The morning of the race: 1.5-2.5 g of carbs for every 1 kg of body weight 3-4 hours before the race and a smaller carbohydrate snack -banana, bar, bread, 1 hour before the race. Also, have in 5-7 mL of water/electrolytes fluid per 1kg of body weight.
Start carb loading between three and six days in advance of your event. Any less won't be as effective and longer won't help more. Increase your carb intake each day, maxing out at 70% to 90% carbs in the two or three days before the race. Aim for about five grams of carbs per pound of body weight.
In conclusion, carb loading can help fuel your marathon. Experiment and practice your fuelling strategy before race day to ensure that you start your race with a nutrition plan to fuel you right to the very last step of those 26.2miles.
Begin high carbohydrate consumption a minimum of 24 hours before any race that's longer than 90 minutes. Optimal loading would be to increase carbohydrate intake 48 hours in advance, consuming at least 6-8g per kg of bodyweight per day.
The most important thing to remember the night before a race is to eat a well-balanced dinner with carbs, protein and healthy fats. Your plate should be about 50% carbs, 25% protein and 25% fats. Make sure you choose foods that are familiar to you, and avoid foods that you know will give you stomach distress.
A productive prerace pasta dinner will give your body enough carbs to store some for later use, says Keri Gans, a registered dietician and nutritionist in New York City. Your muscles and liver store glucose as glycogen, so the more miles you put in, the more glycogen you need in the tank.
“Pizza has a very high carbohydrate content, so if you're carb-loading before an event it can be included in your diet – in moderation of course,” says Reid. However, unless you're purposefully upping your carb content go for a thin base and don't add extra cheese because this will up the fat content considerably.
2 hours before the run: Oatmeal, granola, avocado toast, a PB &J are all great choices. 1 hour before the run: Something easy to digest like an energy bar should settle well. You could also include 8-12 ounces of a sports drink with electrolytes to make sure you're properly hydrated.
Casual gym-goers and high-intensity sports teams should avoid too many carbohydrates, as such a meal plan can lead to water retention and weight gain. Not only will this affect physical performance, but it may have long-lasting health implications. Carb-loading can also cause digestive problems such as bloating.
A 10K is considered a shorter race, so you do not need a large carb-load the day before.
The American College of Sports Medicine recommends consuming 30-60 grams of carbohydrate (about 240 calories) per hour during activity lasting longer than an hour. The purpose for fueling during the run is to replenish energy, fluid and electrolyte (sodium, potassium, chloride…)
Tips for carb loading
Focus on high carbohydrate foods, not high fat foods. For example, choose a baked potato instead of French fries, a bagel instead of a donut, pretzels instead of chips, or juice instead of a milkshake.
Carb loading is the process of maximising your glycogen stores in preparation for a long endurance event, usually something longer than 90 minutes in duration. You can only store so much carbohydrate in the body, so it makes sense to maximise those stores to delay fatigue and optimise your performance.
Carbohydrate can play an important role in preparation for competition. Carbohydrate intake in the days before competition mainly replenishes muscle glyco-gen stores, whereas carbohydrate intake in the hours before competition optimizes liver glycogen stores.
You've heard this before many a race: Runners order a beer and joke about carb-loading. Alas, it's not so.
Eat a mix of simple and complex carbs one to two hours before you run or a snack 15-30 minutes before. Eat 60 grams of simple carbs, like sports gels or pureed fruit, for every hour you run. One to two hours after, eat a meal with 20 grams of protein and about 60 grams of complex carbs.
Choose easy-to-digest foods that you're familiar with.
Typical pre-race meal foods include white bread and honey, eggs, oatmeal or low-fiber cereals, bananas, yogurt, and juice. Remember to drink if you feel thirsty or even a little bit more than usual. If the day is hot, add a little salt to your meal.
The recommended amount for an effective carb load is 8-10 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram of bodyweight (each day). To calculate your daily carbohydrate needs , multiply 8 x (your bodyweight in kg). For example, a 70 kg runner would calculate 8 x 70 = 560 grams of carbohydrate per day.
White rice is an effective carb-loading choice because it is rich in carbohydrates and provides minimal fibre. Also, white rice is fat free which is beneficial because fat slows down digestion. White rice is considered a safe starch to consume prior to exercise, as it is easy on the stomach.
Hitting the wall in a marathon or bonking occurs when your body runs out of fuel a.k.a. carbs, and pace slows, and your muscles may start cramping and feeling fatigued. Through carbo loading, athletes have excess carbs stored in the liver making it easier for their bodies to release during races and long runs.
We store carbs as glycogen in the muscle and liver – enough glycogen to get us though about 60-90 minutes of moderately intense exercise. That big pasta dinner, which is full of carbohydrates, may be an effort to increase your glycogen stores, also known as carb loading.
Tortillas, oatmeal, bread, pancakes, waffles, bagels, yogurt, and juice are all easy-to-digest options that make for smart carb loading choices. Fruits are also high in carbs but they're also high in fiber—and too much of that nutrient can cause stomach trouble midrace.
For these types of athletes, when timed effectively, carb loading has been shown to increase muscle glycogen, which can, in turn, lead to improved performance. Bodybuilders and fitness athletes, who use carbo-loading to gain size and mass before bodybuilding competitions.