I am thinking that it might be even more important to carbo-load for a sprint race than for something longer. The race is short enough that the intensity is so high that your body burns carbs almost exclusively, but it is just long enough that if your stores are a little low you don’t have much time to fill them up before the end of the race.
Some people say “Why carbo load for that race? It is just a sprint!” I say, one order of pasta with grilled chicken for dinner please.
Tell me I’m wrong, or tell me I’m right, but whichever you feel, let us know.
No need to carb load for a sprint – your on-board stores should be good for 90 minnutes. The only reason to add anything is to make your water more palatable for the bike leg.
But isn’t carb loading helping to make sure that your on-board store is where it should be? I am talking about just water on the bike because your body doesn’t have time to absorb it and all your blood is in your muscles anyway.
I have a cereal bowl size plate of pasta, a little olive oil, and parm. Seems I just feel stronger whenever I have this treat the night before a Sprint like effort, whether its a race or just training.
“Basically, NOTHING we do actually qualifies as “sprint”. The shorter sprint races closely equate to a half marathon, in terms of time and energy used.”
That’s funny. When people hear I do Tris, they ask about the “big” one. I explain, that oh no, I don’t do the long stuff, only sprint up to oly. Then when I explain that my races are only 1.25 to 2.5 hours, they look at me like I’m crazy.
It might just be me, but I have a hard time drinking just plain water either racing or training. I swear it gives me a stomach ache. I use Crystal Light Rasberry Tea exclusively.
“Carbo Load”… “one order of pasta with grilled chicken for dinner please”.
You call tht carbo loading? I would eat something like this anyway before a race or any other day. What are you eating on non-race evenings? Big Macs with fries? Why not eat health every day?
Also, for a 90-min sprint if you have been eating corretly all along no need to change your diet.
I am thinking that it might be even more important to carbo-load for a sprint race than for something longer. The race is short enough that the intensity is so high that your body burns carbs almost exclusively, but it is just long enough that if your stores are a little low you don’t have much time to fill them up before the end of the race.
Some people say “Why carbo load for that race? It is just a sprint!” I say, one order of pasta with grilled chicken for dinner please.
Tell me I’m wrong, or tell me I’m right, but whichever you feel, let us know.
First, true “carbo loading” is a brutal process whereby you fully deplete your carbohydrate stores (think exercise without replenishment) over the course of a few days, then restock in the days prior to a race. The theory is that you can increase the amount of carbs you can store by doing this. You don’t want to do this for a sprint triathlon.
Second, you should as a matter of course have your tank topped off every day, more or less. That means, come race day, you have about 2000kCal available, plus say 500kCal or more of breakfast in your digestive system. If you only burn 1500kCal of this during the race, that’s good for 90 minutes of biking at your highest intensity, or more than 10 miles of running all out. For a .5mi/12mi/4mi sprint tri, figure about 1200kCal. You can do this without breakfast (and I know people who do just that). It is not a bad thing to feel a bit hungry at the start (as long as you are topped off).
I’ll point out that the numbers above are assuming that you are burning carbs as 100% of your energy supply, which you aren’t.
neotri - I was thinking more in terms of relating it to a normal meal that sometimes consists of a big grilled salmon filet and a green salad or some crunchy veggies. Both are healthy but the pasta meal will have a lot more carbs (not good or bad, just different.)
Good point by many that with a good regular diet the tank shouldn’t be too depleted. With a decent diet the pre-race dinner shouldn’t be enough to make or break a race. I just had a “Hmmm, I wonder…” moment this morning and thought I would put it out to the Tribe.
You don’t need to carbo load if you eat normal and back off your training like most before a race. If you are properly fueled before the race, you can get away with just coca-cola on the bike/run. I have done this many times very successfully (AG wins and top 3-5 overall).