It has
been 25 years since I started to do sports, and up to this day it takes
conscious effort on my part to take the best care of my body so my body can serve
me the best. At the beginning of my career I was not terribly concerned about
nutrition, I just wanted to do sports and it felt good that way.
The first
difficulties started to occur when I moved from my parents to the (college)
dorm and became self-sufficient during my college years. In those years
contrary to my fellow classmates whose biggest concern was how to study while
partying all the time, I was trying to fit in all my hard training sessions
between classes and studying.
The
biggest challenge was that I had a really busy schedule; swim in the morning,
then school, running and biking after that, then school again and in the
evening studying and homework. I simply did not have time to have a decent meal
between the training sessions and school. Most of the times I quickly had some
pastries or sandwiches for breakfast, I ate a cooked meal at the school
cafeteria for lunch and I had some food that was easy to make for dinner, like
eggs or sausages. Besides that I had quite a bit of snacks and cookies between
these meals to refuel fast.
I was 18
that time and I was not aware that the nutrition would affect my training. When
I was more tired I though that it could have been because I slept only 4-5
hours at nights.
Training
Nutrition
In those
years I was not concerned about sports nutrition either, simply because I could
only use that was available in the Hungarian market. We did not have a big
choice of energy drinks and bars. During training and racing I used the drinks,
gels and bars that was available at the time. Of course I ate other simple
nutrition, like bananas and one of my favorites; Snickers bars, because it
contained lots of energy.
First
Signs
The first
signs that something was wrong appeared about ten years ago. Right after I finished
my workouts I often had stomach cramps and couldn’t eat for a long time, only
drink. I realized that the only thing that would help was drinking soda
(Fanta). I craved it especially after long training hours and it helped with
the cramping. Another strange thing happened that time: I started to feel some
pain in my foot usually at night or right after I woke up. First it was not too
bad but later the pain started to increase. Around the same time I found a foot
masseur and the massages somewhat eased the pain. But I received instructions
that I had to pay special attention to my nutrition since I have symptoms that
indicate potential problems with kidney and intestinal function. This bad news
left me helpless and lost and for a while I could not come up with anything
helpful or effective. I did start preparing my own food at all times and since
I was finished with my college years my sports career was my only focus.
First
Ironman
In 2002
my swimming was not at the level of racing Olympic distance triathlons, so
besides duathlon events, I specifically trained for long distance races and I entered
my first - ever ironman. The race started really well, although in spite of the
useful advices and warnings I did not take enough calories. Since I did not
feel like eating I only had 1 or 2 energy bars all day long, yet I pushed it as
hard as I could. Of course it did not end well. At six miles I was leading on
the run when I suddenly completely bonked, collapsed and the ambulance took me
to the hospital.
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| First ironman victory in 2005 |
After
this rough start at the long distance scene I was training for years until in
2005 I finally won my first ironman distance race in Hungary. I gained lots of
experience and worked out a very simple nutrition plan for the race day; on the
bike I ate 4-5 energy bars (200ca/each) and after 60 miles I had some
“cookies”. It might sound weird but I found a certain type of Hungarian cookies
were the easiest to digest. On the run I ate 4-6 energy gels. As for fluids, I
drank mostly water and had some energy drink that was provided by the race
organizers. This method worked pretty well for me and I managed to win 9
ironman distance titles and finished several times on the podium at
international races. And this nutrition plan even got me through Kona where I
finished 19th overall.
The
Diagnosis
In the
meantime I noticed more and more signs of my intestinal issues. Roughly around
2007 I had serious stomach and digestive problems that very much affected my
training and racing. There were times when it was better, but when it was worse
I found some blood in my stool, which scared me a lot. Despite of these
symptoms it took me several years to find out what was the problem. In 2009,
only three month after I was hit by a car on my bike, I decided to race Ironman
Arizona. During the run I had really painful stomach cramps and I had to take
several bathroom breaks finding blood again. I dropped out of the race and was
taken to the hospital where I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis. Then I
went through a thorough examination and my physician was shocked that I was even
able to train and race with this condition in the past 6-7 years.
