Inspiration and Recovery

One of the things I am thankful for is that in 2010, when I completed my first Half Ironman, I was able to attend two meetings where World Champions Craig Alexander and Chrissie Wellington spoke. If you ever had the opportunity to hear either of them you know at least part of their success is due to the strength of their characters. I cannot think of two more worthy World Champions in any sport. At the time, in the immediate afterglow of finishing my first 70.3, these events motivated me to continue with my own journey.

I recently had the opportunity to hear Craig Alexander again at Runners High and Tri in a Q&A format moderated by Ironman legend Dave Scott. One of the points Crowie made was that we get older our endurance improves but we need to pay much closer attention to Recovery and intensity. I know that I often barely get my scheduled workout in at 5AM, then ignore my stretching and Recovery in my haste to catch the commuter train. So this year I intend to focus more on these intangibles that I know are important. If you are smart about your "Recovery Window" it can really help. To date, I have been more the 5 hours of sleep, eat on the run, don't stretch kind of athlete. And it shows. The schwag bag had a bottle of Core Power, a protein drink formerly known as Athlete's Honey Milk. Apparently, with his super high metabolism and large training volumes, Crowie was always hungry. He used to try to eat bowls of cereal but found that several Core Power bottles daily not only helped take the edge off his hunger but more importantly got him the right nutrients to recover properly and help the body build lean muscle. This is especially important for Long Course triathletes and runners doing over 90 minutes of exercise, as they have depleted their on-board glycogen stores. I will definitely be trying Core Power in the Out Season as part of improving my nutrition and recovery.