Training Table in Your Backpack

Great article that I had gotten while working on an internship in Colorado in 2007. With swimmers moving up, schedules getting busier, as well as our upcoming holiday break and change in daily routine I thought this was important.

Training Table in Your Backpack


Have you ever had a day when you skipped lunch, and then felt weak and lightheaded at practice or training? Have you ever run low on energy during a game, long match or competition because there was nothing around that you wanted to eat? While traveling to a competition, have you eaten food that you usually don’t eat and ended up with a stomachache? If you answered yes to any of these, you already know that leaving nutrition to chance can hurt up your performance. Carrying food with you is one solution to these and other common nutrition problems. World-class athletes have long known that a backpack, gym bag or locker can make a great training table.

1. What To Pack
Basically, the food has got to be sturdy, ready to eat, and not need refrigeration. We’re not talking gourmet meals, but with some planning you can get the energy you need to perform your best.

2. Carbohydrate To Go
Carbohydrates provide fuel for your muscles to work long and hard. High carbohydrate foods and beverages, like breads, muffins, crackers, rolls, doughnuts, bagels, candy, chips, cookies, granola bars, pretzels, popcorn, cookies, cereal, soft drinks, juice and so forth are a cinch to pack, and available from most vending machines and convenience shops. Most athletes don’t have a problem getting enough of these foods.

But other carbohydrates, like fruits and vegetables, are sometimes more difficult to get unless you pack them. Fruits and vegetables are full of the vitamins and minerals that help your body recover from training, and help keep you from getting sick. Pack pieces (apples, pears, bananas, oranges, peaches), sealed containers (applesauce, fruit cocktail, peaches, pears, mandarin oranges, pineapple) or bags (grapes, carrots, celery) of fruits and vegetables in your backpack, bag or locker.

That was easy. The biggest stumbling block for most athletes is, what else to pack. After all, athletes cannot live on carbohydrates alone.

3. Packable Protein
Make sure your portable training table contains food rich in protein. Protein helps repair and build your muscles to help you increase your strength when you train hard. Here are some protein-rich foods to pack.

· Peanut butter, on bread or as a dip for carrots or celery
· Canned tuna, chicken, salmon, sardines
· Beef jerky
· Sealed cheese sticks or cheese slices
· Liquid meals in a can or carton, like Boost or Ensure
· Peanuts, walnuts, almonds, cashews, and other nuts
· Sunflower seeds
· High protein sport bars

If you have a tote with an ice pack or access to a refrigerator, you can pack deli meats, yogurt, cottage cheese, hard-boiled eggs, and other refrigerated protein-rich foods. You can get sick from eating meat, dairy products and eggs that have been at room temperature for more than about two hours. It’s not uncommon to eat spoiled food because it doesn’t always have a bad taste or smell. Many a great athlete has had a performance ruined because of food poisoning. This can be avoided by keeping your cold foods cold.

4. Beverages On The Move
Don’t overlook the obvious. Drinking a variety of beverages over the day helps keep you hydrated. Bottled water, sport drinks, juices and soft drinks are easy to carry, but milk can be more difficult to keep close at hand. If you have a tote with an ice pack, round out your beverage choices with white or chocolate milk.

5. What About Days Of Competition
On competition days, the nutrition goals are to eat enough to feel comfortable, and most importantly, to get enough fluid so that you are hydrated. Pack foods that you usually eat, that agree with you, and that you like. Your eating during a day of competition should be routine and predictable, and carrying food with you makes that a no-brainer.

One very important thing about carrying food with you is that you are in control of what and when you eat. For example, during games, long matches, or competitions, many athletes don’t like to eat large precompetition meals, but instead like to graze, eating every few hours. One way to pack for this is to put your day’s worth of food in individual bags and eat one item every hour or two between sets, games, innings, periods, quarters and so forth. For example, you might pack a handful of grapes in one bag. In another bag you might put a cup of cereal; in another, 4 graham crackers; in another, ½ peanut butter sandwich, and so forth.

