Nutrition for Racing

Last year, every race I did, I felt really ill afterwards. This year, my focus is getting proper nutrition.

Saturday I had a 21 mile mountain bike race. Here was my nutrition plan:

Night before:
Dinner: Quinoa and Spring Vegetable Salad
Evening Snack: Old Fashioned Oats with soy milk

Day of:
Breakfast (2.5 hours before race):
Banana, UltraMeal Shake, 8 ounces of water, 8 ounces of coffee

Gradually sip on water bottle from breakfast to race start

Gu packet 5-10 minutes before race

During Race:
48 ounces of water mixed with 3 scoops of Endura
1 Gu Packet at 12 mile mark
(this is 2x the amount of calories I would have taken in last year)

I had sucked my camelbak dry with about 4 miles to go. I have to say, I had a great race. I felt like there was fire in my engine and power in my legs.

Post race, I felt good. I wasn't sore or tired. I was able to do a good, hard long run the day after and didn't feel too much muscle fatigue. This is a complete turn-around from races in the past where I was completely destroyed for the rest of the weekend. Yay!

I feel like I'm starting to get things right.

What are your nutrition plans for racing?

For a big event I make sure to eat really clean for four to five days prior. No alcohol, no allergens (which for me is a long list), good solid nutrition.

The night before a race I favor fish sushi. Hypoallergenic, loaded with carbs and protein, low in fiber, and delicious - and with the added bonus that all the other competitors are at pasta places, and the sushi restaurants aren't mobbed. :)

The morning of, I eat my normal breakfast, at least an hour and a half before the gun. Chia seeds, tree nuts (usually walnuts or almonds), a small amount of dried fruit, Garden of Life raw protein powder, a milk substitute. Maybe a small scoop of prepared cold cereal.

During - every half hour to 45 minutes, I alternate gels with Perpetuem paste. I really need protein during a long event. I don't like to use soy, but I haven't found any other protein powder that I can tolerate during an event. This is for marathon running. I don't compete on the bike any more, but on a long ride without stops, I prefer liquids over packeted solids or gels - HEED and/or Perpetuem in my water bottles.

Post - again, clean carbs and plenty of protein inside that two-hour window. It's tempting to splurge and eat stuff I'm allergic to, but it really doesn't do me any good. I don't even crave beer the way some people do. :)

OT - but does the HEED flavor ever come out of your water bottles? I have some that seem to be permanently strawberry flavored. Maybe I need higher quality plastic or something? It's the only reason I don't like HEED.

Haha, it does linger, doesn't it? It seems to go away after a couple of cycles in the dishwasher (yeah, I've given up and decided to let my polyethylene bottles go in the dishwasher - although I really probably shouldn't). But since I use HEED on nearly every ride, I don't notice the difference, and anyway even if I'm just having plain water, once I fill the bottle, I don't really get a noticeable taste. I only use the citrus flavors, too - maybe the strawberry comes through more.

Before a really big race, I do a carb deplete and carb load cycle. I also get rid of fiber in the few days leading up. I too try to go pretty clean. I thought my stomach was pretty tough until this last race. Time to experiment again!

Not ever having done a race, I hafta ask - limewave mentioned the intake of quite a bit of liquids - what does one do when one needs to pee during all this time?:eek:

What do you mean when you say clean carbs Oakleaf?
Limewave, you didn't mention you post meal. That is the most important one I've been told.

I've got my first crit race tomorrow morning... and so I dug up this thread.

Tonight: grilled chicken thighs and baked sweet potato

Breakfast: 1 scrambled egg, 1 baked sweet potato, protein/carb shake

Tomorrow for race: 1 gu, 1 bottle of accelerade before and 1 for during
After race: bottle of recoverite.

Thoughts?