To compete in one of the toughest endurance races in the world, a triathlete needs a specialized nutrition and training regimen. Professional triathlete champion, coach, and Thorne partner Angela Naeth walked us through her routine and how she trains and prepares for an upcoming competition.

“The demands of my body change throughout the year, depending on my race schedule, travel, and health. I have an awesome team behind me, including the Red Bull High Performance Team. They work with me on specific nutrition through testing and help me determine what my body needs to perform at it’s very best.”

It was through the Red Bull High Performance Team that Naeth was introduced to Thorne.

“Red Bull will occasionally do a comprehensive blood panel on their athletes, which are very intensive. I was introduced to Thorne by their team and my Lyme specialist. Thorne has many supplements that are NSF Certified for Sport.”

Certified for Sport® by NSF International means a Thorne supplement meets exacting standards for purity and safety.

 Currently, Thorne has the most extensive offering of NSF Certified for Sport® products. Doing so is part of Thorne’s mission to provide quality supplements that every athlete at every level can trust. Thorne also provides educational information about how nutritional supplements fit into an athlete’s lifestyle.

Naeth said she’s been using Thorne products for about a year and loves the product line.

Her favorite Thorne products that she currently incorporates into her nutritional regimen includes Amino Complex, Catalyte®, the Thorne Recovery Bundle, and Magnesium Bisglycinate.

Amino Complex enhances recovery from workouts by providing amino acids – including all nine that are not made in the body.* While Catalyte – an electrolyte and energy restoration complex– supports hydration needs throughout the day.*

Thorne’s Recovery Bundle, in addition to Catalyte, consists of two other training recovery supplements. Curcumin Phytosome (formerly Meriva 500-SF) is a curcumin supplement that helps maintain a healthy inflammatory response throughout the body and provides relief from injuries and overuse of muscles and joints.*

And Super EPA – a fish oil supplement – helps maintain a healthy heart, while supporting the normal inflammatory response in muscles and joints.*

Angela also takes advantage of Thorne’s at-home test kits to uncover personal health insights so she can confidently take the steps to optimize her health.

“With Thorne’s help, I have looked at their at-home testing for heavy metals in my system. Their at-home test kit has provided insights about the levels of heavy metals in my body and includes a personalized plan to support my body nutritionally.”

Training and nutritional regimen

To train for an upcoming triathlon, Angela’s typical day begins at 6:00 a.m., and after getting prepped for the day she begins her first training session, which is usually swimming.

Then she has breakfast and focuses on her coaching tasks, before jumping into a bike ride or a run, or sometimes a “brick” – back-to-back workouts of biking and running. Overall, Angela’s training routine can last two, four, or even six hours at a time.

“Sometimes it’s a weekly process. I’ll have one easy day, then three hard days, then an easy day, and then two hard days on the weekend. So my Mondays and Fridays are less intense and it just builds on itself every week.”

To fuel all that training, Naeth says she focuses on eating food throughout the day.

“The biggest thing is to fuel my workouts, so I eat a lot of easy carbs prior to a workout – things like breads and cereals, which are really easy for me to digest. Then during a workout, I use the same kind of fueling I use in a race. So a lot of that is carbohydrates, salt, and water – basically all combined together, so sports drinks and stuff like that.

And then after, I usually have a recovery shake, which is like a four-to-one ratio of carbs to protein.

From there it’s about getting really good food in me. So my whole thing is to have a nutritious salad each day or something similar to that. That usually comes at dinner depending on how my day goes.

But I also snack a lot because I don’t have any big meals. I like to make sure I’m always fueled up. I also eat lots of nuts and seeds, and I’m a big proponent of protein, because I take so much carbohydrates in for training.”

Hard work pays off

After being diagnosed with Lyme Disease early in 2018, Naeth went from being barely able to walk to finishing eighth in the Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.

It is a highlight of what amounts to an already amazing career as a professional triathlete.

Naeth has raced and won numerous Ironman and “70.3” events – a race in which the swimming, biking, and running totals 70.3 miles. Angela has more than three dozen 70.3 podium finishes, and she was the 2014 Chattanooga Champion and the 2015 North American Ironman Champion.

After she was named “TMC Elite Triathlete of the Year” and “Triathlon Canada Multisport Athlete of the Year” in 2018, we asked Naeth what 2019 has in store for her.

“I’m really excited for this year. My goal is to get back to Kona and really put my best foot forward there and see what happens.”