6. How Much
A common mistake is not packing enough food. If your day is full from dawn til dusk (or later) and you need to carry food for the whole day, forget the little brown bag. In fact, you may need to dedicate an entire backpack or gym bag to food and drinks to make sure you get enough.

7. Take Charge Of Your Eating
When you meet your opponent, you want the advantage. Part of that advantage lies in not leaving your nutrition to chance. Turning your backpack, gym bag or locker into a training table puts you in control.


Prepared by the U.S. Olympic Committee Sports Medicine Division and the International Center for Sports Nutrition. ©2000 U.S. Olympic Ccommittee

30th Annual Woodie B Malone Recap

Age Group 3

Lifetime Best Times: M Williams, M Boyer, A Renner, J Shields, C LaMastra, R Viersen, L Spratling, R Bentz, A Reiter, H Robison, M Capozzoli, C Gantt, A Cook, A Bernot, K Yao, G Sherman, M McJilton, I Ariail, C Marwitz, C Perry, N Gonzalez, J Hansen, B Lonial, J Von Bibetstein, J Shuford, R Cetron, J Durmer, C Marwitz, F Bettin, J Hedenquist, T Piper, M Ware, I Velarde, J Hull, E Martin, C Tappero, D DeHaven

New Swims: M Boyer, A Renner, C LaMastra, L Spratling, A Bernot, K Yao, M McJilton, J Hedenquist, J Hull, E Martin, L Adams

USA Swimming Motivational "B" Times: M Boyer, A Renner, J Shields, C LaMastra, M Williams, R Bentz, K Yao, G Sherman, J Hansen, B Lonial, I Velarde, L Spratling, L Adams, J Hedenquist, D DeHaven, M Capozzoli, J Hull

USA Swimming Motivational "BB" Times: L Spratling, A Cook, A Bernot, J Shuford, T Piper, M Boyer, R Cetron, L Adams, R Bentz, I Ariail, C Tappero, K Yao, N Gonzalez, E Martin

Age Group State Cuts:
Allie Ann Reiter - 100 Free, 100 Back
Hannah Robison - 100 Free, 100 IM
Caleb Perry – 100 Free
Nicholas Gonzalez – 100 Free, 50 Back
Courtney Gantt – 50 Fly, 100 Fly
Julia Von Biberstein – 50 Fly, 50 Back, 100 Breast, 100 IM
Foster Bettin – 50 Fly, 100 Fly
Emily Ann Martin – 50 Free, 100 Back, 100 Fly
Teo Piper: 50 Free, 200 IM, 50 Breast
Alissa Cook – 50 Breast

USA Swimming Motivational "A" Times: C Perry, A Reiter

USA Swimming Motivational "AA" Times: C Marwitz, C Perry, J Durmer

Age Group Sectional Cuts:
Carl Marwitz – 100 free, 500 Free
Caleb Perry – 50 back, 100 IM, 100 Back
Jeffrey Durmer – 100 breast

USA Swimming Motivational "AAA" Times: J Durmer

Gold Group

Lifetime Best Swims: L Beem, L Hutson, C Langer, Y Smith , M Johnson, H Burdette-Sapp, D Hall, C Staley, P Wang, S Humphrey, N Rotolo, N Shields, A Voloschin, M Rotolo, P Wang, B Curry, M Schickel, M Fennelly, M Young

New Swims: L Beem, L Hutson, C Langer, Y Smith, N Rotolo, A Voloschin, B Curry

USA Swimming Motivational "B" Times: L Beem, M Johnson, D Hall, C Staley, P Wang, L Hutson, M Fennelly, B Fadjariza-Dumais, M Schickel, N Shields

USA Swimming Motivational "BB" Times: Y Smith, N Shields, B Curry, M Schickel, M Rotolo

Age Group State Cuts:
Lauren Hutson: 100 Breast
Yannick Smith: 50 Free
Brooks Curry: 50 Fly

Green Group

Lifetime Best Times: M Li, K Cheng, I Taboada, J McGuire, H Kopelman, W Dillard, W Wright, G Wheeler, A Elhamahmy, P Biondi, C Chernow, M Ariail, S Bettin, L Cryor, C Ficery, C Hughes, J Hull, A Kohler


New Swims: H Kopelman, W Dillard, G Wheeler, M Ariail, L Cryor, C Hughes, P Biondi, W Dillard, J Hull, A Kohler, J McGuire


Total State Cuts/Goals Age Group 3 -

This Does Not include Swimmers/cuts from this summer that do count towards the short course states as long as they do not age up!

