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March 2015

Team Robertson / 2015 / March

Nutrition 101

So much confusion out there as far as nutrition goes. What to eat? How many calories? Do I need vitamins? It can be a never ending saga for a lot of people. Todays topic is going to be about calorie counting. There are a lot of different approaches with this, but I am going to stick with calories per gram. Lets start with a short introduction on macronutrients. These are carbohydrates, protein and fats. Basically, macronutrients are the chemical components of nutrients we consume the most of. Not all macronutrients are created equal so lets take a closer look. Carbohydrates and protein have 4 calories per gram, while fat has 9 calories per gram. So it doesn’t take a whole lot of math to figure out...

How to find lactate threshold?

I hear this topic come up quite a bit, so I thought I would try and make it easier for some of you. Lactate threshold is defined as the exercise intensity at which lactate  starts to accumulate in the blood stream. Without adding too much confusion with regards to what is going on at the cellular level, lets stick with how to find this necessary heart rate. We have all seen the 220- your age x the % of intensity to set that heart rate monitor of yours. This is not exact and I can give you several examples of occurences when it was off. A better , more scientific method is a lactate threshold test. This test is best done by running for 30...

Why Have a Coach?

Why have a coach? This question seems to come up quite a bit in the running and triathlon community. Unfortunately there are a multitude of answers, but for now I am going to focus on one aspect of why someone should have a coach, and that is peaking. Having a coach can keep you on track to where you need to be with your fitness level with regards to peaking for the big day. I don’t know how many athletes with amazing potential come up short on race day due to impatience and improper planning. For example, lets say you recently signed up for a marathon September 1, 2015. It is currently October 1, 2014 ( 12 months away)  and you’ve been running consistently the last few years and...