What can cause diarrhoea following adventure/multisports racing?

My daughter, Myra, following a particularly muddy
mountain bike race several years ago.

I spent the last two days variously on the floor, in bed and on the toilet.  While in this prostate state, I meticulously dissected everything I had eaten.  

"Why was it that I was the only member of the family to be struck down with violent diarrhoea?"

Nothing that we had eaten could, reasonably, have given any of us food poisoning.

The only explanation was my having competed in a multi sports race in the 24 hours before I was struck down.  My partner, Alofa, competed in the same race and she is well.  So, maybe it was not the race?  Or was it?  I think it was the race.

The race was run in muddy conditions.  It began with a 30 or so kilometer mountain bike race with the first 10km being a flat drag race along the Western Bank of the Hutt River, a very popular dog exercising area, before entering the very hilly Belmont Regional Park.  

My race tactics were different to Alofa's in one very important way:  I went out with the lead bunch and wore a pair of wrap-around glasses so that I could sit on the wheels of the lead riders despite their rooster tail or muck.  Alofa went out much more conservatively and avoided the rooster tails.  Once we hit the hills I dispensed with the glasses with most of the muck from now on going up my back, rather than in my face.  It worked well except it came at the cost of infection!

I have ridden that Hutt trail a number of times and one thing that is notable is the dog poop.  And we all know that dog poop, more than sheep and cattle poop, harbours many nasty bacteria and other bugs!  I got a good dose of mud in my mouth - mud that, in places, was presumably contaminated with doggy-doos!

I am in recovery now but the episode has left me feeling very, very weak and tired and my weight has dropped by 3Kg which is a lot, proportionally, when my healthy weight is just 63Kg!

I would be interested to know if any other multi sporters who competed in the Crazyman or similar events, who have suffered similarly.

About this website 

The advice in these articles is given freely without promise or obligation. Its all about giving you and your family the tools and information to take control of your health and fitness.

Candida and Fungal Infections? Gary Moller recommends you explore this programme: Click Here!

2012 Upper Murray Multisports Challenge Results - Its official - We have the records!

Its taken me a while, folks: The results of the Upper Murray Challenge are now out and its official: The Moller Brothers hold the event record and my brother, Gordon, the record for the run section of the race.  

Source: http://www.uppermurraychallenge.com.au/

Gordon Moller setting a course record
despite appalling conditions

Now, here's the facts:

• These records were set during the worst conditions of the 10 year history of the race.  The wet, cold conditions with mud and slush underfoot made for tough going.
• I can never recall a team of amateurs winning one of these races outright.  These races are always dominated by the young, hardened professionals who train and race full time.  My brother Gordon is an over-worked dentist, Bruce is a full time engineer.  All three of us are over 50 years old.  I am in my 60th year.
• In order of the relay: I finished fourth in the mountain bike, Bruce fourth in the paddle and Gordon ran a real burner to bring us home in first place.
• In this race, we got our noses in front of Australia's two best multisports athletes - Jarad Kohlar and Luke Haines.

How did three ageing amateurs manage to do it?  Well, I will not speak directly about Gordon and Bruce, but here is a clue: http://blog.garymoller.com/2011/07/more-about-reversing-cardiovascular.html

About this website 

The advice in these articles is given freely without promise or obligation. Its all about giving you and your family the tools and information to take control of your health and fitness.

Moller Brothers dominate 2012 Upper Murray Multisports Race

Jarad Kohlar, winner of the individual race
and 2nd overall. He did it the hard way.
We shared the load - So good one
Jarad!
Photo: Tara Ashworth

Gordon Moller taking out the 2012 race in
 record time despite the horrific weather.
Way ahead with nobody else in sight.
Photo: Tara Ashworth

If you ever wanted proof that most of what we regard as being the inevitable consequences of getting old is simply not true, it is the performance of the Moller Brothers (Gordon, Bruce and Gary) in this year's Upper Murray Challenge (Snowy Mountains Australia).

