Right foods for carb loading help please??

Dragonfly1996

Hi all

I am running my second half-marathon the weekend after next and since I have done all my training right this time I would also like to get the food side right in the week running up to my race.

I am not the best cook in the world & I dont eat meat (except fish). I am still running on a calorie deficit of 500 a day as I still have a stone in weight to lose. Next week I am only going to workout 2 or 3 times instead of most days, just to give myself a rest & will also increase my fluid intake.

I dont just want to stuff myself full of pasta all week if that isnt the right thing to do & wondered if anyone has any advice from their own experiences. Am assuming pasta, rice & potatoes are ok so should I be increasing the amount of days I eat these? Should I mix them with protein? Also I read that you should cut down on fibre before a race so should I opt for white versions (I normally eat wholewheat or brown), though I dont tend to eat a lot of bread?

Obviously I would like to maximise my energy stores as much as possible so any advise you can give regarding the best foods for all this would be much apprieciated.

Cheers
DF :flowerforyou:

mikeyrp

Pasta, Rice, Potatoes... Plus your usual mix of protein (chicken + fish for preference) and veggies

And I personally stay clear of onions the day before a race (because they make me gassy and that cant be fun for the person running behind me

jenkinsjerry

My best Half so far is/was when I went out for Pasta the night before. I had scoffed at this, being some form of myth with no credence. I was please to know the next day that I ran my fastest ever... I ate a lot too -- good old spaghetti and meatballs.

Great call on the losing the onions, too. I have stopped eating onions and all other things like them - peppers, etc.

Also, Pop, is another thing I would completely eliminate from your diet. Replace it with water. I also train with Accelerade... 120 Cals a run isn't hard to burn up on a 4-6 mile run. I used to get bizarre chest pains while running and couldn't figure out why. Particulary since I have low cholesterol, excellent blood pressure, etc. I tried ditching the pop for a while and it went away almost instantly. 5 years later, no pop (still), and no more chest pains.... Coffee doesn't do anything to me...

mikeyrp

I have a friend who did the last half marathon with me and we always went out fully loaded with Gels, plus she would take a bottle of lukazade sport light and I would take water...

Now - I can see why people would drink water, and I can see why people would drink lukazade light for shorter distances or when 'casual training' - but WHY would anyone take a light drink out with them on a half marathon? Quite aside from the fact that neither of us were trying to loose weight, you need the extra energy, you're gonna burn +1400 Calories doing a half marathon, Gels are 80 cals each and most folks take 2 or 3.

Sorry, its been bugging me. Rant over.

jenkinsjerry

MikeyRP -- I'm trusting that your last post isn't/wasn't a slam on my suggestion to drink Accelerade while running/training. I do it everytime I run, candidly and it works quite well for me. I do this upon the advice of a US Olympic Marathoner who's run far more races (Marathons) than probably any of us. Proper hydration is critical and if you can accomplish this with a fuel belt that enables efficient and consistent hydration while running, I feel and know it's a good thing. If you happen to differ on this opinion, that's fine. Not sure I understand why this would invite such an emotional response however. Perhaps I've misread you, but if not, let's keep our responses to a respectful tone.
Thanks

Dragonfly1996

Thanx there is some good advice here & have taken it on board. As I am only a week away now think will stick to my brown rice, vegetables, quorn & gluten free pasta I am used to. If I eat some form of carbs everyday & increase the amount I have normally hopefully it will top up my glycogen levels enough!! Perhaps may be worth cutting down on fibre couple days before though!! am also upping my water intake over the course of the week.

On the subject of sports drinks I find the sugar free powerade good for me. Have not heard of accelerade. I tried the normal powerade which I found way too sweet & gave me too much of a sugar hit (resulting in shakes, clammy hands, hunger, & hot flushes)!! The reduced calorie version does the job hydration wise & like the fact it includes electrolytes. I do use caffiene free gels & jelly babies for energy boosts (though I am not overly convinced by them & will trial more products for my next race). I know the calorific burn in that distance is huge but I have to be careful to not overdo the sugar & avoid caffeine since I appear to react to them both in a slightly negative way!!
I will stick to my porridge & banana on race day for brekkie & then Chocolate milk & protein bar afterwards.

Thanx again all :flowerforyou:

Still_Fluffy

Any carbs that are not high in fat are good. According to a recent article in runners world you should start carbo loading 3-4 days before the race. Good luck.