NUTRITION SERIES: Fueling for Race Day
Calling all distance runners! As Boston Marathon week is in t-1 day (how did that happen?!) it's time to talk about fueling for it.
(Aside: What does t- mean? Why do we say that? Please comment and let me know).
This is a popular question I've gotten: How do I carb-load? How do I fuel for my race?
It's got to be one of my all-time favorite topics.
I talk about underfueling all the time, and I'm not going to address that today. If you are wondering about that topic, please go back and read "Let's Talk About Periods" from June 11, 2021. I talk about relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S) for women and men. I have done a significant amount of research on the topic and would be happy to discuss more if you have questions and are worried that you are not fueling enough.
Today I'm going to talk about how to fuel ENOUGH leading up to the big day!
Many people are familiar with carb-loading, and most people think that it is just for the day before your race. In fact, taper WEEK should also turn into carb-loading week.
Why? Carbohydrate-loading will optimize your glycogen stores, also known as stored energy (Clark, 2011). This means having as much energy ready as possible for race day. We have carbohydrates stored as glycogen in our liver and muscles, which can help delay fatigue when running (Clark, 2011).
You want to start increasing your carbohydrate intake several days before your race. At least 2-3 days, is good, although I know that some people do it for the whole week (Burke, 2011; Sanford Health [SH], 2020). And make sure you are pairing it with tapering!
What is carb-loading? Great question!
While carbs might generally be around half to a bit more than half of what you consume in a day and what's on your plate, you want to increase it to 70% (SH, 2020). That means 70% of what you eat in the day should be carbohydrates. This is a process that can start at least 2-3 days before your race for optimal results (SH, 2020; Burke, 2007).
You can't fuel your glycogen stores in just one big pre-race meal, which is a tradition many people are used to doing (SH, 2020).
The day before the race you want to focus on simple-carbs, without too much fiber (SH, 2020). Fruits and vegetables are sources of carbohydrate, but this is not the day to over do it in that department. We want easily digestible food. Rice, pasta, toast, pancakes, bagels, tortilla, sports drinks, all good options. Cooking vegetables also makes them easier to digest.
It's also suggested to have the most carb heavy meal at lunch rather than dinner, in order to give yourself more time to digest (SH, 2020).
Fueling the day before the race is an important part of preventing the overwhelming fatigue of "hitting the wall" the next day during the race (Osowski). It won't increase your speed, but it is associated with an increased ability to maintain your pace throughout the race (Burke, 2007).
You might feel bloating during this time, which can be uncomfortable, but it is normal - your body is retaining fluid because glycogen stores water along with it (Fernandez-Elias et al., 2015). I have always wondered if I was doing something wrong, but it's never been the case - it's been quite the opposite actually!
Moving through the week now, don't forget to eat enough on marathon morning! You don't want your blood sugar levels to drop.
Carbs fuel our brains, and we can easily prevent needless fatigue by being prepared (Clark, 2011).
For the morning before your race, the general rule of thumb for timing is:
3-4 hours for a large meal to digest
2-3 hours for a smaller meal
1-2 hours for a blended or liquid meal
Less than an hour for a small snack as tolerated
(SH, 2020).
I personally will eat a medium sized breakfast in the morning and then a small snack less than an hour before a big race to keep up my glycogen stores.
Now we've made it to the race!
Most people who have made it this far are somewhat or very familiar with how to fuel during the race, but I thought I would throw it in there anyway.
It's important to drink water every 15-20 minutes during your race (Clark, 2011). This is EASY when running a marathon, because there is literally water every like, mile. There's a recommendation for about 4-8 oz every 15-20 minutes, so you can call that 4-8 gulps (Clark, 2011).
Start to drink within a half hour to prevent dehydration because you can't catch up once you've gotten there (Clark, 2011).
Here's another deal. Many runners are familiar with the term "hitting the wall" during a race. I referenced it earlier, and I'm going to drive it home now. This should not happen if you are fueling properly. Of course your legs will get tired if you aren't a psychopath machine, but if fueling properly, you will not run out of your stored energy, or "glycogen stores" during your race (Clark, 2011). We already know that even the day before your race is an imperative time to prevent wall hitting, so of course it will still be essential the day of and during.
