In fact, a low carbohydrate diet may even impair performance if carried out for extended periods. If there are benefits to manipulating glycogen stores for some workouts, this is likely to happen as the natural outcome of the periodisation of the high-volume programme of an elite runner.

Abstract Muscle glycogen provides a key fuel for training and racing a marathon. Aim to keep your total calorie intake for the day in line with your normal intake, but swap fats for more carbs.

Go for healthy unprocessed foods and leave the junk food out. And schedule your breakfast three hours before the start of the race. Naylor concurs with eating an easily digested breakfast three hours before the race, and topping up with a small carb-rich snack minutes before the start.

An unpleasant topic, but a vital one. Essentially, while you do need to include fibre in your diet generally, you can reduce it for the meals and snacks leading up to your runs.

Naylor also pointed out that fiber is very filling, so avoiding high-fiber carbs may make it easier for you to hit your carb target. The biggest question of all: do you have to curtail your expansive carb feast in any way?

Of course you do. Deep down, you already knew this. It is important to keep following a balanced diet leading up to a long-distance event. The good news, however, is that the limit is a lot of carbs. Let the wild carb binge commence!

If you have pasta or rice dishes that your stomach is used to, stick with tried-and-tested favorites. This is the one area that many folks never hear about because we want to get straight to the part about eating! If you want all the benefits that come with carbo loading, you need to systematically go through the carb depletion phase to reap all the benefits!

Here is the process on how to carb load correctly as described by The Complete Nutrition Guide for Triathletes by Dr Jamie Cooper, an assistant professor of sports nutrition:. Phase One: Seven days before the event do a long or strenuous workout that will deplete your body of glucose.

To convert this into kilos, this is approximately 8 to 12 grams of carbs for every kilogram of body weight. Taper crazies , race day nerves and emotions are running high, which is part of what leads us to sugary treats.

Do your best to save those as a post race refuel along side that green smoothie. Think of race week as your time for the best optimal nutrition. This is your chance to give your body all of the nutrients it needs to repair from the training cycle and fill your muscles with fuel that will get you to the finish line.

Best food for carb loading: fruits such as bananas, oranges, white rice, grapes , vegetables such as potatoes, squash, sweet potatoes and whole grains. And yes this is the one time that my Sports Nutritionist friends recommend fruit juices.

Examples of high-carb foods that are also high in fiber include:. Instead, look for options like sourdough bread with honey or sweet potatoes which are lower in fiber.

Sourdough also has the benefit of aiding digestion! Additionally, very few runners are training on a true low carb diet, with the exception of my CrossFit Endurance friends.

In their case, adding in some sweet potatoes during race week is enough to stock glycogen stores. Carbohydrate loading needs only to be done for about days prior to the race, not 7.

The entire process is up to 2 weeks long. But the part which we hear about so much…yup only 48 hours or so. Ideas for the last few days and night before dinner. In reality, we only need a couple of days after the depletion mentioned in mistake 1 to optimally fuel muscles.

Carbs make you retain water …this is actually a blessing on race day to help you prevent dehydration! No matter what the scale might tell you. You must give your muscles this last boost of glucose to help you prevent energy lulls, mood swings and obviously fatigue. When you eat a meal high in sugar it releases insulin, which tells the body to start storing glucose for later because it has sugar available for energy at that moment.

Your 2 days of carbo-loading is now being stored in your muscles instead of freely available when you start the race. As noted earlier, one large meal of carbohydrates is NOT carbo-loading and for many people has the opposite effect of what they desire.

And a race morning feeling lethargic and tired as your body continues working to balance your blood-sugar. A smaller meal with some protein is going to digest easier, allowing you to sleep better and wake up ready to get in that last bit of fuel. Here are more examples on what to eat the night before a long race.

Carb loading should not be mistaken for a license to overeat excessively. Overeating can lead to discomfort and may negatively affect your performance on the day of the event. Consuming excessive amounts of food can lead to feelings of bloating, sluggishness, and discomfort, which can negatively impact your performance.