We won the race outright, beating the two best individual Australian multisporters of recent years (Jarad Kohlar and Luke Haines) into 2nd and 3rd placings respectively.

In doing so, we set new course records in the Open Team and Veteran Team divisions and Gordon broke the run section record which was astonishing given the slippery and muddy conditions.  Gordon, was the only runner to break two hours for the grueling mountain run. He hammered that leg of the race finishing in record time way ahead of the next runner!

We were about an hour ahead of the next Veteran Team and about 40 minutes ahead of the first Open Team.

I finished the mountain bike section in 4th place overall, Bruce brought us up to 2nd place with an impressive paddling performance and then Gordon astonished every one by mowing down Jarad during the mountain run.  I think this is the first time that a team has won the event outright.  The pros, like Jarad and Luke have always dominated the race.  Until now, that is.

Lining up for a wet, cold start.

What the results don't tell you is this:  

A very wet, cold and muddy Moller!

We set these course records in the worst conditions of the ten year history of the event.  It rained all day, making the mountain bike and run a treacherously slippery slog and there was the possibility of the kayak section being cancelled for safety reasons.  Thankfully it was not.

When you look at the results below, you will note that Luke had a bad day.  It was tough out there and Luke looked hypothermic by the end of the paddle leg.  It is to his credit that he hung in there to the end to take 3rd place overall.  Jarad ran a phenomenal race when you consider the conditions.

Now, here's the interesting thing:

The best photo of Bruce - Sorry Bruce, we weren't
going to hang around in the rain just for you!

As we get older, we are getting faster

All three of us are over 50.  I am 59 next week.  My own aerobic performance has improved by about 20% over the last five years.  Despite the atrocious weather, Gordon and Bruce smashed their times as compared to last year, or the year before.  These should be declining.

A good athlete is a healthy person

From about age 28 there begins a gradual decline in aerobic power by the factor of 0.001 per year.  So, by age 50 the average person has about half the aerobic potential that they had in their 20's.  The faster this decline, the sooner we start falling to pieces and the sooner we die.  Sounds depressing eh?

The big question is this:

How much of this decline in performance is due to uncontrollable ageing 

and how much is due to controllable factors?

What the Moller Brothers are demonstrating is this:

Most of the decline that we attribute to uncontrollable ageing is, in fact, controllable

For more about this fascinating topic, please take a few minutes to read this article and the others that are linked to it.
http://blog.garymoller.com/2011/06/cardiovascular-disease-arteriosclerosis.html

Here are some screen shots from the Upper Murray Challenge results pages:

http://www.uppermurraychallenge.com.au/

Here are some of the race records as at 2011 (2012 yet to be
updated).  We did it in 5:32 this year.  Not too bad
when you consider the weather!

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About this website

The advice in these articles is given freely without promise or obligation.  Its all about giving you and your family the tools and information to take control of your health and fitness.

Why I am getting rather fed up with multisports races

Photo: Tara Ashworth

 Have a look at the two photos to the right.

Spot the difference

That's right: No winner's tape in the first photo!

Here's my earlier article about the Upper Murray race:

http://blog.garymoller.com/2012/10/moller-brothers-dominate-2012-upper.html

The first photo is of my brother, Gordon, winning the 2012 Upper Murray Multisports race outright, in the worst conditions ever and doing so in record time.  Breaking the vet teams record, the open teams record and the run section record.

The second photo is of super athlete, Jarad Kohlar, finishing in second place to win the individual mens.

Now Jarad ran an incredible race and I don't want to detract from his win, but the difference of the reception given to Jarad as compared to Gordon insulted me.

(This article is my opinion - not that of my two brothers).

Photo: Tara Ashworth

As Gordon came into view there was a bustle of excitement as someone cried out, "Here comes the first runner!"  The reporters grabbed their equipment and the time-keepers readied the tape.

Then the Race Director said, "No its not the winner, its only a team runner".  The reporters put their cameras away.

