Hello everyone, my name is Gavin Hodges, I am an adult with PKU in Ireland. I am writing this blog to show that taking part in Triathlon’s is possible while being on a low protein diet.
It was based in Lough Key Forest Park, county Roscommon.
The race consisted of
Firstly, I knew it was important to be hydrated so I used my Vitaflo 1 litre bottle to measure my liquid intake leading up to the event in particular Friday and Saturday prior and then Sunday, the day of the event. I consumed 2 litres each day along with the other fluids I would take on a daily basis, including my PKU sphere shake and cups of coffee.
On Saturday, the evening before the race I made myself a sphere smoothie which consisted of one PKU Sphere 15g vanilla sachet, 1 banana and a 250ml carton of ProZero milk into a blender.
“It’s also important to ensure you have sufficient energy and slow release carbohydrates”. Keeping that in mind Saturday night, for dinner I made a vegetable curry with Mevalia rice.
I don’t usually eat breakfast but leading up to the event I have started to eat in the mornings. It was important that I had a meal before the race so I had a bowl of low protein cereal for breakfast on the morning of the race.
“When I arrived at the event I had a banana and a Mevalia fruit bar approximately 90 minutes before the event to maintain my energy levels". I think the fruit bars are a fantastic race snack and so handy to carry in your pocket, especially on the cycle which was my main opportunity to refuel and rehydrate.
Post race, travelling home I had some Mevalia chocolate chip cookies, again I needed low to no exchange foods to replenish my calorie burn from the race. The workout on my smart watch said that I burned off over 900 calories.
MY KEY TIPS:
It’s said that an average of one in ten thousand babies are born with the rare genetic condition, phenylketonuria (PKU). That’s the equivalent of just nine people in a full capacity Wembley crowd. Yet, despite extreme rarity, and against huge odds, my newly wedded wife, Nichola, and I - both diagnosed at birth - recently celebrated an ‘all PKU’ marriage. Now, with our big day existing only in our memories, these are our tips for organising a PKU wedding:
