What to eat before a race?
Its a problem we all encounter as the big day approaches, what should I eat?
Well, if you are preparing for a marathon it is recommended to "carb-load" a few days before the race. I recommend the night before your race to eat high carbohydrate foods to top up your glycogen stores e.g pasta, rice, potatoes, bread, vegetables and fruit. This will give you more fuel to last in the those final few miles!
The day of the race, I would advise to have another big meal 4-5 hours before your race. This meal should also have plenty of carbohydrates with plenty of fiber e.g brown pasta, brown rice, brown bread, vegetables. This will be fully digested for the race and will give you maximum energy.
If your race is on in the morning, I recommend to instead have this big meal the night you go to bed and have a light snack when you wake up. If it suits you to be awake 5 hours before you run however i would then insist on having the big meal in the morning.
2-1.5 hours before you run, a light snack with simple carbohydrates should be perfect. Light carbohydrates are carbohydrates that can be digested easily e.g white bread, fruit, sports bar
It is important to remember to keep yourself hydrated throughout the week to perform optimally and not have all the negative effects of dehydration.
Above all else it is important to eat the foods that you have tried and tested, experimenting before your race is risky. So eat what works for you under these simple concepts!