I yelled out, "No, its not just a runner, its my brother, Gordon, and he's in the lead".

One photographer, Tara Ashworth, (bless her) said something like, "I don't care who it is, I'm getting this" and positioned herself.

So, Gordon came in with just a few claps and congratulations, mostly from his team mates.  We hung around and waited for Jarad to come through and congratulated him shortly after.

Jarad got the works, cameras flashing and videos whirring, as well as the sponsors tape.  While he did the usual glad-handing and media interviews, we decided it was time to leave and go have a shower.

That was that.  Bit of an anti-climax if you ask me.

Here's the key points about our performance:

• We broke three records in the worst conditions in the ten year history of the competition.
• We beat the two pro athletes who have almost completely dominated the competition from its inception.  As far as I can tell, a team has never beaten the individual Pros - until now.
• We are three brothers, all over 50, who work full time and do this sport as a past time.

Read the news article and you will see a brief mention about us towards the end: http://www.bordermail.com.au/story/382456/gallery-mud-sweat-and-cheers/?cs=54

Have a look at the photos towards the end.  You will see one of Gordon as he crossed the line and then several of Jarad.  You can see where all the accolades were directed, can's you?

They got the story wrong.  The headline should have been this:

"Grandad Brothers beat the Pros and smash course records in appalling conditions"

I am not a publicity hound.  What I do expect is fair recognition of a creditable effort, especially after coming all the way from New Zealand to do their race.  

I did feel insulted at the end of the race by the way our performance was dismissed and I felt for Gordon as he flew across the line after hammering out a record run time in cold, muddy and slippery conditions.  He got nothing other than a few claps and possibly a hand shake, but I did not see one.  There was no schmoozing up to him, or any of us.  Not that we wanted any - just due credit for a good performance.

Just to be fair, the Race Director went some way to make up for things at the prize-giving, but the damage had already been done as far as I was concerned.

I wrote this article a few months ago:

http://blog.garymoller.com/2012/06/as-i-get-older-i-feel-more-and-more.html

It started with this quotation:

"...if you’re going to split the men and women into two separate pools for each grade, and then congratulate the winners, shouldn't you also be congratulating the winning women?"

Things do not change do they?

I think I'll do a different race next year.

Here's my earlier article about the Upper Murray race:

http://blog.garymoller.com/2012/10/moller-brothers-dominate-2012-upper.html

_______________________________________

About this website

The advice in these articles is given freely without promise or obligation.  Its all about giving you and your family the tools and information to take control of your health and fitness.

Its official: Moller Brothers are the Australasian Veteran Team Multisports Champions

Gordon in winning form

Gary showing good race form

Gary again in great form!

My partner, Alofa, 3rd in the vet women's
 30km mountain bike race - Got to give her
a plug for a great performance!

We (Bruce, Gordon and Gary) contested the Veteran Teams event of the Australasian Multisports Championships, held in Rotorua Over Queen's Birthday weekend and we won!

We contested these championships last year but as Open Men in which we finished a creditable 4th overall.  This year was much tougher due to the fields being over twice their previous number (Well over 1,000 in total).  We were delighted to finish about 5 minutes in front of the next vet team.

Last year we completed the three disciplines (Kayak, mountain bike and mountain run) in just over 3 hours and ten minutes.  This year we knocked the same course out in 3 hours and three minutes.  Not bad when you consider that all three of us are over 50 (I am about to turn 59).  In addition to being the only team made up of brothers, we were the oldest team by far.

For the record, we have dominated the veterans races of multisports in New Zealand and Australia over the last 5 years.  This is as either three man or two man teams.  We hold most, if not all, of the veteran teams records in all the races we have contested.  We have been beaten only once and this was by one second after our paddler, Bruce, went for a boondoggle over some mud flats, squandering a substantial lead (He has since made amends for this blunder).

