Intensity

Hello world.  It's been a while.  I apologize for the long lag time in between posts but I have been doing a bit of "body inventory" as I have been ramping up my short course triathlon training.  If you recall from my posts in late 2012, I began implementing a controlled carbohydrate nutrition plan where my daily carbohydrate intake ranged from 60-80 grams per day.  I saw tremendous results in metabolic efficiency, body composition and blood work.  The holidays went by along with the new year and I go the flu.  My exercise program did not exist and I had a rough go about with my nutrition plan.  Sometimes I ate, sometimes I had no hunger response or urge to eat anything.  That went on for 5 weeks so definitely a bit of a set back.

I have spent the last month really trying to rebound from the after effects of the flu and while it is almost out of my system, I still notice a bit of burning in the chest as my intensity goes above my threshold for a sustained period of time.  It was also pretty cold in Colorado and I attribute the cold response to part of my chest burning response.  Luckily, I have turned the corner and am about 90% now and have been introducing some very good intensity.

Of course, you are wondering about my nutrition...when coming off of the flu, I tried to get food in my stomach and the higher fat foods were not appealing to me for a few weeks.  I didn't not go crazy with carbohydrates but I included more frequent breads and trail mix to my daily plan.  While I did not meticulously log my daily nutrition, I estimated my daily carbohydrate intake between 120-160 grams per day on most day.  Thankfully, I put an abrupt halt to this higher carbohydrate intake but not before having blood work done.  I was curious what adding roughly double the amount of carbohydrates to my daily nutrition plan would do to my blood lipids.  I had a much more comprehensive blood analysis done, one that looked at the particle size of my LDL and HDL, among other things.

Here's a quick snapshot of my bloodwork changes when I added more carbs into the plan:

• My total cholesterol went up
• My LDL went up
• My HDL stayed the same
• My triglycerides went up
• While I have never had my particle size assessed before, my HDL particle size is fine but my LDL particle size is high in the small dense particles (promoting a higher risk for heart disease)
• Aside from blood lipids, my testosterone was fine, cortisol and DHEA normal, iron level good but my vitamin D levels were extremely low (low for athletes)

Taken altogether, this indicates that my body responded poorly from a blood lipid standpoint with adding more carbohydrates into my daily nutrition plan.  Coincidence?  I think not.

Guess what I am back doing again?  And yes, in the heat of high intensity training for sprint and Olympic distance triathlon training.  My fitness is improving and in my next blog, I will discuss my dietary nutrient timing strategies and thoughts regarding following a controlled carbohydrate nutrition plan for high intensity endurance training.

Stay tuned!  It's just getting good.

Coach Bob

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