10 NUTRITIONAL TIPS
BEFORE MARATHON
1. The day before an endurance event, get the largest share of energy by consuming carbohydrates
A day or even a few days before an endurance event, your diet should consist mostly of carbohydrates. This way, you’ll stack up on glycogen reserves, which will present the main source of energy during the race.
2. Be careful not to completely fill up your stomach
In the days leading up to the race, you need to eat enough food. You need “fuel” to recover from your previous rides and stack up on glycogen reserves. “Enough” doesn’t mean that you should fill up your stomach completely. That will not make your glycogen reserves any bigger, but only give you a queasy stomach and deprive you of precious sleep.
3. A few days before an endurance event, avoid fibre-rich foods
A day or even a few days before an endurance event, avoid having large amounts of fibre-rich foods. These are more difficult to digest and can lead to unpleasant digestive issues. Fibre is also known to bind water, which results in gaining weight. If you avoid consuming fibre a day or two before a race, the unnecessary ballast leaves your body.
4. Limit fat intake
Before an endurance event, also avoid fats since they make digestion more difficult.
5. Do not experiment with your diet in the final week before an endurance event
A week before the race, motivation usually reaches its peak and you may think that you could also improve your nutrition. This might be true, but you should never experiment with it just a week before the main event. Any new nutrition strategy should be tried several weeks before an endurance event since you’ll need enough time to see how effective it is.
6. Energy bars, gels, beverages and other foods you plan to have during a race need to be tried beforehand
Everything you plan to eat or drink during an endurance event needs to be tried beforehand, during training. This is the only way to make sure that a particular bar or gel actually is to your liking and to avoid unnecessary issues. It might happen that you won’t be able to swallow something or that a product simply won’t agree with your body.
7. Eat the last big meal at least 3 hours before the start
Eat your last meal at least three hours before the start of the race. During this time, your body will digest your breakfast and there will be no fear of issues arising during the race due to non-digested food.
8. Don’t forget to drink
When you’re dehydrated, your body functions poorly and has less strength. Major loss of liquid due to sweating can result in poorer judgment on the bike, which can even lead to a crash. Let’s not forget that Marathon Franja takes place in hot weather under the scorching sun, which is an additional risk factor for dehydration. It is important to replace the fluids lost during physical activity. A bidon shouldn’t be filled with water alone. Add some isotonic powder to it. You will provide your body with some much needed electrolytes, which you will lose by sweating, and sugar, a quick source of energy.
9. The products you keep in your pockets during the race shouldn’t contain too much caffeine
Caffeine invigorates us and makes us faster. But higher doses of caffeine (above 300 mg) can bring restlessness, nervousness, excitement, insomnia, redness in the face, excessive urination, digestive issues, muscle cramps, heart rhythm disorders and other unpleasant issues. For comparison, caffeine gels usually contain from 20 to 150 mg of caffeine per packaging. Before you start putting caffeine gels in your pockets, make sure they don’t contain too much caffeine.
10. Your friend’s best nutritional strategy may not necessarily be the best strategy for you, even though your friend may be as fast as lightning
What works for your friend may not work for you. Everyone is unique, which means that different bodies react differently. If a friend eats a bowl of porridge and is lightning fast on the course, the same bowl of porridge may cause you to have digestive issues. That is why it is especially important to test your nutritional strategy beforehand, during training rides, and not right before the main event.