At our ages, we should not be getting faster.  We should be getting slower.
My cycling results are interesting to examine:

• I was the fastest biker of the 40+ year olds.
• Last year I covered the 30km of mostly single track in 1hr 33m 49sec (18.7km/hr).
• This year I covered the same course in 1hr 25m 32sec (21.2km/hr).
• That means, when I finished, I was about 2.5km ahead of where I was as compared to last year.

Contributing factors to a fast time this year were the course being dry and my new bike.  However; neither can explain, in full, the substantial improvement in performance.  I put the bulk of the improvement down to the ongoing application of nutrition science, therapeutic massage and smart training.

_______________________________________

About this website

The advice in these articles is given freely without promise or obligation.  Its all about giving you and your family the tools and information to take control of your health and fitness.

Moller Brothers 4th in Australasian Multisports Championships Open Teams Race

Gordon Moller on fire!

Yes, we came fourth in the Australasian Multisports Championships held in a very wet Rotorua over Queen's Birthday Weekend.  We were delighted for two reasons:

1. As brothers (Bruce, Gordon and Gary) our family was selected over 50 years ago by our parents Maisie and Gordon Moller. 
2. Our team members are all over 50 years of age.  By far the oldest in the team; but still competitive.

The performance of the day has to be awarded to Gordon who flew around the running course at a blistering pace.  It could be said that Bruce and I put in solid performances.  I could have had a better day, starting the 30 km mountain bike leg by sliding out on the first corner and spraining my right ankle in the process!  Wrong tyre selection for the conditions.

So, why are the Moller Bros appearing to defy the inevitable ravages of ageing?  Many say it must be in the genes.  I scoff at that suggestion.  The answer lies in smart training and applying good nutrition science. This is explained in many of the articles that are posted on this Blog.

_______________________________________

About this website

The advice in these articles is given freely without promise or obligation.  Its all about giving you and your family the tools and information to take control of your health and fitness.  Please give me your support by subscribing to my free email updates. Please shop at my Online Store. Please encourage your family and friends to do the same. While we may not always be able to compete with the big operators on price, we aim to more than compensate through personal service!

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Do you have a question?  Email Gary: gary@myotec.co.nz. Include any relevant background information to your question.  Please be patient and be aware that I may not be able to answer every inquiry in detail, depending on workloads (My paying clients take precedence!). I will either reply by email or, most likely, by way of an article (Personal identifying details will be removed before publication).

Here's a multi sports race in Australia worth doing: Snowy Hydro Upper Murray Challenge

Image via Wikipedia

Khancoban-Corryong, Australia
Saturday, 2 October 2010

Don't put it off any longer, join with some friends, enter a team and experience the amazing camaraderie between all competitors and make Saturday 2nd October 2010 the date to experience the combination of a realistic challenge, great prizes, showbag, food and true country hospitality.

Visit www.uppermurraychallenge.com for all the details. With only 7 weeks to Saturday 2th October, entries are flooding in for 8th running of the classic Snowy Hydro Upper Murray Challenge, which is widely regarded as Australia’s most scenic and challenging one-day multisport course, from Khancoban to Corryong.

Upper Murray Challenge - Entries now open!

Gary: Here's an event worth doing.  We (Gordon, Bruce and I) did it last year and an intend doing it this year.  Great atmosphere, wonderful community support and a challenging course.

11 Chinook Cres

Mooroolbark 3138

May 2010

The organising committee for the 2010 Snowy Hydro Upper Murray Challenge invites you to the magnificent Upper Murray for this year’s event, to be held on Saturday the 2nd of October.

Moller Brothers Win "Over 40 years" team race in 2010 Porirua Grand Traverse in record time

That makes four starts in the last 12 months, four wins and three course records in the over 40 year old teams duathlon and triathlon categories in three of the best multisports races in New Zealand and Australia.

The latest was the Porirua Grand Traverse last weekend in which we were defenders of the over 40 years triathlon and course record holders.  Each of us (Bruce, Gary, Gordon - photo) completed our respective legs faster than ever. 