Number of cuts/Group Goal --> 110/130
Number of swimmers with a cut/ group goal --> 18/25

^^^^Getting closer!! ^^^^^

A Letter To Swim Parents Pt 5 - Problems, Potential, and Kinetic

The final part of a series of articles written by Michael Brooks from NBAC.

PROBLEMS, POTENTIAL AND KINETIC

UNEQUAL Justice for all? Sometimes parents ask, “Why don’t you treat the kids equally, with one standard for all?” For the same reason that most parents don’t treat their own children exactly the same: because kids have different capabilities, personalities, and motivations, and what works for one child doesn’t work for all.

MEDDLING isn’t coaching. A lot of coaches, especially younger ones, will “overcoach” as a rule, especially at meets. “Overcoaches” are in the kids’ faces all the time, giving them twenty thousand instructions before they race, timing them incessantly during the warm-ups of a championship meet, controlling every little thing. Many parents are impressed by this show of active coaching. However, overcoaching is destructive, at practice and at meets. At practice, swimmers need instruction -- that is agreed. But they also need to be allowed to try things, to find out what works and what doesn’t, to watch other swimmers, with perhaps a few leading questions from the coach. You don’t teach an infant how to walk; he watches you, he tries it, he falls, he falls again and again, and in no time he is charging around the house making mischief. And when you get to a meet, the general rule should be, the less said the better. In a stressful environment, the more information you try to force into a kid’s head at the last minute, the more likely you are to jam his circuits entirely (similar to “cramming” for an exam in school). He will head to the blocks not knowing which way is up. If a coach has been doing the job in practice, the swimmer will know how to swim his race before he gets to the meet. A couple of cues or reminders, and only a couple, and the swimmer can hop on the blocks without his mind cluttered by overcoaching.

TALK to the coach. Communicate your concerns about the program or your child’s progress within it with the coach, not with your child. Never complain about a coach to a child. The last thing a ten year-old needs is to be caught in the middle between two adult authority figures. Further, when you have a problem or concern, please do not head to other parents to complain, head to the coach to discuss. There is nothing guaranteed to destroy a program faster, and to send good (even great) coaches running for the door quicker, than a group of parents sitting together every day in the stands comparing notes about the things they don’t like.

DON’T try to be a swimming expert. With the internet rage, the amount of really bad information available at the click of a mouse is overwhelming. And not being a coach, not being immersed in the sport twenty-four hours a day, not having much historical perspective on technique and training, and generally not knowing where the website you just stumbled onto fits in the jigsaw puzzle of the sport, you are in no position to judge what you find critically.

THERE are no “age group parents” and “senior parents.” There are only swimming parents. Once a portion of the team’s parents begins to think of itself as having a different interest from that of the group as a whole, the team has begun to rip itself apart. The rose bud is not distinct from the rose in full flowering; they are the same things at different stages of development, with identical interests.

KEEP me in the loop. It happens quite frequently that I cannot understand why a swimmer is responding to the training as he is. It seems to make no sense, if we assume that the only variables are the ones that I am in control of in training. Why is he so tired? Why is he so inconsistent? It is easy to forget that everything happening in the swimmer’s life during the twenty-one hours a day when he is away from the pool affects his swimming as much or more than the three hours of training when I am ostensibly in charge. Let me know if there are problems at home or at school that will affect your swimmer’s training and racing performance. You don’t need to give me all the details, but in order to coach your swimmer individually, I have to know what is happening individually.

