Merrell Eden Duo 2010 preview

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Thursday, 13 May 2010 08:05

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The Merrell Eden Duo (MED) gets rave reviews from anyone who has ever competed in it. It's held in one of the most beautiful places on earth - South Africa's Garden Route.

Organisers 24/7 Adventures are doing their bit to prepare you for what could be one of the most memorable days of your life. Learn more about Merrell Eden Duo at www.24-7adventure.com

We are spoilt in the 2010 season with a variety of events in South Africa like never before (and I am not talking about the events that require soccer balls). The basics of a multisport athlete’s training programme will require a lot of time on bikes, in running shoes and in or on the water (either swimming or paddling). This is a lifestyle to dream about in my books but a balancing act in terms of family dynamics!

In this month’s issue we will continue to investigate the MEDICAL side of the sport, and pay attention to the Merrell Eden Duo Adventure Race and the MAGAZINES we love. But something new to our showroom belongs to the Tracks 4 Africa crew. As a support sponsor to our site and event, we want to motivate you to send all your GPS info to their site (www.tracks4africa.com). By doing this they will register you as a contributor and you’ll be able to get all your training maps for free from them… words from the boss himself! At present they boast about 10,000,000 km in terms of tracks and roads in Southern Africa! So send them an e-mail with your GPS info; newdata@tracks4africa.co.za

The SPORTS MEDICINE report

Dr Herman Kotzé (MBChB en MSc Sport Science)

In the previous issue we started investigating the three phases of recovery (details on website of 24-7 Adventure). The next topic I want to discover is: How to replace fluid during exercise? (What do I need to drink and how much?)

During the last 10-15 years every sports nutrition manufacturer brought a fluid replacement drink onto the market - so how do you choose which one to use and how will it benefit you? I am going to give you the Sports Medicine guidelines of how this should be done.

There are three factors that influence the absorption of fluid. An important extra component that doesn’t directly influence absorption is the taste of the juice! It does actually influence the amount you will take in! For the fluid to move from the stomach to the bloodstream in the fastest possible time the following guidelines should be kept in mind:

Volume: not more than 2ml/kg body mass (200ml)
Temp: it should be cold (10 degrees or colder)
Glucose/maltodextrin concentration: 8% or less ( between 4-8% ) and perhaps a little bit of fructose as part of the drink
Taste: it must be palatable… You must keep it down in other words!
Most of the time, the drinks athletes take during exercise, do not meet these criteria and the most common complication is the full (bloated) stomach feeling that leads to either nausea and vomiting. Athletes could also stop taking fluid to try to minimise this feeling. What is the result? Inadequate fluid intake leads to dehydration which results in a drop in performance (May/June 2010 issue of Bicycling think you should consider an additional supplement of 10-15% of protein in your drinks during the race)

Next time you choose your drink make sure you take these factors into consideration as you might buy the most expensive drink on the market but it would not have the desired effect as it does not comply with the above mentioned criteria. If I can give you a tip – drinking plain water correctly can yield better results than having the most expensive fluid but you have to use it correctly.