Here's something that blew my mind even recently, that has changed the way that I train and fuel.
I was noticing in my last couple races that my body's glycogen stores were breaking down quickly and my muscles were running out of energy. I actually fell down during one of them, which felt like it came out of nowhere. That had never happened before, and I was bringing as much fuel with me as I typically had in the past, but I still knew it was because I didn't bring enough fuel with me. I usually eat half of the clif bloks out of the package, because that's the serving size. 3 chews at a time. Or 1 GU at a time.
HOWEVER: Researchers are actually consistently saying that we should be having 30-60g/carbohydrate during a race per hour (and some sources say even more) (Clark, 2011; Rolo et al., 2020). There is also a suggestion to take in 0.5 g of carb for every pound of body weight which can increase stamina as much as 18% (Clark, 2011).
I tend to refuel myself every 45 minutes, and a serving size of a typical GU or chew comes out to 22-24 g of carbs. That's not enough, and even if it is sort of almost close to enough, it's on the low end.
Since then I've been trying to take at least 4 pieces of chews vs. 3 every time I refuel and it has made a difference. While I think trying more than that would be beneficial, I'm at least starting above the lower end of the recommendation, and intend to try and increase. It can be hard to take in so much at a time during a run, but it's essential. For performance, strength, and energy!
At this point we already know what we prefer to eat during a race - some of us like the GU's, some like the chew's, some like the Swedish Fish, and so on. There's no right way to do it. I'm a chew-girl, but whatever works for you is always what you should stick with. The important part is how many grams of carbohydrate you consume (Clark, 2011). You can certainly use gatorade/sports drink to supplement some carbohydrate intake along with what you're eating, but it is important to also be taking in the fuel - as the drinks aren't as energy dense as gels/chews can be, and it may be difficult to consume enough of it to get the overall energy and carbohydrate content that you need (Clark, 2011).
Don't change the types of things you consume during a long run at this point, but definitely be mindful of how much you take in.
It's also important to learn how to program how much you consume and not wait until you're hungry, by the time you notice anything in your body changing it will be too late (Clark, 2011). It's important to just robotically consume the 30-60g of carbs an hour. If it's easiest to split it up every 30 minutes that's one way to do it, if it's easier to do it just one time that's great too, just make sure you take in enough!
My favorite part of a big race is taking orange-slice handouts from kids or whoever is handing them out along the way. I always use that as a supplement to my chews (not as replacement), I never reduce my original plan. Just remember to enjoy your time out there! I used to spend Marathon-Monday morning cutting up oranges as a kid to hand out, it always made me so happy when a runner would take it!
If you have a big race coming up, if you're running Boston next Monday, congratulations! Wow!
Let yourself bask in your hard work. If you're running Boston, watch the people around you cheering, give high fives, have an orange slice! You earned it.
References
Burke, L. M. (2007). Nutrition strategies for the marathon: fuel for training and racing. Sports Medicine, 37(4), 344+. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A200844031/AONE?u=mlin_n_umass&sid=ebsco&xid=3cb8800e
Clark, N. (2011). Nancy Clark's Food Guide for Marathoners. Meyer & Meyer Sport, Limited.
Fernández-Elías, V.E., Ortega, J.F., Nelson, R.K. et al. Relationship between muscle water and glycogen recovery after prolonged exercise in the heat in humans. Eur J Appl Physiol 115, 1919–1926 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-015-3175-z
Rollo, I., Gonzalez, J. T., Fuchs, C. J., van Loon, L., & Williams, C. (2020). Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Effects of Carbohydrate Ingestion During Exercise. Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 50(11), 1863–1871. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-020-01343-3
Sanford Health. (2020). Marathon Week Nutrition Affects Performance. https://news.sanfordhealth.org/sports-medicine/marathon-week-nutrition/
Osowski, Allison. (n.d.) Carbohydrate Recommendations for Marathon Runners. University of Minnesota Duluth. https://cehsp.d.umn.edu/sites/cehsp.d.umn.edu/files/carbohydraterecommendationsformarathonrunners.pdf
