We've been training for the Comrades since early December 2013. As novices everything is new and challenging and scary as hell. Yes and we are following a very conservative training programme. We tallied up 935 km in training and races, changes shoes twice and experimented with GU, Cytomax, Race Food, VitRace, Vooma, bananas, Futurelife, muffins, rusks, pasta, bread, sweet potato etcetera. You name it, we've tried. We've hit the wall, picked up weight(!) and generally felt disheartened; all while training harder than ever. So why are we not losing weight? Why are we struggling to cope with carbo-loading. Isn't this what all runners do?
Initially when we started training harder, we lost a few kilos, then we stabilised, but as soon as we hit the long runs and needed to "feed" we started slowly gaining weight (and started feeling more and more sluggish for it). I am talking about that extra 2-4 kilos one really don't need for running: especially that extra muffin, around the waist that wobbles when you run and the bits that chafe. So, where to from now, 50 days left to the big day?
This is what we know or know we don't know:
a) Nobody knows how the body really works because we are all slightly different
b) Carbo-loading does not work for us and feeding on carbs the entire run is exhausting, too sweet, makes you feel queasy, and is impossible to maintain.
c) Running does not make you thin
d) Ultra-marathons are not for sissies
e) Nothing you do will stop the pain when you run at our pace. If you have to run for more than 4 hours you are going to be in pain.
f) Kinesio tape is amazing and those colourful strips of bandage you see is not just for fun.
We've been reading, researching, listening to people, experimenting and debating all the things people tell you. Eat pasta, you will lose the weight, don't eat protein, eat protein, don't drink this, don't eat that... The advice one get is conflicting and endless and in the end you have to do what is right for you. And no matter what you opt for, there will be risk, purely because everybody is slightly different to the next guy. After all this time though, I have come to one conclusion. I think we are "carb-resistant". Perhaps not as severe as some people, but our modern diet include so much hidden sugar/carbs we don't realise how much we load our systems. So, I started leaning more and more towards listening to Prof Noakes' experience, and I seeing so many parallels.
We also have the curse of being engineers and therefore really wanting to understand the mechanisms of things. The trouble with this is that it seems that in this field (diets, nutrition, sports nutrition, weightloss), facts are mostly theories or hypotheses. Many commonly believed mechanisms are in fact unproven in the true sense of "science". See the conundrum. But, I am a cat person. Apparently we tend to be more open to new things, and second of all, I have a flexible mind (if you ever read Monster Hunter International, you will get the reference). The weird results we got during the last few months and open-mindedness and perhaps a pinch of desperation, all contributed towards us taking the plunge. We've been listening to Prof Tim Noakes' talks and interviews on YouTube, reading his books, researching other people's research and evaluating what is out there. The listening was easy, choosing to abandon more than a decade of "fat free" eating and going for the HIGH Fat, LOW Carb (moderate protein) approach, was a bit harder. I've been brainwashed and thus actively avoiding fat for many years. Actively changing to eating butter, avos, eggs, full fat mince, cheese, cream cheese and bacon nearly gave me a heart attack - irony. Eggs are now "IN" again, where before, everybody was scared of cholesterol. More and more studies show that cholesterol levels are way more complex than initially thought! Generally, I have a slightly elevated cholesterol. Which is according to Prof Noakes normal for women of my age and as I eat lots of healthy omega-3's I am fine.
I have been living the life of starvation for so long that I am finding, that my inner fat person is starting to relax. No longer do I have those low blood sugar shake and sweat attacks after eating cereal in the morning. I almost forget to snack - habit reminds me, but eventually this goes away according to most people. I know it is still early days, but my brain feels more alert. Ultimately, the big swaying factor is the weight thing - even though being healthier is should be the main aim, weight control takes so much of my soul-energy in life, imagine what I can achieve if I don't have to be worried about stupid stuff like that? And giving up carbs is a tough thing to do. So far though I have had the odd craving for something sweet, but we also have not yet introduced dark chocolate or berries yet. We first need to get to grips with the fat content issue. I for one struggle to eat enough fat. Purely because, after so many years on fat free stuff, I find myself perplexed. I am suddenly able to use butter to cook, it is liberating. We are eating plenty veggies, just the low carb varieties (leafy, green stuff, mushrooms, onions, green peppers, tomatoes, cucumber, cauliflower and broccoli). All good.
So I've officially joined Tim Noakes on his meal revolution. We may fall flat on our faces, but hey, can't be worse than what's going on with carbs loaded onto our plates.
Am I crazy? Time will tell, but I don't think so. Energy from fat is a natural and healthy. Especially for endurance runners. If you research the Inuit diet, where there is very little access to carbs, it makes you think that somehow we have veered far from our "hunter gatherer" diet with all the sugar we consume. These and many other correlations, falsehoods sold to us by the sugar companies, invalid research, the internet, anecdotal research reports, all these things, make it very difficult to distil an opinion. I for one am convinced that there is something too all of this. I also believe, this is not a one size fits all solution. How many grams of carbs you need per day will depend on your individual genetic profile. What we really need is diet-fingerprints. No more food pyramid for me!
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