Kona Ironman Training Week Two: Fueling up gluten free style

As expected, I seem to have adapted quickly to my increased training.  Last week I was constantly exhausted, but I feel much better this week.  These past two weeks my usual schedule has been interrupted, so I am quite proud of the fact I am getting all my training in.  Some of you have expressed an interest in getting the weekly report of my training.  I'll continue to give you the rough breakdown of my times, but won't give you the specifics of each workout since paces, intervals, etc are very specific to my abilities and weaknesses.  This week's schedule? 21.5 hours.  Here's the breakdown and what I consume to fuel my training:





11.25 hours cycling, 4.75 hours swimming, 5.5 hours running.


Monday: Swim (masters type workout) 1 hour, bike 1.5 hours
Tuesday: Bike 2.5 hours, Run 45 mins
Wednesday: Run hills 1.75 hours, Swim (masters type workout) 1 hour
Thursday: Bike Trainer Interval workout 1.25 hours, Swim (masters type workout) 1 hour
Friday: Open water swim 1 hour, Run 1 hour
Saturday: Run 2 hours, Bike 1hour *
Sunday: Swim .75 hour, Bike 5 hours


* I usually do my long run the day after my long ride, but I have to work on Saturday and won't have enough light to get my long ride in, hence the day switch


Now, for the important stuff....FOOD!  According to my calculations, I burn an additional 15,000 calories per week with my current training load. That means I would lose almost 5 pounds a week if I didn't change my eating habits.  Although I do have a ways to go to reach my race weight, if I lose too much too fast it will really hinder my training and recovery.  And, as some of you may know, I am experimenting with a gluten free diet while I train for Kona.  So, what do I eat to fuel all this nonsense and not have my grocery bill go sky high?


Those of you who have been reading me for awhile already know the answer to this question.  As a grad student, my diet revolves around cheap food: oatmeal, brown rice, tofu, eggs, veggies and fruits. I just eat a LOT of it.  And when I'm feeling calorically deprived (which is almost nightly) I grab a jar of peanut butter and a spoon.  Seriously.


So, what tasty gluten free nibbles have I been noshing on lately?

First of all, after every hard workout (at least 4x/week) the first thing I reach for is my GU Brew Recovery drink mix.  It's got a good mix of carbs, protein and electrolytes plus it has amino acids l-glumatine and l-arginine which help speed muscle recovery.  My favorite flavor is the orange pineapple.  This stuff is pretty high in calories (250 cals/packet) which is good for me with my level of training, but if you're not training for an Ironman save it for after long runs.  

As far as real food goes, I've been eating a lot of my rice pizza.  I've been playing around with different things (mexican: mix mashed beans and salsa and spread on top of rice, top with veggies; greek: tomato sauce with olives and sun dried tomatoes) but basically eat that every day for lunch. 


I've also made quite my share of quinoa salad.  My favorite was when I threw in crumbled tofu, chopped green olives, sun dried tomatoes, peppers and broccoli. I had no vinaigrette so I improvised and mixed vinegar and olive juice.  It was amazing!


My go-to snack is tofu musubi.  If you don't know what musubi is, it's a Hawaiian thing that is typically made with white rice and spam.  I make it healthy (and way more edible) by using brown rice and baked tofu.  To bake the tofu I marinate tofu slices in a mix of 4 parts soy sauce (I know it's not totally gluten free but I'm not allergic and I have a gallon of it on hand so bite me) to one part sesame oil (plus some cock sauce, or Sriracha sauce to jazz it up).  I bake the tofu slices at 350 for about an hour, brushing with the marinade every 10 minutes or so.  
 Once cooled I take some nori, brown rice, and my musubi maker and make a week's worth.  I individually wrap each one so it's grab and go!










My quest to make peace with my hoo-ha and bike is progressing.  One of the PR companies I work with is going to send me some new cycling shorts, and I have been playing around with various lubes (this morning I actually put diaper rash cream on my crotch.  Yup, that's right.  A grown woman walking around with diaper cream on--while I was nursing from my sports bottle.  Mother would be so proud).  As soon as I get some free time I'm heading across town to the one bike shop in town that sells the saddle I have my eye on, but I don't think I'll be able to make it before Sunday's 90 mile ride. Bummer (no pun intended).