Posted: August 3, 2005

Sports Nutrition: Pre-Race Nutrition...What to Eat before Endurance Events

Lisa Dorfman, MS, RD, LMHC-sports nutritionist

Distance Dieting

Whether you’re walking or running a marathon or participating in any long distance running event such as the Ironman, you need to build up an energy reserve—a suitcase of muscle energy to fuel your body for the long run. The major difference between the type and amount of energy that you’ll need for these events is your body size, your fitness level, your % body fat/lean muscle mass, and the intensity, your racing effort. All of these factors will impact the calories you burn while enduring your event.

Race day nutrition issues can stem from pre-event nutrition, race fuel choices, fluid replenishment or lack there of, or race stress—that impacts overall how well you digest and metabolize food and fluid during the race.

The best way to prepare for an Ironman or marathon nutritionally is to plan in advance.

· Three months out, start a training diet—find out what your energy needs are for training and competition and start an eating program to help you strive towards that plan. Since it’s a process, allow yourself 4 to 6 weeks to become accustomed to distance event eating which is different than any other training diet.

· One month out—experiment with race fluids, bars and gels under a variety of conditions— pre training, high intensity workouts, recovery. Try to purchase the fuels that will be available to you on race day so your system can adapt to any differences in your preferred fuels. Although listen up. Take your own favorite foods and fluids to your race, and if traveling, take your goodies in your carry-on baggage. FYI—my bike and drinks were lost on the way to the World Long Distance Duathlon Championships in Denmark last year…with only a borrowed bike, I managed to get through the race on my training diet, and a few bars, gels, and drink mixes I stocked for the airplane.

· One week out—reduce training duration and intensity, increase proportion of dietary carbohydrates—choose low fiber, non-dairy choices to eliminate race day distress.

· Race day—plan to drink the equivalent of at least 1 water bottle per hour (24-30 oz), alternating with 1 small sport drink bottle, 1 gel pack, bar, or snack. Try to keep fluids slightly cool, above body temp for better absorption and mix according to directions—not too sweet or diluted.

Race Day Nutrition

If you’re racing faster than a 10 hour Ironman or 2: 50 minute marathon, this can double your calorie needs when compared to coasting the swim-bike-run or walking your marathon event. For example, the 150 pound athlete burns 6.6 calories a minute for a 4 mile an hour walk (under 400 calories an hour), while the same runner at 8 miles per hour uses more than 14.2 calories for each minute or 852 calories an hour.. Either way, calories need to get replaced, so keep these figures in mind.

You’ll need:

· 25-30 grams of carbohydrate fuel every half hour from sports drinks, bars, gels, and banana, orange slices, and pretzels to replace sodium and potassium losses from sweat. Do not exceed 60 grams of carbohydrates per hour or you’ll be visiting Mr. Port-O-John more than you anticipated.

· 4-6 oz fluid every 10-15 minutes to prevent dehydration, alternating between water and sports drink for carbohydrate and electrolyte replenishment.

· A shot of protein from a sports bar, Accelerade-type gel, or sports drinks with preferably a 4:1 ratio of carbohydrate: protein to maintain, repair and heal muscle tissue, and replenish muscle fuel, and begin the recovery process. Two groups of amino acids, the building blocks of protein, have been shown to be especially important during the recovery process—glutamine and branched chain amino acids (BCAAs), and should be replaced if possible during this and the recovery portion of the race. Products such as Energice has a gel, freezer pop, and beverage that provides an adequate and safe amount of these amino acids specifically designed for this purpose.

· A sip of caffeinated tea, gel, or another drink to spare muscle glycogen (what’s left anyway), to wake up your mind and stimulate circulation and the use of fat for long-term fuel, what you absolutely need at this stage of the game.

What about losing weight?

Fortunately and unfortunately, your body does a great job at preserving body mass while training long distance to prevent your system from breaking down. In this phase of training, your body holds onto calories as a response to the huge demands you are imposing on your system—in other words, your body is treating your training as “stress” and is preventing you from becoming ill, or injured. It is a blessing in disguise, since you survive the Ironman better than other athletes—however; it’s not usually welcomed by heavier athletes.

To lose weight and fat, you can help yourself by infusing weight training workouts, smaller meals throughout the day, and a higher protein ratio at least 4 to 5 days a week, with 1 to 2 higher carb days.

Lisa Dorfman, MS, RD, LMHC, aka The Running Nutritionist^(TM) is the author of The Tropical Diet (2004) and The Vegetarian Sports Nutrition Guide (2000), sports nutritionist for the University of Miami Athletic Department, former pro triathlete, competitor for more than 31 marathons (PR 2:52), Ironman USA Lake Placid and hundreds of multisport events since 1988, and member of the 2004 TeamUSA Long Distance Duathlon World Championship Team. Lisa’s books and programs are available at her website www.runningnutritionist.com.

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Reprinted with permission from Lisa Dorfman at RunningNutrionist.com

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