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Pre-Race Eating

Posted: September 28, 2007

Making good choices is critical to the success of your event. The pre-event meal can supply your body with significant amounts of energy. You should eat the right kinds of food for several days before the event to charge up your muscles with glycogen (your racing fuel!). Although the pre-event meal won't cause large increases in muscle glycogen, it will help avoid hunger during the event, stabilize blood-sugar levels and add some food energy to complement existing energy stores of muscle glycogen, hydrate the body (by supplying water to the body's cells), provide a relatively empty stomach at event time and prevent gastrointestinal upset or other adverse reactions to food.

Based upon your weight, effort, economy, etc, you will burn between 600-1200 calories per hour. Your body has two primary sources for this energy: fat and carbohydrate. At about 3500 calories per pound, even the thinnest triathlete has more than enough fat to carry him through a 12-16 hour Ironman.

Your body must burn carbohydrate in order to burn fat. "Fat burns in the fire of carbohydrate." Your body's primary sources for carbs are glycogen stored in the muscles and liver (about 2000 caloriess), and food ingested during exercise.

During low intensity exercise, say 600 calories per hour, your body gets most of its energy from fat. So let's say that of this 600 calories, 450 is from fat and 150 is from carbohydrate. However as intensity increases, the percentage of fat burned remains relatively constant, and the difference is made up by carbohydrate. For example, as intensity increases, you are now burning 900-1000 calories per hour. Only about 500 will be in the form of fat, the remaining 500 will be carbohydrate.

Here are some basic tips:

1. Allow enough time for digestion and eat the meal at least two to three hours before your race.
2. Consume only moderate amounts of protein. Protein foods take longer to digest.
3. Limit fats and oils, which take too long to digest.
4. Not too much sugar! Excess sugar causes rapid swings in blood sugar and insulin levels (i.e., think about what happens when you give a 5-year-old a chocolate bar - the high before the crash!).
5. Don't overdo the caffeine. Drink what you are used to. Caffeine is a laxative and diuretic (think extra trips to the porta-potty!).
6. Watch out for fibrous food that can produce gas, including certain raw veggies, fruits or beans.
7. Chose foods you like to eat but never something new.
8. Drink regularly (but not too excess) in the 2 hours leading to your event. Drink plenty of fluids with your pre-event meal.

 

Five sample pre-race meals:

Meal 1
Cereal (avoid highly sweetened cereals)
Banana slices
Low-fat milk
Toast/jam
Water

Meal 2
Poached egg
Toast/jam
Low-fat milk
Water

 

Meal 3
Chicken noodle soup
Crackers
Low-fat yogurt
Water

Meal 4
Pancakes (limit butter and syrup)
Applesauce
Low-fat milk
Water

Meal 5
Turkey sandwich on whole-wheat bread and lettuce
Apple
Low-fat milk
Water

Breakfast should be a decent sized meal consisting mostly of complex carbohydrates-- energy bars or bagels are good sources--although you should include some protein to help with satiation. Many energy bars have a good ratio between carbohydrates and protein, so carefully read the labels and choose your energy bar accordingly. Your breakfast should be consumed 3-4 hours before your race start time; aim for 900-1500 calories, depending on your body size and the race distance. To top off your energy stores, it's important to have a light snack 70-90 minutes before the race start. For your snack, try to eat between 300-600 calories. An example: an energy bar, 16-20 oz of a sports drink, and 16-20 oz of water.