Joanna Rowsell Shand Etape Preparation – June Blog

With less than 4 weeks to go until the Etape du Tour – 178km in the French Alps on 16th July which follows the route of stage 18 of the Tour de France…

…I’ve been continuing to mix up my riding with a combination of road riding, mountain biking and some leisurely group rides, including the HSBC UK City Ride in Birmingham.

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Enjoying closed roads during HSBC City Ride in Birmingham.

The longest ride I’ve done is 4.5 hours (114km). It had probably been over a year since I’d last ridden for that long, as in the build up to the Olympics I was spending most of my time on the track.

I have always loved riding my bike in the sun so the current warm weather hasn’t been putting me off. I also decided it is good heat acclimation ahead of the trip to France, so I’ve been trying to make the most of it when I can!

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Recent high UK temperatures have hopefully helped me acclimatise for the alps.

The heat has also got me thinking about my nutrition and hydration planning ahead of the event, so I wanted to share some of my thoughts. I am not a nutritionist but these are some of the things I’ve learnt throughout my career. Planning nutrition and hydration is incredibly important. You can do all the training but if you don’t eat or drink correctly all of that training could have been for nothing.

  1. Start the day hydrated

This is the best bit of advice I have learnt throughout my career – start the day already optimally hydrated! This means I will be making sure I stay well hydrated as I travel out to France. I will be arriving on the Friday ahead of the Etape on the Sunday so it would be easy at this point to become dehydrated during the travel day and the first day out there. Sipping little and often is best and I will be using either electrolyte hydro tablets added to water or pineapple juice which I have found to be really good. Being optimally hydrated will be my main focus the day before the Etape – the training will all be done by that point, but hydration can make an important difference.

  1. Eat well the night before

I will eat a good meal the night before but I won’t be eating an especially large plate of food. I will instead be focusing on a balanced meal with some good quality carbohydrate and protein. I tend to avoid bread and red meat but that is very much personal preference.

  1. Make sure you’ve got a good breakfast

I love my breakfast and even if I’ve got a very early start I will always get up just that little bit earlier so I can enjoy my breakfast! When travelling I always take some oats with me or porridge pots to which I can just add hot water in case there is nothing suitable where I’m staying. I will also aim to have some protein with my breakfast.

  1. Start eating early

I plan to start eating in the first hour of the Etape and continue to eat little and often, aiming to eat something every 30 mins. I like a combination of real food as well as some energy gels later on. I wouldn’t recommend trying something new on the day of a big event so make sure you have tested in training and know your stomach will be happy with it!

  1. Stay hydrated!

An obvious one but sometimes we all need reminding! I plan to drink electrolyte drinks throughout the ride.

I am off to Italy next week for a holiday with Freewheel Holidays which will include some bike riding every day so should be a good chance for me to get some more miles in before the big day in July!

Good luck everyone and see you in Briançon.

Jo

The post Joanna Rowsell Shand Etape Preparation – June Blog appeared first on Sports Tours.



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