremiah Bishop

Pro Mountainbiker