On Saturday evening I ate pizza for the first time in a while. On Sunday morning I had one of the best swim practices in a while. So much energy! Swam 4500m and spent another half hour mucking around practicing SDK's, turns, etc....just didn't want to get out of the water.
Just wondering if the pizza and the increase in energy were related in any way or was it purely coincidental? Does pizza perhaps have the perfect protein to carbohydrate ratio?
It was a three cheese, thin crust Magherita with a sprinkling of smoked sausage. There wasn't a lot of cheese either. Just the right amount. Had a glass of Coca Cola with it. The only time I ever drink coke is when I eat pizza or BBQ.
Anyone had a similar experience or have a different favourite energy-giving meal.
Syd
I love food. I am almost always snacking on something at meets, unless I forget food. Not a big fan of swimming hungry, cause although the faster I swim, the quicker I get food, I'm also thinking about it too much. Less focus on swimming.
John Naber showed up at a swim meet in Kalispell, MT in 1982 and gave a clinic and signed autographs. I remember one thing he said was to 'swim hungry' rather than eating beforehand.
Pizza can be a good source of nutrition the day before swimming. In a previous thread, I posted a recipe (below). Recently I tried the pizza with goat cheese and arugula pesto with basil and mint. It was incredible.
The keys to my homemade pizza are: making the crust with part whole wheat flour and part white, rolling it very thin, and baking it on a very hot pizza stone.
Enjoy!
Basic recipe for Pizza Dough
1 cup warm water
3 cups flour (approx) -- I use 1 cup whole wheat and a little less than two cups white
1 cake yeast
1/2 tsp. sugar
Dissolve yeast in warm water with sugar. Add flour 1 cup at a time, and mix until it starts to come together. If you are adding other sesonings to the crust (dried basil, rosemary, oregano), add them with the flour so that they will be well distributed. Turn dough out on a wooden bread board dusted with flour. Knead until you get a smooth, elastic dough. Form a ball, and place in a bowl that has been lightly greased with olive oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm place for 45 min to an hour, until doubled in size.
Punch-down dough to get the air out, divide dough into three smaller balls, and store the two unused portions in ziploc bags in the freezer or refrigerator. Roll the remaining ball very thin (@ 1/4 to 1/8th inch). Place the rolled dough on a pizza paddle that is well-dusted with cornmeal, add your toppings, and bake in a pre-heated oven (hot - 475-500 degrees) for 8-10 minutes on a pizza stone. For toppings, I recommend using a lot less cheese than usual. Use a flavorful cheese, and a smaller amount. If you use mozzarella, try a very light sprinkling just as the "glue" to hold the other toppings in place.
I have experimented with all types of flavored crusts, including Italian herb, sundried tomato, curry, and saffron/currant. Let your imagination run wild!
Enjoy!
Swimmer Bill
Another idea: Use Fat-free Mozzerella cheese, but add 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil to 8 ounces of cheese, mix it up and use that. This will cover a good sized- pizza and isn't much fat and has very little unhealthy fat. It melts fairly well, unlike plain fat-free cheese.
-LBJ
Pizza is great any time of the day. I learned this in college when I was saving money from eating Ramen all day. I could afford pizza on the weekend when it wasn't spent on beer.
I go for Lou Malnatti's or Ginos for sure. Gotta love Chicago pizza.
As far a pre-race...there is no helping me swim faster or slower. I eat whatever I want as long as I like it.
I remember that while in the airport on the way down to Orlando for my first YMCA Nationals as a kid I stopped by the Sbarro's (probably spelling that wrong) and picked up a few slices of pizza. I was finishing off the third one when someone else from my team walked over and spotted me and said "you do know that cheese takes several days to digest so that'll sit like a rock in your stomach for your races?" I did not know that. I don't even know if it's true. I went on to swim my best times at Nationals but who knows? Maybe I would have been even faster had I laid off the pizza?
The next year, I ate nothing but pasta for several days leading up to the plane flight down to Nationals and I got so knotted up the cramps were unbearable. I had to drop my "diet" and just eat a bunch of greasy food like burgers, etc. to make the pain go away. That year I swam my best times EVER.
I remember reading that Mike Barrowman, one of the pioneers of the "wave" motion breaststroke and a person swimming idol, said he would eat nothing but Big Macs before his races. Maybe he had the right idea. I might try that for my next race...
Ah, a man after my own heart. I couldn't agree with your keys to making pizza more. I love a thin crust. Here is a method that I use to make my pizza bases. www.101cookbooks.com/.../001199.html
Syd
Pizza can be a good source of nutrition the day before swimming. In a previous thread, I posted a recipe (below). Recently I tried the pizza with goat cheese and arugula pesto with basil and mint. It was incredible.
The keys to my homemade pizza are: making the crust with part whole wheat flour and part white, rolling it very thin, and baking it on a very hot pizza stone.
Enjoy!
