Rummaging through some old papers, I found a note scribbled by my doctor about how much protein intake someone should have during heavy training. He said that you should take 0.85 to 1.0 grams/kg of body weight every day, if you’re in a heavy training period.
I weigh about 150 lbs., or 68 kg. Therefore, I should be taking in about 68 grams of protein each day. Looking back on my typical long training day, I’d actually not eat much until after my swim/ride/run – about 8.5 hours later. Then I’d eat a cake of tofu and a bowl of rice, and then a big dinner. But that doesn’t add up 68 grams of protein; it’d often fall short.
For Ironman CDA 2009, I really was training hard on my long days. But my recovery would often stretch out to 4 days where I could not do my normal loads until then. It was not until I started taking extra protein in the form of powder dumped into my normal recovery drink that amazingly my recovery was brought in an astounding 2 days!
I never would have thought that I wasn’t eating enough to recover. Obviously I was wrong. Now I supplement with protein powder in my recovery drink regularly to make sure I get enough protein to repair my damaged muscles, and to make sure I am as fully recovered, in as short a time as possible.