• Consume liquids, such as a sports drink instead of solid foods like a bagel.
• Decrease the amount of fiber in your daily diet (e.g., limit bran cereal, beans, fruit and salad).
• Reduce or eliminate suspect foods such as coffee or milk.
• Avoid caffeine and high fat foods for at least 3 hours before running.
• Drink plenty of water.  Dehydration can cause diarrhea.
• Use caution with energy gels and bars.  In some people, these products contribute to diarrhea.
• Exercise in the morning before you eat much as opposed to the afternoon
• Eliminate Aspirin, Advil,Motrin or other similar nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
• Experiment with antidiarrheal medication such as Immodium.

Fear of Constipation?

Increase the fiber-rich cereals and breads with plenty of fresh fruits and veges in your diet. Drink warm liquids in the morning to encourage regular bowel movements.

Struggling with Diarrhea?

You need to pinpoint what is triggering the diarrhea. Chart for at least a couple of weeks all of the food and liquid you ingest along with the times you exercise and when you experience the problem.  Be sure to include sugar free gum and candies that contain sorbitol, a type of sugar that can cause GI problems. You should also eliminate other possibly hard to digest foods such as milk, broccoli, onions, corn, kidney beans and sorbitol for a week to see if problems go away.  Then add them back one at a time to find the culprit.

Some athletes, never find the source of the problem and in some cases it is simply too much intense exercise too quickly for newer athletes.  To address this problem, back down the  intense exercise and increase in the training program more slowly so that the body can slowly adapt.

Too Much Carbohydrate?

In a study of trained female cyclists, who did 2 hours of hard cycling, consuming a beverage containing 60 grams of glucose (240 calories) per hour, resulted in the highest amount of carbohydrate being used. When the women drank 90 grams carbohydrate per hour, performance did not improve likely because fuel sat in the stomach unabsorbed and contributed to intestinal distress.  With lower carb intake few women complained of feeling bloated, with water only one complaint.  Perhaps using a variety of carbohydrate would have had even fewer complaints.

Fisher is known best for his passionate team-playing and extreme capacity to outlast his competitors as a team “berserker.” As a lieutenant for many team captains over the years, he routinely destroyed the legs and psyche of other teams, setting up his captains for the win.

In his is cycling career, he earned his first professional mountain bike contract in ’94 (Klein/Powerpost), raced for Dutch top-team Wilton-Snel ’95-’96, earned his first professional road contract in ’97 (OilMe/Klein) and raced for OilMe/Klein (’97-’98), Merlin/Hind (’99), 7-Up (’00), Saturn (’01-’02), and Jelly Belly (’03). In 2011, 8 years after retiring from the professional circuit, Chris won the Michigan Elite RR Championship.

As an Alpine skier, he was a member of Bates College NCAA Div. 1 Alpine ski team from ’87-’91 (captain ’89-’90, ’90-’91) and ski raced at NORAM level through ’93.

Chris is now a level 1 USSA official/certified coach who enjoys sharing his passion and competitive spirit with talented young athletes. He formerly served as assistant Coach to CU Boulder’s USCSA Alpine development team (’03-’04, ’04-’05) and continues to coach soccer, skiing and cycling.

His greatest joy is motivating competitive athletes to use passion as a powerful tool: “Your passion will allow you to push yourself through when you think you can’t, which in turn makes you stronger.”

Contact us if you’d like to train with Chris!

If you know a family with a rising hockey star, please share! Details can be found under the general Hockey pages, with online reservations available to nab a spot!

Athletic Mentors is awarding coaching scholarships to juniors that are planning to compete in triathlon during the 2012 race season.  Juniors ages 14-18 can apply for a scholarship by clicking on this link.

In addition, juniors age 15 – 19 as of  December 31, 2012, can race the sprint distance at the Grand Rapids Triathlon on June 10, where Olympic development scouts will be watching.  The Grand Rapids  Triathlon has been selected as the only race in Michigan to be part of the USA Triathlon Talent ID Series.

So if you do know a young triathlete, please encourage him or her to take advantage of these great opportunities by submitting an application for scholarship and registering for the Grand Rapids Triathlon today!

Check out the reaction to our February clinic in this great testimonial:  

Coming from a competitive swimming background including AAU, USA Swimming, High School and Big 10 Varsity Swimming, I have been coached by some of the best. However, I can’t believe how much science has been put into the sport of swimming over the last 10 years. My stroke needed to change to keep up with the science of the sport. I am now swimming more efficiently and faster than I have in the past 7 years of doing triathlons. With 6 power packed hours of instruction, video analysis, pool pace charts and some new swim workouts I have seen my times drop by over 25%.  This clinic is well worth the price!! – Kevin Cleary

Bike Clinic Video

Just ask Jim Bonnell, who, in his second full cycling season and first year will Kelli Emmett, was able to secure 5 wins and take the podium in the expert 30-39 Mountain Bike class in every race he entered. He capped off the season with a 4th place finish at the Iceman from a 5th wave starting position, and hopes to take advantage of a wave 1 start next season.

“Coaches certainly shorten the learning curve. However, when your coach has competed at the highest level for over 10 years and been trained by various high level coaches, the experience factor is pretty much unbeatable,” Bonnell said of his training time with Emmett.

Bonnell credits Emmett’s insight and assessment skills as setting her apart from ‘ordinary’ coaches.

“Any coach can assign workouts and follow a general workout regime. Kelli is able to understand the strengths and weaknesses of a rider.  Then, focus on how to improve.  I have been able to maintain and improve my strong areas and almost eliminate some relative weaknesses. It seems Kelli has a knack for getting to know an athlete.”

If you’d like to boost your performance and optimize your training time, contact us to be matched with a coach who can take you to new heights!