Rough guidelines
- Races lasting less than 2 hours, no real need to do anything fancy with meals or carbo loading. Night before eat a light meal. Breakfast - eat a normal light carbo oriented breakfast.
- Races lasting 2+ hours to 4 - 5 hours. Load up on the carbohydrates in the 2 - 3 final days, but don't eat a huge meal the night before. Eat a normal meal that night. You will sleep better. Normal light carbo hydrate breakfast on race morning.
- IM distance - Load up BIG TIME on the carbohydrates in the last 4 days, but not the night before. If racing in very hot conditions, add extra salt to your meal. Stay hydrated. All that extra carbohydrate storage needs extra water. Know that you will put on a few pounds - this is your carbo fuel tank being topped up. This is a good thing. Don't eat a massive meal the night before. Keep it lighter. IM race morning breakfast should include some protein if you can handle it.
Fleck
Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog