Athlete, Joe

Need a little critique of my fueling plan concerning a big race tomorrow.

I intend to load up tonight with about a surplus 500 - 600 cals from my daily maintenance intake.

In the a.m. 4 hrs. before the race, I plan to have about 800 cals of my "go-to" meal on typical hard group ride morning rides. With this meal two hours before a group ride, I usually avoid the bonk until about 50-60 miles (and will consume no more than 400 on the bike.)

So this meal is going to be a complex carb like buckwheat hot cereal, walnuts, dried cherries, coffee, banana, apple, a few slices of bacon.

The drive over will take about 2 hours. I plan to be snacking in the car.

option #1: nuked potatoes... about 500 cals
option #2: al dente pasta salad with a little bit of chicken... about 500-600 cals

About half an hour before the start, pound a thick protein shake mix: 350 cals.


The race will be about 3 hours in duration and I expect the pace to be surgy and fast.


On the bike:

At 1h 30': Down a bar (200) cals and sports drink (100)
At 2h: Down second bar (200)
At 2:30: GUs from flask (300)--hoping the caffeine kicks in hard at this point.
I'll be drinking water throughout (3 bottles)

Questions:
1. High glycemic load potato or am I better off with the pasta at around 1.5 hours before the race?
2. Approx. 1200 cals on board during the race... enough?

This is my first race at this duration/length, but have trained consistently at near the intensity I expect and at the same distance. On these training days, I usually avoid bonking until the last five miles.

Any thoughts? Thanks.

gsteinb

with the excessive time you spent thinking this through how could you possibly come up with bacon as a thing to eat on the morning of a race?

Racer Ex 

I've never bonked in a race, granted my RMR resembles a ground sloth's. To me you've got gaps in your feed and too many calories to absorb/digest. Also too much protein.

Eat breakfast 3 hours before. Ditch the bacon (facepalm) and sub a poached or boiled egg.

During warmup 30 minutes prior have a gel/drink. Ditch the protein shake.

Fix three bottles with around 300-400 calories of carbs. Drink as you go. Most people can only digest around this amount per hour while racing, a steady intake will keep glycogen levels from dipping or spiking.

If you can tolerate protein when you race (I can't) toss in 100 cals or so in the 2nd or 3rd bottle; if you need caffeine (which actually prones some people to cramp) use a caffeinated gel to mix in the water bottles you'll use later in the race.

That's ballpark. You may raise or lower the calories per hour as your system dictates. Avoiding peaks and valleys in hydration and energy supply levels, and avoiding a bunch of undigested stuff in your stomach should have you stronger at the end of the race.

I'd also question whether you are actually "bonking" at the end of those rides, or just reaching a point of fatigue.

nitropowered

I think your pre-race meals are too much.

Eat 3 hours before, get rid of the bacon and you don't need the protein shake before the race

brianappleby

The number I've heard to shoot for is 300 Cal/hr, and I think this is the higher end of what you want to eat while racing.

You should start consuming earlier, like 30 minutes in. The calories you eat then will be available when you need them.

Your experience may be different, but I can't chew, swallow, and breathe at the same time while racing. You may want to consider fewer solid calories and more liquid ones. If the pace is high, you may not have enough time to down a bar.

nitropowered

Also I want to add, I typically can eat more solid foods at the beginning of the race, but toward the end, I can only eat gels.

Also you will probably not be able to eat according to your plan. Its hard to eat when the race is single file into headwind, redlined. Eat when you can, even if it is a bit early

gsteinb

FWIW I have my normal breakfast (oatmeal, fruit, raisins, nuts) before a race. if the event(s) are longer than 2.5 hours I tend to eat a little something something each hour.

Athlete, Joe

Thanks all.

I'll deep six the bacon. (But at 140 calories for four slices and the fact that fats have a history of keeping me satisfied for a long time--I may decide to substitute with a tablespoon of flaxoil at 3-4 hours prior.


At 60+ miles, I can't imagine its ALL hammering all the time. I think its reasonable that I can find a lull at hours 1 and 2.

Should I opt for one of the menu choices I mentioned (500 cals of potato or pasta) in the two hour drive leading up to the event?

Another concern I have is if I drink too much before the race I'll need to go on a solo break just to pull off and take a leak somewhere. I have a really small/weak bladder so I have to be more strategic about this than most...

badhat

big, early dinner the night before, like chipotle giant bowl of pastaor something.

assuming a morning start: starbucks coffee+energy drink when i wake up and another one 45 minutes before the event,

gel every half hour of the event. one bottle of sport drink and one bottle of water on the bike

massive peanutbutter and jelly sandwich waiting in my bag after i finish.

flaco

Protein shake sloshing around in stomach at the start of a hard ride... ugh, I feel nauseous just thinking about it.

grolby

You are way overthinking this. Doing something unusual with your diet before a race is a pretty bad idea.

First of all, eat a normal dinner. You're looking at completely overloading your system with calories. Believe me, this doesn't work like you think it does.

