AM swimming
As I have not been in the pool in 10 months, I spent a year working my run, I jumped in yesterday for a swim. I think me and the pool made up on or fighting.
So I will be an AM jumping out of the bed swimmer kind of guy. Those who do that, what do you eat/drink before get to the pool? I'm use to eating breakfast then 2 hours later training however due to pool hours I will have to get up and get moving. Any suggestions? Coffee is a must
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I roll out of bed at 5:30 and start swimming at 6:05. I don't need coffee, but I'll eat a Power Bar Performance Bar before, then a proteinshake immediately after, and 30-45 mins later a normal breakfast (w/ coffee!). Works well for me.
I've spent decades swimming early morning, first on HS and college teams, then on the way to work. I would always eat my standard breakfast, which these days is 10 oz OJ, oatmeal + raisins and blueberries, and maybe two slices of bacon. I'm not a coffee drinker, so can't comment on that. Given the need to drive and put on swim outfit, it's usually 30-45 minutes after eating that I start swimming then 10-15 minutes of easy warm-up. By the time I hit any hard work, I rarely notice any effect from having a "full" stomach. Without the pre-wko fuel, I would certainly fade away about two hours afterwards, even if I stoked up on recovery eating.
You've been fasting for 8-12 hours by the time you wake up; adding a significant physical effort onto that right away does not put you in a great place to continue at full force the remainder of the day. I suppose caffeine may fool people into thinking they're OK, but remember what nutritionists tell us - the bulk of our calories should be in our bodies by the end of lunch.
David,
I typically eat something but not a full breakfast, banana and toast. I try to shy away from a power bar or gel as we get enough of these throughout the course of a year. I do also take a bottle of sports drink as well. I don't use this on the pool edge just consume about 1/2 on the drive and then have it ready for after. I can be up at 5:30-5:40 and in the pool by around 6am.
I don't drink coffee so can't comment on that.
The issue is that I get done work late 1130 -1200 most nights. With my travel home about 30 min taking the dogs out and relaxing a bit I get to bed around 1 AM. The pool closes at 930. I prefer to have a least 7 hours sleep which brings me to an 8 AM wake up call. With taking out the dogs grabbing a bite to eat commute to the pool, it's about 2 miles, hit the pool deck by 845 or so, it does not leave much time.
I may have to reduce my sleep time to get up earlier workout then take a nap before I go to work at 2 PM. I don't want my 4th sport of sleep to suffer as that is just as important as training to me.