Last week we had 2 combatants at the european duathlon champs Powerman Alsdorf. John managed a 15 min course and distance PB and Nathalie ( yes her again) took Gold in her age cat. This week Andrew heads to Challenge Gran Canaria and the yoofs are heading to the first round of the British Super series. That has us looking at the lead in to the races and every athlete asks what is the best taper? As with all good coaching questions the answer is 'it depends'. There are multiple factors to consider ( and the science is not definitive) so we have to look at: 1. The demands of the race 2. The importance of the race - A, B, C 3. Where it sits in the overall season plan 4. How the individual reacts physically and mentally to a taper ( this will be influenced by age, conditon, recovery needs, nerves..etc) Very much not a simple thing like reduce volume and maintain intensity. What works for one person may not fit another and what is good for say a 5k run race like Fast ad Flat vs IM Lanzarote are completely different things. The single stand out tip for heading into a race is make sure your nutrition and hydration ar topped up - regardless of the severity or length of the race. A nice little 'cheat' on hydration we use medical goods. If you hit the medical tent post race in a state of depletion they generally hook you up on a drip with a nice saline based hydration fluid. Essentially it is the same as the rehydration sachets you can buy in the pharmacy so prevention is better than cure so a sachet a day 2-3 days out and the muscles at a cellular level willbe fully hydrated on the start line. In the UK it is called diorylyte!

The role of carbohydrates in endurance sport is now universally accepted as being an essential tool in not only race day but also to support training and recovery. It wasn't always so. Now with some pros seemingly taking in 120g per hour the game has shifted from the days when we were told the gut could only handle up to 60g per hour Carbs are the bodies go to fuel for moderate and high intensity exercise. We store carbs primarily as glycogen in muscle and liver tissue. In well trained athletes we have enough stores to last around 90mins to 2 hours of hard endurance work. Depends on the intensity but it is possible to 'bonk' when beyond 2 hours - trust me when I say its not fun when you are 50 miles from home! We don't just burn carbs and at lower levels of effort we do have a dual fuel system from fat stores so fo super long easier effort its a different picture. Race pace efforts though do rely heavily on carbs as the main fuel. The old 60g per hour was based in the fact that older sports nutrition products were single source sugars but moderrn science now gives us a plethora to choose from and recommendations now are 'up to' 90g. A caveat here is you have to practice the intake to allow your gut to be 'trained' to do its thing so having a race nutriton strategy needs built during training. What to ingest is highly personal but for most people a mix of fuel sources is likely to work best. Some products really do irritate some but others can hoover up anything with no ill effects. For day to day your intake can vary but typically for endurance we are looking at anywhere between 5 and 12g of carbs per kg of bodyweight per day. Matching intake to activity is good practice so basically on hard days you eat more. There are a couple of apps out there that can do this fo you - Fuellin being the best known. You can do a 'train low, compete high' protocol but if you have ever tried to do a v02 session straight out of bed in the morning you will know it isn't that smart. In simple terms you have to eat and drink enough to support your level of training.

The Lanark crew are assembling at Forestburn for the first cold acclimitisation session 0930 Sunday. Just dropped into email is our link and discount code for Zone 3 - their gloves happen to be the best on the market. https://zone3.com/LANARKTRI Code LANARKTRI

That's 5 times in 2 weeks that type of question has popped up. Gordon ( my dentist and client) asked me ' what are you training for?'. I had to pause for thought. The answer has changed over the years but part of the answer always has to be for fun. Most of the time..just cos I love it. There may be a race or two in there but now there is a ticking clock..training for retirement!

Looking for advice on wetsuit selection for Celtman solo. Is the following perfect for the water or possibly too much? https://zone3.com/products/thermal-aspire As I’m short stocky could be in between sizes, do athletes wear trisuit underneath or change into once back on land? This could be another factor in difference in sizes