Nutrition--Revisited

My blog from last week on nutrition had a couple of good effects: (1) it generated quite a bit of discussion on the Facebook page and (2) some of the comments posted on it got me thinking about my hiking food and how well the mix of what I eat is working for me. 

I learned about day-hiking nutrition back when I started hiking in 2000. At that time, the suggested food composition for day hiking was 60/20/20 (60% carbs, 20% protein, 20% fat). Since adopting those guidelines and discovering foods that worked for me and were tasty, I must admit that I really haven't put much thought into what I eat when I hike--or even how well I was conforming to my adopted guidelines. I feel generally energetic when I hike, so why mess with that?  

Well after last week's discussion I really started thinking about how much of my day hiking diet is fueled by junk food (quite a bit). One person also pointed out that I wasn't even conforming to my own guidelines when it came to the amount of protein I was consuming (less than 20%). I'm also really not sure if given the current state of research, if the 60/20/20 mix is still the recommended mix of nutrients or if there is some better thinking out there. There's been a lot written in the past few years on the increasing importance of both proteins and fats in the diet, as well as a larger focus on the "quality" of carbohydrates in that there's a difference between the type of carbohydrates and how quickly they're converted by the body into useable energy. 

So I've set a new assignment for myself--delve into recent nutrition advice written specifically for hikers and see if the 60/20/20 advice has changed given recent findings. I'm starting my education by reading The Outdoor Athlete written by Courtenay Schurman--a Mountaineers member and owner of the wilderness sports coaching company, Body Results (http://www.bodyresults.com). I'll report back to you what I learn, but feel free to obtain your own copy of the book (or another one that you find helpful) and learn along with me. 

I'm also going to work on bolstering the amount of protein in my hiking fare so I'm at least consistent with the 60/20/20 guideline and also work on replacing some of junk food I bring along with more nutritious items. You may still catch me with a bag of Cheetos in my lunch, but it'll hopefully be a smaller portion of the total calories of my lunch. After a few months with my updated hiking fare, I'll report back and let you know how I'm feeling while I'm hiking. 

Stay tuned!

What Are You Eating?

I don't know if any of you caught the really nasty cold that seemed to hit in April just as spring returned, but I was nailed by two different versions of it. It seems like I've been recovering from having a cold for a month! I'm mostly better now with the exception of a really chesty cough that seems to hit me mostly after I'm done exercising or when I lie down to sleep at night. It's very annoying and just seems to hang around forever. I have still managed to get out do some running training and do a few hikes, but I don't really feel on top of my game. My energy level is lower than usual and I'm more tired after my long runs than I should be. 

While you can't always control your energy levels due to health issues, another thing that dramatically affects your energy level is the food you consume both before and during the hikes.   

As we get closer to our June hikes, you’ll notice that the hikes will be getting a little bit more difficult, including more distance and gain. I encourage you to take a look at the food that you bring along with you and make sure that it’s adequate for your needs on the trip. All groups will be in the 8 mile range which means that you need to not only need to bring a filling lunch, but you also need to bring snacks to have along the way. Make sure that the food you are bringing along is around 60% carbohydrate, 20% fat and 20% protein. Your snacks particularly need to be mostly carbohydrate as that will provide you with quick energy as you hike. Make sure your snacks are accessible without taking off your pack, so you can snack as soon as you feel the need.  

After you get back from a hike, assess how you felt during the hike. Did you feel generally energetic and able to tackle the challenges of the trail, or did you feel listless and lack energy? While some of this can be attributed to physical conditioning, it can also be affected by what you eat and when you eat it. Don't wait to eat food until you're hungry or feeling your blood sugar plummet. Be proactive and have a small snack every hour or so--more often as your energy output increases during the season. 

And be sure to have a good breakfast before you head off in the morning to meet your group; or if it’s too early for you to feel like eating, bring something with you to snack on during the car trip. Don’t start a hike feeling hungry, you’ll already be low on energy if you do and will have a hard time getting into your hiking pace and then you’ll be playing food catch-up all day—not a great place to be in energy-wise. My favorite breakfast foods are homemade smoothie, (banana, other fruit, yogurt, water or watered-down juice, and a scoop of whey protein  powder) and oatmeal (nicely beefed up with a bit of brown sugar and whole milk). Both are fairly easy to take along with you and eat in the car if you can figure out a way to keep the oatmeal warm until you can eat it.  

Happy hiking (and eating)! 

Getting in Some Hill Work

On Saturday, Matt and I met up with a couple of CHS hiking friends and hiked Umtanum Ridge. We met up at the Preston P&R and imagine our surprise when we encountered two other groups of CHS hikers rendezvousing for their hike also! It was nice to see seasoned and new CHSers heading off for a fun hike on a beautiful day! 

I'd never been to the Umtanum area before and had heard that the flower displays this time of year are pretty spectacular. It did not disappoint--my favorite lupine was in abundance everywhere and smelled wonderful! It was also a nice day and the views were pretty spectacular from the ridge as well. If you haven't done this trail before, it should be on your early season list. But one thing I should warn you about is the steepness of the hike. The last quarter mile of the hike up to the ridge is incredibly steep and knowing how to do the rest step is important. It's also extremely helpful if you have seasoned yourself on a few hills first too. 

There are a few ways to prepare for hiking up hills that you can do around town in a short period of time. If you work in or near a building with several flights of stairs you can walk up and down the stairs with or without weight. It works even better if you can turn it into an interval or Fartlek training session by walking fast or running up the stairs for 30-60 seconds and then walking down the stairs for double that time.  Repeat that 10-15 times each. Throw in a warm up and cool down period and you've got a quick workout that will prime you for hiking hills. 

Another way to practice hills is to find a good hill or series of hills in your neighborhood and walk or run up and down them for 45-60 minutes at least once a week. You can also make this into an interval as well. If you live on the eastside near the Tolt Pipeline trail, this is an awesome place to do that. But Seattle is full of good hills so I'm sure you can find something that will work. Throw on a pack with 10-15 lbs of weight to add a little challenge and up the weight occasionally to increase the workout once you've gotten used to previous weight.  

Doing this type of training at least once a week will really help you motor up the hills on your hikes a lot faster and with less exertion. Even the really steep ones will seem easier!

Getting Social

Last weekend I participated in the Mt Si Relay Race with Steve Payne and three other CHS graduates. We ran a 59 mile course and each participant ran two legs out of ten total legs. The legs varied in length and elevation gain/loss. We had a great time despite intermittent rain showers throughout the day.  

We got our results a few days later and while we weren't competitive we did pretty well. Aside from the running, the best part of the day for me was spent catching up with the other runners; I hadn't seen a couple of the people in a few years and we had some catching up to do.  

I'm not a real social person. As an introvert I suck at making small talk and I love to spend time alone, but I find I really enjoy spending time talking with fellow runners and hikers. The time just seems to fly when I'm running down the road or hiking up a trail with others. Sharing an activity together, it's easy to find things to talk about whether it's the scenery, the weather, how we're feeling, or some other topic that pops up.  Steep switchbacks don't seem so bad when I've got something interesting to talk about. Plus it makes me moderate my pace a bit so I'm not hiking up the hill too fast and huffing and puffing. 

Even if you're not the most social person in the world, I hope that as the summer progresses you will also enjoy hiking and talking with other folks who share your hiking interest. So here's a challenge I'm issuing to everyone reading this: Try to talk to everyone on your hike for at least a few minutes. You might find that you have something in common. At the very least, you'll get to know a little bit more about your fellow hikers.