I was trying
to determine when the symptoms started and what could have caused the Ulcerative Colitis. The best answer that I could find was that it was a combination of
several things: a stressful life, bad nutrition and probably genetic reasons
for sensitive intestinal functions as well. I was diagnosed more than four
years ago; and since then I managed to deal with my colitis with more or less
success. However it is a chronic disease and I have to live with it for the
rest of my life.
Nutrition
Nowadays
Every day
I have to eat with careful consideration and take only the food that is good
for me and won’t interfere with my digestion either. So I start my day with the
Ignite Extreme Energy drink, then I eat a toasted sandwich with ham, cheese and
salami, or an omelette with mushroom or whole grain cereal with almond milk,
etc.
Most of
the times I have a cooked meal for lunch: brown rice, or potato, or pasta with
meat or fish. I like all kind of meats but I prefer poultry, and one of my
favorite meals is the grilled salmon with zucchini.
Nowadays
I eat vegetables more regularly, like celery, cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini,
tomato, pepper and all kind of green salads. But sometimes when I don’t have
time to cook I just have a pizza, which I really like.
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| Hungarian Paprikas Csirke |
We still
like to cook Hungarian meals at home, especially my favorite meals, like
layered potato (casserole), or the well-known chicken paprikas.
There are
certain foods that I can’t have because they upset my stomach and cause
difficulties during workouts. In addition, if I eat right I feel much better
and I can focus on my program and my recovery is faster as well. It is a long
process to experiment how these foods affect my body and how I can take the
right nutrition without causing any trouble.
Besides
eating healthy, sometimes I’m tempted to eat a little dessert, or snack, like
cookies or Oreos. But these days I try to alternate them with peanut/almond butter, fresh fruit, cottage cheese, wholewheat crackers, cream chees, dark chocolate etc. They taste like a good dessert and are more healthy.
It is
also really important to take the right amount of good quality fluids. I drink
lots of water especially because I live in Arizona year around. Time-to-time I
have some green tea or light lemonade, or even some coke during or after long
workouts. I am very careful with these beverages and sodas because they have
too much sugar but sometimes I just crave them too much.
Race - day
Nutrition
They say
triathlon is about swimming, biking and running, however there is a fourth
discipline which is one of the most important: nutrition. You can be as strong
as possible both physically and mentally, but without the right nutrition plan,
you are not going to succeed.
I think
my first ironman experiment is a good example what happens when you are not
taking enough calories. My energy level dropped significantly because of the
poor nutrition. However bad nutrition doesn’t necessarily mean that you don’t
take enough; it could also mean that you take too much or just not the right
kind for you. It is a long journey to find out what works best for each
individual. A good nutrition is a real
game changer during an ironman race. A good nutrition helps to boost your performance,
increase your energy and to reduce muscle fatigue while pushing yourself over
your limits. You know your nutrition was good when you run an 8+ hours race and
when you approach the finish you still have enough in the tank to nail a sprint
finish.
Last May I
started to work with Ignite Naturals and tried the GSH Ignite Pro Series along
with the IN Refresh Electrolytes. I liked them from the very beginning. I train
5-6 hours continuously every day. It's very important to fuel with the best to
produce more energy. The GSH Pro Series provides fast absorbing carbs from 100%
real food that help me maximize my performance. All in all, it tastes good and
helps me to get my training and racing to the next level. The IN products enable
me to work hard without stomach pain, cramps or any symptoms of my Ulcerative
Colitis disease.
 |
You can order any Ignite Naturals product online and receive a 10% off with the
DISCOUNT CODE: IN0630 |
When people
ask me for nutrition advice I can tell them what works the best for me but I
believe everyone has to find out what kind of nutrition work the best for them.
Recently I started to work with FUEL to the Finish Endurance Nutrition Coaching - Brooke Schohl, MS, RD. It really makes a different to talk to a professional nutritionist. Even in my case; I don't need to lose weight or gain muscles but I really have to fuel with healthy and quality food to increase my energy level.
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Reload energy gels are made with real food like brown rice or figs. Very, very tasty. My favorite is the Blackberry Blueberry gel which tastes like the best jam I ever ate. You can order any Ignite Naturals product online and receive a 10% off with the
DISCOUNT CODE: IN0630 |
