1st Half Marathon coming up - need clarification on carb loa

wolfchild59

Personally, I don't really eat much differently than I do for any other day. I generally eat around 35% carbs, but may up that to closer to 40% for the day before my long runs in training. But I don't alter my diet every single weekend before my long training runs, so I didn't see any reason to do so before the actual half itself. My friends that run half marathons usually increase their carbs a bit as well, and will eat a little heavier (they aren't on "diets"/eating at a deficit, which I still do on those days), but I don't know anyone that does the full "carb-load" style pre-race dinner stuff.

That said, I do need to be fueled before a run. I'm not one of those people that can have a bagel and a banana then head out. The two runs I did on only a single, moderately sized breakfast were more painful than ones I'd run on more food.

My method is to wake up early enough to have a normal sized breakfast, a normal sized "lunch" style meal, and around six cups of water (all stopping an hour before my run time) before the run. So I've typically consumed 700-800 calories before my runs.

For the run/race itself, I take Clif Chot Bloks along and wear my hydration belt that has two 10 oz bottles on it. During the runs I'll eat two-three Blocks during (usually two for up to 10 miles then three, if needed, for more than that) and sip water as needed. Though, I probably drink only about half, or less, than what I take and drink most of the water after I finish.

Yesterday was my first official Half race with a start time of 7am. I slept from about 6pm-1am. Woke up and had a breakfast burrito that had 1/2 cup egg subsitute, 1oz of avocado, and 2 slices of center cut bacon, rolled in an 80 calorie, low-carb, whole wheat tortilla. Then two slices of low carb, high protein, Chompie's Cinnamon Raisin Bread with one serving each of Regular PB2 and Chocolate PB2. Drank three cups of water and went back to sleep for an hour and a half. When I woke up that time I had chicken salad (5 oz of chicken breast, 1/4 medium yellow onion, 1/2 medium red bell pepper, 1 tbsp low fat cream cheese, 1 tbsp BBQ sauce) on two slices of Wonder Smart White Bread. And drank about 2.5 more cups of water. (total of 787 calories, 35% carbs, 39% protein, 26% fat)

During the race I had three Shot Bloks, at miles four-ish, seven-ish and 11-ish, and drank probably 8 oz of water. I felt fueled the entire time and had a personal best of a 9:32 minutes per mile pacing, including the super-slow sections of going up the various San Francisco hills.

wolfchild59

then the morning of the race I would eat half a banana and half of a small plain bagel that they handed out about 45 minutes before each race started.

lol - just so you know, I totally didn't read this before my post, so please don't think my banana and a bagel comment was directed at you. It's just such a common suggestion and I saw people eating them yesterday, so I used the combo.


Also, to add to my post a bit - my day before eating is no different than any other day of the week. I trained up to 13 miles in my training runs and never changed my day to day habits for those. And since the biggest piece of info anywhere is to not do anything differently for/during a race than you did during training, I stuck with that. My dinner the night before my half was just a simple salad (iceberg, chicken breast, jicama, cotija cheese) and a small bread roll.

SueInAz

One of my favorite quotes is from Jeff Galloway: Loading up too much the night before can lead to unloading during the race.

Instead, you might up your carb intake percentage for a few days before the race, but really making sure you're well hydrated is much more important. Drink extra water during the days just before the race. If you're dehydrated the morning of the race, it's already too late to start drinking lots of water. You'll just have a sloshy stomach.

The day before eat foods that are easy to digest in several small meals throughout the day. Avoid fatty foods and fiber.

There's also strong evidence to suggest that a cup of coffee (or similar amount of caffeine, I drink a Diet Coke) an hour before the race can help improve performance. I wouldn't suggest more than one cup, though. It might be something to try before a training run first, especially if you don't normally get much on a daily basis.

I have gotten into the habit of bringing one bottle of water on my fuel belt as well as one packet of some type of energy chew. Power Bar Energy Blasts are my favorite as I don't like the texture of gels. I've been in races where they've run out of cups and I like having my own water in case my mouth gets dry, but I live in the desert and it's very dry here. I eat one or two of the energy blasts every half hour and that keeps me going during the whole race.

angelaclassact

What do you eat the night/day before you go on a long training run?

Eat the same thing. No sense in doing anything different.

I don't think carb loading for a half really does a whole lot. I hydrate leading up to the race, and maybe eat a little more the day before, but not much more, and nothing I wouldn't normally eat. I also bring fuel during the race to get me through. But what I bring for 'fuel' is what I've done during training.

seekingstrengthX2

Thank you so much, everyone. Wonderful advice!

I will eat normally, but lower my fiber intake and increase my water. That should do it!!

They offer water, gatorade and GU on my course. I tried GU last weekend before I ran and I could barely swallow it. The texture just made me want to puke. Then I tried the Shot Blocks, but found I had trouble chewing something that chewy while breathing so hard. LOL.... SO, I think I'll just stick with water and maybe a little gatorade. I've been doing good so far up to 11 miles. What's another 2?



Thanks!