Pre-competition eating habits

Paul, No decent LCM's planned in Montreal this year. We used to have a good one in the 1976 Olympics pool but they are not using that anymore and we, the tax payers, are building a new complex for the World Championships (in 2004/5?) US swimmers starved for SCM meets (and good French cuisine) often come to the Quebec Masters Championships (Montreal, April 19-21, 2002) but the pool this year is so-so (newish but narrow & slow). IMHO, the best LCM around here is an annual one day meet in Ottawa around mid-February and timed to run with their winter festival (fun). At this time of the year, however, you sometimes need more than beer & pizza to keep warm outside. The meet is run in a fast pool (Nepean) which is the home club of Dimitri Khodko, 43, who did an SCM 50 last year in 24.55 and could give you a good run for your money in your age group. (He plans to swim the Quebec Masters in Montreal in April) The Canadian Masters is LCM this year (unusual) but is in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, May 17-20, 2002. This is probably like holding the US Champs in Grand Forks. (no insult intended to anyone - probably beats Cleveland) see www.masters-nationals2002.ca/ Ian.

Some of these race-day diets look near-starvation to me. At the other extreme I remember my father (a former swimmer) taking me to my first meet when I was 9 or 10. In those days going to a meet was quite a trek - we traveled over the narrow overseas highway from Key West to Fort Lauderdale. So for the pre-race lunch my father took me out for a nice and big sirloin steak, which he considered race-day food. (I think a large protein meal was considered appropriate in the days when my father swam.) I remember not feeling so well after my first swim.

I agree with flyguy Bert. I eat something easily digested early in the morning of a big meet. I have asthma and have found over the years of many big meets that a cup or two of coffee helps me swim better. The caffeine is a performance enhancer and there are other substances that help the asthma (Theo bromines?) At the number one web site for breaststroke articles, http://www.breaststroke.info. www.breaststroke.info/tums.htm I have an article on taking TUMS. I take quite a few (20-30) TUMS with lots of water for two reasons. First it helps swim performances between 30 seconds and three minutes. Second it, along with massage, allows clearing the muscles of pH better than just a swim down. It is not the lactate that is bad, but the ion that lowers the intercellular pH. Too low a pH will destroy the muscle fibers for 72 hours, pretty much ruining any more swims. Anyone who is a sprinter needs to replenish his or her glycogen stores. Anaerobic glycolysis is the primary energy system used for the first 40 seconds of a sprint. This encompasses all 50s. Discounting the dive, 40 seconds accounts for about 75 to 80 percent of the 100-yard breaststroke, and the entire college men’s 100 freestyle. Their are now many sports foods and drinks that can replace glycogen stores rapidly. You just have to find one that works for you. And I agree with Tall "Eagle Eye" Paul that pizza and beer after the meet with your swimmer friends is the perfect after meet food. Wayne McCauley

Tried and true swim meet eating regimen developed by trial and error (yes, I'm serious ... LOL!): TWO DAYS BEFORE: No caffeine. Wendy's or BK Cheeseburger (all the trimmings, LOL). Cantaloupe. DAY BEFORE: No caffeine. Bagels (either blueberry or cinnamon-raisin, with nothing on them) as desired, pears and peanut m&m's. NIGHT BEFORE: Max. 1 NSAID with dinner, if needed. Bagel before bedtime. MORNING OF MEET: Coffee. Max. 1 bagel about an hour before warmup. DURING THE MEET: Peanut m&m's as needed to avoid stomach growling. One bite of a Mars or MilkyWay bar before a 3rd or 4th event. Option: bagel with peanut butter if there's a long wait between events such as at Nationals. :cool:

I think a good reason not to drink carbonated beverages is -- I've heard -- the carbonation takes up space usually used by oxygen, so you get less oxygen in your blood stream. Also it's just plain bad for you, with all the acid. The sugar content could also cause a big insulin backlash.

Ian Just a few questions for u about the pool in Saskatoon. I am heading up for the LC Nats in May and wondered if u know anything about that pool. Depth, are both ends the same depth, lanes, ect, what is the lay out. Just curious. I have tried to email but no one has answered and the website does not state this info. Thanz for the time

Ah, yes - Wayne; I had forgotten that part of the day. I too take the calcium carbonate form of chewable Tums. I take 4-6 every day and I usually take more on race day. My reasoning, however, is different. I have discovered that the Tums prevent cramping for me. I had a nieghbor,years ago, who has since died of old age. She was 83 at the time we talked and I asked her to what she attributed her good health and posture. She looked 60. She told me that she had a habit of drinking coffee all day and because she sometimes got heartburn, she was in the habit of chewing Tums. Seems the commercial is accurate, it really is something your body needs anyway. So, I thought I would just take a pill of Oyster shell calcium and that would suffice. Lo and behold, at the doctors office, after an x-ray, the doctor praised me for taking calcium. There on the film, fully intact, at the bottom of my bowel, was the pill. I immediately realized that I had the healthiest toilet in town and decided to go with something more readily assimilated. Long story short : Tums is good. :p

Bert, I laughed for ten minutes. :D Tums makes the next day more bearable, not as many aches and pains, which means little or no aspirin or ibuprofin. That is good. I prefer the cherry flavor ones, the mint tastes like medicine. I have GERD (heartburn) so Tums helps there too. Wayne

which really seem like ancient history, now......... We used to play a LOT of handball; played very hard, long sets and would frequently have cramping problems. We figured it was from salt loss and so we would take salt tablets, which helped some, but not completely. In college, I remember doing a psuedo-scientific study about cramping, where I learned quite a bit. If memory serves me, the calcium helps buffer the surface tissue of the muscles, keeps the electrical charges in line and at least forstalls the onset of cramping. So we went with calcium tablets way back then, and IT WORKED !! I have at least 20 incidences over my swim coaching career of Tums helping kids get rid of and avoid cramping. Myself, no leg cramps in 20 years of swimming; except: when I tried Creatine a couple of years ago and if I use fins, since I am not used to them. My favorite Tums are the tropical fruit variety, especially coconut. Now, how about some discussion of D.M.S.O., which I have used for 40 years with no visible bad effects, other than my wife says I am a crazy person for swimming butterfly !!!!!! Bert

So if acidic stuff is bad because it lowers the pH of your blood then I'd like to know which fruits/other things to stay away from. Oranges, lemons, Colas, what else...? Are bananas acidic?? Also I heard that milk is bad on the day of a meet. Is this true?