November Sunday Special Recap

A little delayed, I appologize. There were almost 70 swimmers between the three groups there - which made for some exciting swimming. Out of all 3 groups, there were only 7 DQs! I mention this because that is a low number compared to the number of splashes the swimmers had. Everyone's attention to detail and doing things right in practice is being seen in the meets.

Now on to the stats! Again remember there were a lot of swims to be looked at, if I missed your swimmer on something - please let me know so they may receive the correct acknowledgement!

Green
New Swims: A Altera, C Hughes, C Ficery, K Cheng, I Taboada, S Bettin, P Biondi, C Bell, J Purdy, A Elhamahmy, M Li, C Chernow, G Wheeler

Lifetime Best Swims: S Bettin, A Altera, C Hughes, C Ficery, I Taboada, K Cheng, P Biondi, C Bell, J Purdy, A Elhamahmy, M Li, W Wright, C Chernow, G Wheeler


Gold
New Swims: N Rotolo, C Horlock, H Burdette-Sapp, L Sun, A Warncke, C Langer, M Lee, M Johnson, A Cartwright, C O’Kelley, J Grobety, Y Smith, M Rotolo, B Fadjariza-Dumais, K Chen, M Young, N Shields

Lifetime Best Swims: C Horlock, M Johnson, H Burdette-Sapp, N Rotolo, L Sun, L Hutson, A Warncke, C Langer, C O’Kelley, M Lee, S Humphrey, A Cartwright, K Chen, M Young, Y Smith, T Courtney, J Grobety, N Shields, M Rotolo, B Fadjariza-Dumais, P Johnson,

USA Swimming Motivational “B” Times: M Johnson, C Horlock, L Sun, L Hutson, S Humphrey, M Lee, K Chen, Y Smith, N Shields, M Rotolo, B Fadjariza-Dumais

USA Swimming Motivational “BB” Times: L Hutson, L Sun

Georgia Age Group State Cuts:
Lauren Hutson – 50 Breast

AG3
New Swims: A Bernot, L Spratling, M Capozzoli, C Gantt, A Renner, H Robison, A Reiter, J Shuford, K McGrady, C Tappero, L Adams, G Sherman, R Bentz, I Ariail, R Cetron, M Boyer, J Hedenquist, C LaMastra, M Ware, N Gonzalez, F Bettin, M Chen, B Lonial,

Lifetime Best Swims: C Gantt, G Sherman, J Shuford, R Bentz, H Robison, A Bernot, I Velarde, L Spratling, A Reiter, M Capozzoli, A Renner, L Adams, I Ariail, C Tappero, R Cetron, K McGrady, N Bent, F Bettin, J McGuire, C Perry, M Boyer, W Horlock, JR Hull, C Marwitz, J Hedenquist, T Piper, C LaMastra, M Chen, M Ware, N Gonzalez, J Shields, B Lonial,

USA Swimming Motivational “B” Times: A Bernot, M Capozzoli, A Renner, L Adams, I Velarde, R Bentz, G Sherman, L Spratling, J Shuford, K McGrady, W Horlock, F Bettin, B Lonial, JR Hull, J Hedenquist, C LaMastra

USA Swimming Motivational “BB” Times: G Sherman, R Bentz, I Velarde, A Bernot, C Gantt, H Robison, A Reiter, L Adams, I Ariail, J Shuford, R Cetron, M Boyer, T Piper, C Perry, N Gonzalez

Georgia Age Group State Cuts:
Courtney Gantt – 50 Back
Allie Ann Reiter – 50 Free
Julia Shuford – 100 Breast
Hannah Robison – 200 IM
Caleb Perry – 200 Free
Nicholas Gonzalez – 500 Free, 200 IM
Teo Piper – 100 Fly

USA Swimming Motivational “A” Times: C Gantt, L Spratling, A Reiter

USA Swimming Motivational “AA” Times: J McGuire, C Perry

Age Group Sectional Cuts:
James McGuire – 200 IM
Caleb Perry – 200 IM