The outstanding performance of the day was Bruce who paddled the course a full 15 minutes faster than last year to come in well under one hour and in second fastest paddler on the day!

We broke our previous M40 record by a staggering 20 minutes, finishing 6th fastest out of the entire field.

How much vitamin C should an athlete take to avoid colds?

It is the common experience of many athletes to finish an exhausting event like a marathon or iron man triathlon and feel surprisingly good; only to crash several days later going down with a virus an injury like tendonitis or feeling very depressed and tired or all of the latter. This may be fully or partially due to the delayed effects of the extreme oxidative stress suffered during the exhausting exercise (This can be either from competition or heavy training). In many cases, such as multiday events there is the added stress of sleep deprivation which hammers one's immune system.

"A practical way to reason is that, if a person carrying out heavy exercise feels that he or she has colds too often, he or she could (should?) try vitamin C.

The doses have been about 0.5 to 2 grams per day in the controlled trials and that kind of doses are safe for ordinary people (and cheap). In the US nutritional recommendations they consider that safe range goes to some 2 g/day. That is a conservative limit in my opinion, but with the current knowledge, I do not think it makes much sense to use substantially larger doses even though I consider them safe.

If we assume that the oxidative stress caused by the marathon would b protected against by higher vitamin C levels in the body, I think that the time scale would be initiation a few days before and continuing a few days after the marathon (one or two times per day I would think)". Harri

(Excerpt from correspondence between Gary Moller and Harri Hemilä, MD, PhD,Department of Public Health,University of Helsinki, Finland. Dr Hemilä is one of the world's leading researchers into the benefits or otherwide of substances like vitamin C and vitamin E).

Dr Hemilä's impressive work in this area makes fascinating reading.

With what we know about free radicals and how they are generated during exhasting or intense exercise, it would make good sense to anticipate excessive oxidative stress to your body and take preventive measures, if you are doing heavy training or have an exhausting competition coming up. This migh also apply to work and personal situations that may be emotionally as well as physically exhausting.

Using Dr Hemilä's advice as our guide, here is my guidance:

• If you are doing exhausting training take 1-2,000mg of vitamin C per day
• If you have a history of frequent colds, take towards the upper level (2,000mg)
• Take 2,000mg per day over the 2 days before an exhausting competition and for 2 days afterwards
• If you are taking Wagner Ester C, then you could reduce these guidelines to 50% and you will probably get the same protection or still better.
• Regardless of vitamin C supplementation, take a daily Super Smoothie that has red berries and whey protein added and eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables.
• Go to sleep before 11pm every night and be out of bed by 7am
• Get plenty of sunlight on your body to boost your vitamin D levels. Get a blood test of your levels.
• An athlete requires more minerals and B group vitamins than most
• Other antioxidant food extracts like high potency garlic extracts could be added to the diet
• Have recovery days within your training schedule and take 3-5 days rest after an exhausting competition like a marathon.

I will be posting some guidelines about use of vitamin E which is currently a confused and controversial matter.

Even more feedback from happy campers - running and iron man

"Hi Gary,
You probably won't remember me but last year I emailed you for advice about training for my first marathon at Rotoura. You got me started in plenty of time and gave me some valuable advice about supplements being a 'mature' starter. Anyway I made the journey in a good time of 5hrs with no injury and a big smile on my face loving every minute of it. It's only as I started to look for the date of next year's marathon that I realised I'd never said thank you.

After Rotorua I decided to follow my real passion triathlon and 10 days ago completed my first Iron Man in WA in 13hrs 49mins 45sec. Despite having a coach in tow now I still follow much of that initial advice you gave me which was invaluable on the big day, temperatures reached the mid-30s and heat and me just don't go, but with all the good advice I survived, in fact more than survived, I was buzzing.

I still don't consider myself a natural runner and I'm not fast, but good advice such as yours has made me a very happy runner who can sustain reasonable speed and fitness over long distances and remain relatively injury free. I just wanted you to know how greatful I am for your advice."
"A"