What are your feelings on training the week before your race?
What do you eat the day or night before your race?
What should I AVOID?
I have a hard time eating anything the morning of the race (nerves/anxiety), is there anything that would not be hard on my stomach, as well as being beneficial to me during the race (besides being hydrated obviously)?
I have competed in one sprint Tri (last year), I have another sprint Tri coming up on Sept. 1, and would like to know how everyone puts the finishing touches on their training for their race. Thanks
I cut back but still do enough activity to keep my muscles from getting tense, my goal is just to have “relaxing” workouts.
Day before: nothing too divergent from what I normally eat, just bread, fruit and veggies, lots of water, Night before: nice pasta dinner with tomato based sauce, lots of water.
I find that I need to avoid most dairy for at least a day before a race or even a major workout, but that could just be me. OJ is absolutely no good for me the morning of a race too.
I have difficulty eating the morning of a race as well, however I have found that I can drink. Solution: drink my breakfast, take some berries, 1-2 bananas, maybe a little peach, etc, put it all in the blender with some ice and a little vitamin water and there’s most of my breakfast (I make about 2-3 large glasses of it). I’ll usually try to make a piece of toast and just put a little honey on it but sometimes even that doesn’t get eaten.
Sprints are all I do right now as well so this is what works for me, i’m sure it would have to altered a bit for longer races. As far as food goes I’ve found the key for me is to have at least one time per week, generally before a long workout or brick, where I will eat exactly what I plan on eating before the race. They say to never use brand new gear for a race, and I think that, generally speaking, it’s a good idea to never do something completely new with your eating or drinking right before or during a race either.
I think it makes sense to do the training that will keep you fresh without making you fatigued. I would suggest that training the week before the event really won’t offer much in terms of physiological adaptaton or gains in fitness, but more likely will stem the loss of fitness previously acheived through consistent training in the weeks prior to the event. Basically what you are doing in the week prior is just trying to not let any of your fitness slip away.
The night before a local race I eat Mexican food at a favorite restauarant of mine. I don’t eat beans but I do eat some chips and salsa, a couple steak tacos and a couple Diet Cokes with plenty of water. I avoid dairy and don’t eat cheese the night before a race but would normally. I’m lactose intolerant.
I’d say avoid anything that is a known or suspected digestive irritant and also avoid anything new. Go with bland and proven. My tendency toward slightly spicier fare (the Mexican food) is centered around the fact that I’ve done enough racing that I don’t get too nervous anymore and I’ve eaten that food before and it tends to leave my digestive system rather predictably.
The morning pre-race meal for a sprint distance race doesn’t have to be too involved. A banana (if the fiber doesn’t bother you) and some carbohydrate source, even a refined one (I eat those awful Hostess fruit pies- absolute junk) might help stimulate your metabolism and move through your digestive system quickly. I also drink an energy drink like Red Bull before a race to help with my mental alertness. Sometimes I feel like I could just go back to sleep in the swim. I also like the original Powerbar Performance energy bar as part of a pre-race mini-meal.
Finally, remember to take in some calories within a half hour or so of finishing your event to speed your recovery.
O.K. I’m going to train and try to avoid injury the week before, no o.j. (or anything high in acid) for breakfast (makes sense). I’d hate to throw up in the water, but not near as much as the guy behind me!!! I’m assuming that the idea is to load up on carbs the night before. All good advice…thanks.
I have IMC this Sunday and I’m eating just how I have every other week leading up to this race. On race day, I’ll probably eat a bowl of cereal and a bagel, just like I do on my long brick days in training. I do drink alot of water the day before the race and try to have a pasta meal along with a bigger lunch the day before IM.
Here is what I do for a sprint: For my example I will have the race on Saturday at 7am.
Sunday through Wednesday I do my “normal” training schedule which is currently a HIM distance schedule.
Thursday I only bike a half hour in the morning and run 2 miles at lunch with a nice long stretching session.
Friday nothing.
Saturday Race.
As far as eating goes, I don’t change my eating habit the week of a race.
On the day of the race, I eat a power bar on the way to the race. After setting up my transition spot, I have a get about 20 minutes before the start. During the race I have another gel 5 miles from the finish of the bike. Then, after finishing I eat all the good stuff from the table the nice volunteers put out.
This seems to be enough to keep my energy levels up and my stomach happy for the race duration.
depends on the distance. Sprint tri? do your last short but hard workout 2-3 days from the race. Relax in all other workouts. Olympic/Xterra? I do my last hard workout 4 days out from the event and relax the rest of the week. I’ve never done an IM, but I’d imagine that you would avoid all hard workouts about 10 days prior to the race. I’m no coach but that’s what I do.
I’ve read somewhere that I can’t remember recently that you should avoid loading up on carbs the night before a race and counting on that to be your energy because it takes about 18 hrs. for complex carbohydrates to be fully digested. So instead, carbo load 2-3 nights before, but don’t get me wrong, you can still have spaghetti the night before, I’ve just heard that you wont really utilize those carbs for the race the next day. Don’t forget to drink lotta water too. One of our family friends who just so happens to be rated I think 2nd in the world in his age group for mountain bike racing once told me when I was getting into endurance sports “I drank a lot of water the day before the race, the morning of the race, during the race, and after the race.”
anything you haven’t tried before, or anything that you know will upset your stomach
I am still experimenting with that one. I think I’m givin up on powerbars. I just bought some clif bars yesterday and they taste pretty darn good. I’m also givin up on powerbar endurance formula when racing. Sorry powerbar, the athlete ads were cool, but 800mg of sodium per liter just doesn’t sit well with my stomach.
What are your feelings on training the week before your race?
I have a sprint coming up on Sunday and here’s my plan:
SUN: Did a sprint tri
MON: sat on my ass
TUE: Easy 5K w/ some hills, 1000M Easy Swim, 1.5 hour mtn. bike ride (to practice for upcoming race)
WED: 15K run as I have 2 run races in Sept. 1-2 hr roadride, as I have been neglecting my tri bike.
THUR: Easy 5K run w/some hills. Easy OW swim - 30 mins.
FRI: Sit on my ass
SAT: 10K run, OW swim - 30 mins
SUN - Pray that I survive the off road tri.
What do you eat the day or night before your race?
DAY BEFORE: Usual stuff, Fruit & cereal, pizza, eggs and toast w/ ice cream for desert.
What should I AVOID?
Anything you think your body will projectile out of you
I have a hard time eating anything the morning of the race (nerves/anxiety), is there anything that would not be hard on my stomach, as well as being beneficial to me during the race (besides being hydrated obviously)?
I eat the SAME thing before any event, Pita Break Museli Pita w/ cream cheese, OJ and a banana. Depending on time etc, I may have a gel before the swim as a mental pick up.
