We asked Chris Spink to read and review the second edition of Monique Ryan's Sports Nutrition for Endurance Athletes. Chris, as well as being the Retail Manager of Up & Running and the man behind the coaching at OpportunityClock.com, happens to have a BSc in Sport Science and is an endurance athlete with the odd Ironman to his credit, understands technical stuff like this!

Sports Nutrition for Endurance Athletes is the second edition of an already highly regarded and comprehensive nutritional reference manual for those competing at any level. The benefit to the often-neglected sport of triathlon in this edition is that the author, Monique Ryan, dedicates entire chapters to specific endurance sports, including our own.

However, the book, in trying to be all things to all men and, therefore, quite lengthy, risks the temptation for a busy athlete to skim-read and only dip into sections relevant to their sport. In doing so, they might miss some of the more basic information which is aimed at making permanent lifestyle changes and preventing sports-related illnesses.

That said, if a committed athlete -- particularly age-groupers and those considering half ironman and above -- can get from cover to cover, they should have as much information as they could possibly need to make improvements to their training and racing. There are a number of useful features such as league tables of the best and most nutritious fuel sources, sample menus and shopping lists as well as identifying the definite no-go areas such as trans fats, HFCS (or High Fructose Corn Syrup) and excessive alcohol intake.

There is a downside. As this book was designed for an American audience, readers might have to cut through some of the more localised definitions, US sizes and measures (cups??), jargons and completely alien products (Garbanzo beans for example?!!) but it does allow for sensible nutritional planning without blinding with science or being unnecessarily complex. Just don't expect to see many familiar products listed in the nutritional tables at the back - although they would be useful for athletes racing overseas who wanted to find 'closest match' products to those the use at home.

Tri 247 says: at the very least, this book contains a wealth of information to kick-start an athlete to audit their current nutritional focus. This is an often-overlooked and crucial element of race preparation which can undo hours and hours of aerobic training in an instant. And, if you don't even know what a nutritional strategy is, then this is as good a place to start as any.

Sports Nutrition for Endurance Athletes by Monique Ryan is published by Velo Press. ISBN-10 1-931382-96-4. Available at Amazon, through decent booksellers and even a few enlightened bike and triathlon shops!