Gatorade Helps Reality TV Star to Improve His Triathlon Performance
I recently had the opportunity to talk with Ryan Sutter, a 37 year old firefighter and former pro football player, who runs triathlons and marathons. Ryan ran a 3:20:39 in the 2010 NYC Marathon and who finished the 2010 Ironman Lake Placid in just over 11 hours. He finished 13th in his age group the 2011 Xterra USA Championship triathlon.
Ryan is the star of a 12-part web series called Inside Endurance, produced by Gatorade, showing how sports nutrition can help improve your performance in endurance events. You may recognize Ryan from the reality TV show, The Bachelorette.
Ryan had struggled in past events with muscle cramping, dehydration, and “bonking”. Gatorade offered him the opportunity to go through a battery of tests at the Gatorade Sports Science Institute (GSSI) to help him to understand how his body burns fat and carbohydrates and to develop a fueling and hydration plan for future events.
At the GSSI, Ryan had his body fat measured in the Bod Pod (6’ 1”, 185 lbs, 6.5% bodyfat), had his resting metabolic rate measured, and completed a FatMax test to determine his V02max and to measure the proportion of fat and carbohydrates he burns at various levels of exertion.
The tests determined that Ryan is primarily a carbohydrate burner and that he needs to consume 30-60 g of carbohydrates/hr during endurance events in order to maintain a high level of performance.
One of the things that GSSI Director Asker Jeukendrup worked with Ryan on was to help him train his intestinal tract to absorb more carbohydrates during an event. By gradually increasing the amount of carbohydrates you consume during practice sessions, you can increase your ability to take in carbohydrates during races, while preventing stomach upset.
I have embedded the video of the Inside Endurance episode involving Ryan’s testing session below.
As a result of the time that he spent at the GSSI, Ryan said that he is actually drinking less before events, but that his sports drink consumption is more precisely timed. He drinks a full bottle of Gatorade G Series Pro 02 Perform about 2 hours before his events to stay well hydrated, then drinks a pouch of Gatorade G Series Pro 01 Prime about 15 minutes before the event to make sure that his carbohydrate stores are topped off.
After his events, he drinks Gatorade G Series Pro 03 Recover to help refuel and repair his muscles with carbohydrates and protein. Ryan credits the “delicious” tasting Recover drink with having the biggest impact on his training, by helping him to recover quickly from tough workouts and be ready to hit it hard again the next day.
As part of the Inside Endurance web series, Ryan has had the chance to work with Ironman Champion Michellie Jones, who gave him some tips on hill running and swimming technique. He has also gone on a 3 hour bike ride with Chris Legh, another Ironman Champion. Chris provided Ryan with some tips for interval training and aerobic threshold training on the bike.
Ryan’s job as a firefighter allows him a lot of time for training. He works a 2 days on/4 days off schedule. During his 2 days on, he is at the fire station 24 hours a day. During the downtime between fire calls, he is able to fit in some workouts in the fire station’s gym. On his 4 days off, he is able to do the running, biking, and swimming workouts that he needs to help him compete in triathlons.
Ryan’s next big event is the New York City Marathon on November 6. He hopes to finish in between 3:15 and 3:20.
Update: Ryan Sutter finished the ING New York City Marathon in 3:17:56.
You can follow Ryan’s progress in the Inside Endurance episodes at this link.
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