Strange Rituals

Dave Bruylants and Luc Van Den Broeck are now official suppliers for the Katucha Cycling Team and for Geert Wellens, who became Belgian Champion just over a week ago. And so Concap seem to have their hands full: the office is stacked from floor to ceiling with flyers, posters and literally hundreds of boxes. On of the boxes has ‘Marathon Man’ written on it. Luc Van Den Broeck explains: “We got a call from Stefaan Engels (do check out Stefaan’s incredible project: www.marathonman365.be. Stefaan is now at his 16th conecutive marathon in 16 days, only 249 to go ... – Peter). Stefaan was starting to feel a bit tired and his doctor asked us for some specific supplements”. Dave adds: “I hope he’ll be alright, but it is a very, very tough goal that he set for himself, both phisivally and mentally. Once we have found some space amidst the boxes and plastic bottles, I am offered Concap Green Tea with non-refined sugar and some fine Concap fondant chocolate, packed with anti-oxidants. The following hour-and-a-half or so, is one of the most memorable experiences in my life. For the ‘kinesiology tests’, Dave wants me to hold small bags, containing all sorts of nutrician components in my left hand (I am a right hander). At the same time, he wants me to clinch my right thumb and index finger as firmly together as I can. Then, every time that he puts a new bag in my left hand, he tries to unlock the clinched fingers on my right hand. Depending on what I have in my left hand, he succeeds in doing this with remarkable ease, or not at all. It looks weird and it’s a really strange experience. When Dave unlocks my thumb and index finger with almost embarrassing ease, I ask for a second chance, feeling that I haven’t put up enough of a fight. But the results stay the same at every second try that I ask. “Is this one of those thing that you have to believe in, fort it to work”, I ask? Luc smiles: “It’s not about ‘things that you have to believe in’”, he says “It’s about facts. Facts that you can either recognize or deny. But eitherways the facts will remain the same. So no, you don’t have to believe in this. But we can meet again in a month or so, and then we can talk about results”. In the mean time, Dave has taken a look at my blood levels: “Your hematocrit is low, you lack iron. You should ask you’re doctor for some folium acid and iron injections. Also, a no-meat diet doesn’t work for you. You often don’t get enough recovery from a night’s sleep, and lower back pains, superficial as well as profound are a real problem during long rides and during the run afterwards. Kine and osteopathy have somewhat improved the problem, but not as well as they should have. And your stomach is often a problem when you race or train. How am I doing so far?” I am in awe. The sleep recovery remark is spot on. And so are the comments about the back and stomach trouble. Even though I am a fairly strong runner, with a marathon PR of 2:41, the back pains seem to drain all the energy from my legs from the first meters of the marathon leg on. “Glutes” says Dave, “are what’s causing the problems. Most of your back pains have to do with digestion. You should derive more carbohydrates from potatoes and rice than from pasta. Pasta might work for others but not fro you. If you want pasta, go for ‘Spelt’. Bake your own bread with ‘Spelt’ flour, try not to drink milk too often, or replace it by rice milk. Don’t go for soy milk either. If you keep that up, and we add some kine, you’ll get rid of the back pains completely. If you stay away from glutes you should improve your times significantly, even without training harder or better”. While Dave is pointing this all out to me, Luc is putting together my supplements. I get six bottles. Plus one bottle of tailor-made capsules they will send to me as soon as it’s ready. Luc is making notes on the print out sheets with my blood results. “These are the levels that I expect to see on the next results, in six weeks”. He writes them down. “Can I take these with me”, I ask, “I’d like to compare your predictions with the next results”. “Of course you can”, replies Dave. And next time around I’ll invite Bart and Geert Wellens and maybe (elite pro-rider and cyclo-crosser) Jan Verstraete. And then we can take the bikes out for a spin, ok?” As I’m walking back to the station, I’m still not too sure what to make of all this. But still it feels almost like I’ve discovered some kind of medicine man or a secret weapon. As soon as I get on the train, I take all my supplements for that day. And I record a note-to-self: “Get Spelt”…  

How Dave Bruylants and Luc Van Den Broeck awed me with strange rituals and some spot-on analysis.