Rocket Fuel
Continued from p.68 share the same struggles and effort to get through training and racing. A special ceremony was held in Kona where legends like Paula NewbyFraser, Dave Scott, Mark Allen and Craig Alexander, along with Andrew Messick and race director Diana Bertsch greeted and commended our efforts and dedication to the sport, which made us all feel welcome and deserving to be at the world championship.
So, if your pride is preventing you from trying to make it to Kona through the Legacy program, I suggest you put that aside and get to Kona however you can get there. The race in Kona lives up to the hype. The 2015 Ironman World Championship was the greatest experience I’ve had in my 20-plus years in triathlon.
If and when you do get there, make sure that you bring along your family to soak in the Kona experience. They make huge sacrifices along the way and they, too, deserve to enjoy the spoils of this Ironman World Championship berth. My best memories from my Kona experience involve the activities I did with my family: the Underpants Run with my daughter – a must do for everyone; the Parade of Nations – it was so cool of pro Jeff Symonds to join the rest of us Canadians (he had one of the best runs on race day so there should be no excuse to participate in this classic event); playing in the ocean with my daughter and seeing sea turtles; exploring the awesome island with family and discovering all that it has to offer; and family meals in a setting that can’t be beat.
Legends like Mark Allen and Peter Reid describe a special energy on the island of Kona, and I certainly felt it upon landing. In case I needed reminding, Madam Pele greeted us with a rush of heat and gusts of wind upon exiting the plane. I took it as a warning that there was little hope for a race day without heat and wind. We had record heat on race day and the wind was not too friendly, either. You could sense the nervous energy among the athletes at the airport as we waited for our baggage and you could definitely sense the excitement and energy amp up on the island as race day approached.
The week before the race is a tri geek’s paradise. The sport’s best can be seen just walking the streets and you routinely see stars out for a pre-race training session. There are a multitude of activities to take part in and the all the big companies have products to try and buy. Matthew Kadey Velopress 2016
For those looking for “real-food” options for their racing and training endeavours, Rocket Fuel is a must-read book filled with information and recipes that will keep you going through all your athletic exploits. Written by nutritionist Matthew Kadey, the book isn’t just a cookbook – it offers a series of guidelines that demystifies the world of sports nutrition and helps you come up with a plan to keep yourself energized before, during and after your workouts.
The 126 recipe ideas include snacks like muffins, bars and cookies, light meals including pies and wraps, workout foods like bites and gels, along with some tasty smoothies that can enhance breakfast or help you recover after a training session. There are lots of dairy free, gluten free, vegetarian and paleofriendly recipes included, too.
Kadey does a great job of reminding us that fuelling doesn’t need to be complicated, and that real foods can work just as well as packaged sports nutrition products when it comes to performance.–