When the volume of training increases, it becomes very important to focus on things outside of my workouts.  Good nutrition and solid recovery will enable me to get the most out of my exercise regimen.

Higher volumes of training, mean that I am starting to eat a lot more food.  This is necessary to ensure that I fuel adequately for my workouts.  If I start to feel sluggish during a workout, the first thing that I suspect, is my nutrition.  I ask myself, am I eating enough food and is what I am eating, high quality food?

For dinner this evening, I had a pork chop with fig butter sauce, some green beans and oven roasted potatoes.  I followed that up with some natural greek yoghurt with pineapple and blueberries.  I also had a very small ice cream bar as a treat.  

Tomorrow, I will also eat quite a lot of food.  This is because I need to be ready for my long workouts at the weekend.  I have a two and a half hour bike ride on Saturday, and a one hour and thirty five minute run on Sunday.  This is not a super huge volume weekend, but it is big enough, that I do need to fuel properly ahead of time.

Fueling ahead of time is the key.  It is not enough to have a big breakfast, an hour or so before a long ride or run.  You need to give your body enough time to build up glycogen reserves in your muscles.

I do like the side benefit of endurance training, that I don’t get to skimp on calories.  I get to eat lots of food.  Yes, you cannot go crazy. Equally however, starving yourself, doesn’t work either.