And eat a normal breakfast too. Unless your normal breakfast includes bacon. Seriously, WTF? I typically eat oatmeal or toast with a couple of eggs. I prefer steel-cut oats for pre-ride or race breakfasts, they seem to disappear the way that rolled oats do an hour after you eat. I generally make some extra and snack on my way to the race. That's pretty much all there is to it.

People differ, but I seem to do best with mostly liquid and gel calories during races. It's okay to eat solid food relatively early on, but it varies. I've found that Clif bars do me no good once I'm on the bike. On the the other hand, I do pretty well with some homemade, high-density oatmeal chocolate chip raisin cookies - it's a recipe out of Fannie Farmer, believe it or not, but they sit much better than the Clif bars do. I don't know why, but these are the kind of things you need to learn.

This year I've been experimenting with taking on most of my calories through my water bottles. 300-400 calories of maltodextrin in each of two water bottles will have me covered for hours and hours, but this gets questionable in hot weather where you need to be able to drink plenty of water.

In short, eat normally, don't stuff yourself, find out what works for you. Don't spend too much time thinking about it. For the bike, take a combination of solids (energy bars, cookies, bananas, whatever) and gels and/or sports drinks. And then just eat whenever you get a chance. You are probably going to be in for a surprise as to how much hard riding there is liable to be in a 60+ mile RR.

You're also in for a surprise about making time to pull over and pee. It's not going to happen. Go before the race. The solo break to pee idea is laughable. If you can get enough of a gap to pull over and take care of business without being left behind, you might as well just roll it and try to make it stick. In any case, peeing in public during an amateur race is a really bad idea, as it's the kind of thing that tends to keep bike races from being allowed back.

ridethecliche

Grolby, eating a bigger dinner earlier the night before is not a bad thing to 'top off' your system so to speak. People carbo load for a reason.

I do agree that you should eat a little bit bigger of a breakfast a few hours earlier if the race is a lot longer, or do what gary said and have a normal breakfast with a snack between that and the race. Carry more food than you think you need during the race. Gels/cliff bars etc. Honestly, you should be training longer than your longest races, so you should have the nutrition stuff dialed in from that.

Racer Ex 

No.

If you're worried about fluid do a gel or two instead of the drink in the 30 minutes before the race.

Enthalpic

Historical carb loading (glycogen depleting ride followed by supercompensation) had the athlete eat the large carb meal >24 hours before the event to allow the food to pass before racing. After the big feed glycogen is kept up with small low-fiber snacks. Your legs and liver should be full, not your digestive system.

Modern carb loading has athletes eat high carb diets continuously; the carb "load" is created by reducing demand not increasing supply (taper).

I have a strong stomach when it comes to eating on the bike so I start pretty empty and just eat during the ride. I like a couple eggs or whey protein as soon as I wake up then some juice and a granola bar in the car. Gels, cookies and sport drink during the race.

ldesfor1@ithaca

DO NOT DO ANYTHING NEW ON RACE DAY.

period.

what ever you do in training is best.

try new things in training, not on a big race.

ridethecliche

I had heard that carbo loading was best 2 nights before the event, but I wasn't sure. I was going to write that, but didn't want to be wrong. Thanks for correcting me!

I tried new drink mix on race day. Stomach cramps for 2 days...

mike868y

Tj drank some NO-xplode for the first time ever at Battenkill and was not so pleased with the guy who gave it to him.

ridethecliche

Doesn't that stuff have creatine in it? I was under the impression that creatine isn't used for endurance events because it causes cramps...

In any event, I've only heard of that stuff being used by lifters and people who lift as a big part of their sport.

mike868y

Drinking it wasn't my idea. :shrug:

WCroadie

Yeah that's pretty much what I have read, carbo loading the day/night before your race it too late. I also don't think you need to carbo load for a 60 mile race. Today I raced 55 miles, I ate 3 pieces of pizza last night for dinner, this morning I ate 1 serving of oatmeal with honey, 2 eggs and an english muffin 4 hours before the race, drank a sports drink on the drive out, ate 4 sportsbeans during warmup, a gel at the start, a gel 1/2 way thru and drank water during the race. I felt fine. I think you are eating too much, but everyone is different.

kensuf

/thread closed

kensuf

NO-xplode is loaded with caffeine and other stuff. It's crap.

tspek

who knew a bowl of cereal could be so complicated.

grolby

Carb-loading for a three-hour bike race is kind of excessive, and if it's a significant difference from your usual eating habits, it's unlikely to do much good. I still think eating a normal meal is much safer. You can easily take in enough calories during a three-hour race to stay fueled. My tank empties faster than most, and I can do it, so it's really not a big deal.

What you eat in the evenings when you're racing multiple events over consecutive days is a different story, but I think that's not really germane to the conversation.

gsteinb

This all seems way over thought out to me. If this is a one time race, an outliner, a distance or effort you're not accustomed too, go nuts. But for most guys the distances and efforts of our races are inline with what we train for. Therefore, "eat what you normally do" is the order of the day. Less, the bacon. Seriously, WTF?