What & When Should you Eat in a Race

What & When Should you Eat in a Race

Main point:

Glycaemic index, or GI, (a scale from 0-100) tells us how rapidly absorbed carbohydrate is. Aim for low to middle GI pre-race and middle to high GI during a race.

Technical point:

1g (gram) of carbohydrate gives you 4 (kilo)calories of energy. So if you weigh 75kg then 4g per kg gives you 300g or 1,200 calories. That’s a lot to take on board in a single pure carbohydrate meal! In practice, before a race you will also be taking protein and fat in the food so your total calorie intake including the protein and fat is more likely to be around 1,200 calories!

Experience comment(s):

Drinking too much can be dangerous. Better to drink when you are thirsty than to over-drink.

You may not need as much food/calories during a race as you think. Many of us can manage a half-marathon run or even up to standard distance tri with no calories!

For middle distance or Ironman don’t forget to build salt (Sodium) into your nutrition plan.