My Comrades Diet...

By Frank

It's 145 days till Comrades Marathon 2012. And it's time I start watching my diet. Diet has always play an important role when it comes to tackling an event, especially those which I really want something out of it. Back in 2009 when training for Macau Marathon, my diet stayed "clean" for about 4 months staying away from unhealthy food.

The Comrades Marathon 2012 will be my toughest run to date. The 89KM is a distance which I have ran before but to complete it within 12 hours on a descending route is something I do not favour. It will be tough on my legs and my respiratory system. A clean diet will help with these and I certainly swear by it.

Clean diet means staying away from fast, oily and process food, at least in my own dictionary. However, as I live in Malaysia, it will be pretty tough so I do what I can. The easiest way for me back in 2009 was beside home cook food, I relied on Subway sandwiches. But Subway sandwiches won't be healthy if we don't choose the toppings and sauces correctly. Therefore, my only sandwich from them will be the all vegetables range and also the roast beef and teriyaki chicken, both meat which aren't process. Even I choose the sauces correctly. I use to pick mustard as the sauce of choice coupled with olive oil and vinegar, but they recently added honey and mayonnaise to it which the latter isn't too healthy.

Goodbye tasty food...

Why not process meat? We do not know which part from the animal that those meat originated from? And it certainly contain some addictive or other chemical to it. Myself being a migraine sufferer is best to stay away from them.

Beside the normal food, I do rely on supplements too. From the usual multi-vitamins to the overall goodness of Omega 3 fatty acids, supplements do help not only in my training but also my day to day being. I recently restarted back my probiotics supplement hoping to improve my already weak tummy and digestive system. But the new thing which I'm trying now will be Coenzyme Q10. After reading so much about it on how it helps migraine sufferers like me, it also helps to improve energy levels. I'm not sure if it works for me yet, but so far it has shown positive results. The only down side will be its selling price and its heatiness. I will need to drink plenty of water with it.

And finally, my trustworthy sports supplement from GU Energy Labs, the only one brand that works best with my tummy. I rely on each product within the brand from fuelling, buffering and recovery. I fuel myself with GU Energy Gels, Chomps and Brew Electrolytes, buffer off my lactic acid build-up with Roctane and recover with Brew Recovery. It's all in the family!

Only the best from GU...

I've started on my new diet a little since entering the new year, but not on full scale yet. Reason being is that Chinese New Year is just around the corner and I will like to enjoy myself a little first. While eating cleaner than usual, I still do spoil myself a little. Life must be live to the fullest, so why torture ourselves? A cheat meal can be rewarding at times. However, 1 February 2012 will be the official date that I will go clean. And this will last till race day. Goodbye tasty food!