Finally, be sure to still consume some energy sources and fluids during your event. Make sure to stop at the water stops, use your water, sports drinks and gels as needed. What you have stored up will help you go longer, but it still may not be enough to get you through the entire race without an additional fueling plan.

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I Accept. The Science of Health. Water, Carbs and Race Day Eating: What Endurance Athletes Should Know August 17, Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Email Print. Early Preparation Prep for your race about a month before.

You will need to collect some basic information. What nutrition will be provided at the race? Where are the water and nutrition stops on the course? Keep an eye on the weather conditions. Pack your groceries for the night before the race or make a reservation at a place where you are confident the food will be good.

Practice Your Plan Find the nutrition products that work best for you. Two necessary items: energy carbs and hydration. Your gut is extremely trainable and tolerance of products is attainable. Timing — once you find where the nutrition stations are mapped, practice fueling at those certain stops to see what timing works best for you.

Start adding in sports drinks — this will help combine energy and hydration. Once you master this, add in nutrition products. Practice with nutrition that will be offered at the race, if you cannot tolerate them, practice with items that work for you. Consume at least grams of carbohydrates Eat three to four hours before the race Drink water!

With carbs, 30 grams to 60 grams per hour is a good rule of thumb. An athlete finishing under three hours may need a little more, and someone in the four- to five-hour range would be OK with 30 grams an hour.

Carbohydrate sources can include: one banana 24 to 30 grams ; gel 21 to 27 grams ; energy bar 20 to 40 grams ; four to five chews 16 to 25 grams ; 10 jelly beans 11 grams Caffeine has been used by some runners with good outcomes.

For hours of training aim for g of carbohydrate minutes before exercise , and aim for an additional 30g of carbohydrate per hour. Focus on low fiber, low fat, simple carbohydrate sources. Liquid, semi-solid, or solid food options all work here.

You could use a specially formulated endurance drink, a gel, chews, an energy waffle, or real food options. Experiment with options during training and outside of competition to find what works best for you without causing stomach upset.

If training for hours, shoot for at least 60g of carbohydrate before exercise and then an additional 60g of carbohydrate per hour. Consuming and tolerating that much carbohydrate during training can take some time to train and adapt your gut.

Build up to it incrementally. With carb loading you are attempting to supersaturate glycogen stores. For every 1g of glycogen stored, you store grams of water. For shorter duration or lower intensity exercise this could weigh and slow you down. If you are competing or training for a longer event where carb loading might be applicable, aim for g or carb per kilogram of body weight.

This would be consumed hours before the event. Again, it takes time to be able to adapt the body to be able to appropriately tolerate and utilize this much carbohydrate. Additionally, the amount of glycogen your body can store will vary person to person.

The more muscle, the more glycogen your body is capable of storing. Beetroot juice taken hours before endurance exercise can help reduce oxygen cost during exercise, potentially improving stamina and endurance. There are various supplemental forms of beetroot available that may be worth experimenting with.

Endurance events like marathons, half marathons, triathlons, and adventure races are popular ways people challenge themselves to stay in shape and reach new goals.

Training for an endurance event takes time, commitment, and requires proper fuel. Carbohydrates are the main source of energy when it comes to fueling our workouts. They help to maintain intensity, prevent muscle breakdown, and assist in maintaining hydration.

Who wants to barely have enough energy to cross the finish line? Experimenting with fuel sources and timing before your event is essential. And not just the week before, but at least 6 weeks before.

Everybody is unique. We all respond to various fuel sources differently which is why we should never introduce new foods or beverages on race day. What foods can be tolerated by one may send another to the nearest restroom. Foods rich in carbohydrates such as whole grains, oats, brown rice, quinoa, sweet potatoes, fresh fruits and vegetables should make up at least fifty percent of your energy needs.

Since muscles only store carbohydrates and not protein as glycogen, it is important to fuel on quality carbohydrates to ensure adequate glycogen stores for an event. If less than 1 hour, there is no need to fuel during the activity. If more than 1 hour, then fuel every 20 - 30 minutes.

On that note, I attended a presentation by Jennifer Sygo at a recent conference in Toronto. Sygo currently serves as a dietitian for the Canadian track and field and gymnastics teams, as well as the Toronto Raptors basketball team.

Here are a few highlights that stuck with me:. Elite marathoners, she pointed out, get about 85 percent of their in-race energy from carbohydrates, with most of that coming from glycogen stored in the muscles and the remainder from glucose in the bloodstream.

To keep those carb reservoirs fully stocked, she shared some specific carbohydrate intake goals she uses with elite runners for various distances:. Yes, this message surprised me—but read on to see what she meant. One of the big trends in sports nutrition over the past decade has been the idea that, instead of just eating the same things every day, you should adjust your intake to match your expenditures.

Olympic Committee that offers visual guidance for how you might eat during periods of light, moderate, and heavy training. You can see the three plates here. On the easy training plate, vegetables and fruits take up half the plate. Grains and fats are good options, along with subtler tweaks.

For example, the easy training plate includes only fresh fruit; the moderate and hard plates add stewed and dried fruits. In practice, that means cutting way back on fiber for a few days.

Researchers at Liverpool John Moores University in Britain tested this approach in a study published earlier this year. They had 19 volunteers cut back from their typical 30 grams of daily fiber to less than 10 for four straight days, while maintaining the same overall calorie content and macronutrient distribution in each meal.

The result: average weight loss of 1. There are other reasons you might be interested in a pre-race low-residue diet. She noted four relevant and evidence-backed ergogenic aids for track athletes: beta-alanine, sodium bicarbonate, creatine, and caffeine.