You’ve trained for months, and now race day is less than a week away. At this point, you have done about all you can do to prepare your body with exercise –periodized training runs, HIIT, strength conditioning, pre-habilitation exercises, foam rolling, etc. In these last few days before the big race, it is time to get focused instead on proper pre-event rest and nutrition.
Even if this is your first endurance event, you are probably already aware that you will need to reduce your volume of exercise during the week prior to the race. This is called “tapering.” Most coaches suggest reducing the distance of your runs by half during the week before an event, but maintaining your previous level of exercise intensity. In other words, run half as far at the same pace, not the same distance at a slower one. It is also critically important that you protect both the quantity and quality of your sleep in the days before an event. Do whatever it takes to rest well, as a tired body cannot perform at its best. A good rule of thumb is seven uninterrupted hours of sleep each night. If you have trouble falling asleep, the following suggestions might help: keep a cool temperature in your bedroom, eliminate ambient light as much as possible, avoid carbohydrate within 3-4 hours prior to sleep and caffeine within 8-10 hours of sleep, keep the same bedtime from day to day, and mist your sheets with lavender extract.
Pre-Race Nutrition
Everyone has a slightly different idea about what good nutrition looks like leading up to, during and after an endurance event – probably based on what has worked for them or for their athletes. This will be no different for you, and a certain amount of trial and error will likely be involved in determining what your body best responds to. That said, the time for trial and error has a name: training. Race day is not a good time to experiment. Hopefully, the process of race training has taught you which pre-run meals improve the quality of your performance and which detract; which sports drinks, gel packs or hydration aids you can tolerate and which upset your stomach; and how you can best lug all of this along with you without chafing and/or biomechanical awkwardness. If you haven’t intentionally kept a journal during training, consider implementing this strategy prior to your next event. However, chances are that even without a journal, you know more than you think you do about the conditions under which you best perform. Think about the training runs on which you felt strongest. What did you eat that day, and how did you sleep the night before? If pre-race panic is causing your mind to go blank, take a deep breath and implement the strategy outlined below.
1-2 Days Prior
Your body will require additional carbohydrates during the event. This is why endurance athletes “carbo-load” in the day or two leading up to a run. “Carbo-loading,” however, is not jargon for uncontrolled bingeing on all things starchy. If you have been following a high protein diet, consider adding additional carbohydrates two days prior to your run. If not, adding additional carbs during the 24 hours prior to start time will be enough to adequately bolster your body’s glycogen stores. How much carbohydrate is enough? Aim to consume 60-70% of your calories in the form of carbohydrate on the day prior to your race. In order to maintain your overall caloric intake, offset the additional calories from the increased number of carbohydrates by decreasing your intake of dietary fat. Do not reduce your intake of lean protein.
The Day Before
Aside from increasing your intake of carbohydrates, maintain your overall pattern of eating. If you have been eating three meals and two snacks per day, stick to that pattern. Also, spread your carbohydrate consumption across the day’s intake rather than attempting to consume your body weight in pasta at dinner the night before the race. One large, carbohydrate-heavy meal the night before is likely to disrupt your sleep and leave you feeling bloated and sluggish at the starting line. A better strategy is to have oatmeal and fruit (along with some lean protein) at breakfast, a sandwich on sourdough or a bagel at lunch, and pasta with marinara sauce, vegetables and a grilled chicken breast at dinner. Avoid fat and fiber the day before the event, as both slow digestion. Skip cream sauces with the pasta at dinner and stick to “less gassy” vegetables: tomatoes, squash, green beans, and mushrooms. Skip the broccoli! Above all, on the day prior to the race, get and stay hydrated. Water and sports drinks will be sufficient. Supplementing with additional sodium may be tempting, but can backfire and result in dangerous over-hydration.
The Morning Of
Continue to focus on carbohydrates, lean protein and water, still avoiding fiber and any significant amount of fat. Consume a breakfast of 250-300 calories approximately 2-3 hours prior to the race. A fruit and protein smoothie is a good approach, other authors suggest bagels, bananas, cereal bars and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Avoid dairy if it causes you to feel congested or results in a sour stomach, otherwise low-fat milk and yogurt products are fine. If you aren’t sure how dairy affects you, skip it. Drink coffee if it is part of your normal routine; race day is no-time for a caffeine withdrawal headache. Again, race is day is the worst possible time to try something different. A new, exotic pre-race beverage procured at a pre-race expo is an unknown. Try it out on a training run next week. Today, stick to what works for you.
During the Event
During an endurance event, your body will require 25-60 grams of carbohydrate every hour beginning the second hour of the race. (If you ate a good pre-race meal 2 hours prior to race time, you will not need to fuel during the first 60 minutes). If you know sports drinks will work for you, great. If not, bring whatever gel packs or carbohydrate aids have worked during your training runs and consume them at hourly intervals. Your body is burning up to 700 calories per hour during a race. Now is not the time to think about cutting back. You will also need to consume approximately 8 ounces of fluid every 15 minutes during the event. Dehydration can impair performance by as much as 17%. To maximize your efforts, keep fueled and continue drinking water.
Post-Event Fueling
To begin the process of refueling and repairing the body after a race, consume a meal with a 3:1 carbohydrate to protein ratio as soon as possible after crossing the finish line. Have a friend meet you with your favorite protein powder and IDS waximaize, or in a pinch, chocolate milk. Cheese pizza, which is often offered at the finish line, is also not a horrible choice – it does contain both carbohydrates and protein – but if you’ve been eating really clean, it might also make you sick. Nutrition bars with a 3:1 ratio are also fine, as are bananas and protein drinks.
As soon as you are hungry, eat again – getting back to your prior nutrition plan as soon as possible. Your body will need quality proteins, complex carbohydrates and good fats in order to return to its pre-race levels of health and energy. Finally, congratulate yourself on a job well done, but avoid alcohol on race day. If you are at all dehydrated, alcohol will only set you further behind.
