What type of race are you doing? That type of carb loading is really only necessary for endurance events lasting over 3 hours or so. For marathons, I usually begin ramping my carbs up slowly about a week out from my race. This is because I generally don't eat a lot of carbs so my body can't handle the sudden onslaught. I also generally eat about 3g of carbs per pound for three days prior to the race.

Fruit juices and sports drinks can be very helpful in this situation. Besides not causing the bloat I get from the refined carbs in pasta and such, the extra water helps your body to hold on to the much needed glycogen.

The night before a race I like to have pancakes with maple syrup as my meal. I usually save one pancake and eat it with peanut butter and jam or a banana as my pre-race meal.

Also remember to fuel every 45 minutes or so during your race. I think this is the most important element, regardless of what you eat prior.

I'm on my carb load right now. Potatoes, rice, some *kitten* rice crackers, vegetables, fruit, cereal, sugary candy (e.g. gummy bears), pretzels, and bread are all on the table right now. All high carb, low fat foods. Spaghetti with marinara sauce and bread is my planned dinner for the night before the race. I also like hitting up some bún thịt nướng (Vietnamese rice noodle bowl) in the days leading up to the event. Lean proteins are on board as well, and I typically eat that amount of protein anyway. Greek yogurt, chicken, lean beef.

I shot for a goal of maximizing carbs, getting enough protein, and eating at a surplus of 500ish calories for 2-3 days before a race. I didn't shoot for a specific carb goal, although that did end up at 4g/carb per pound for me in my last carb load.

My food diary from February 24-27 has my last carb load.

@lporter229 I like the idea of pancakes for brinner the night before! I'm a fan of brinner in general!

codename_steve wrote: »

The race I have in a few days is a half. and it sounds like a half isn't long enough to bother worrying about nutrition too much. I guess I'll consider this experimenting for my full marathon in September

If you are eating at a deficit for weight loss, I have found that moving up to maintenance for the week before a half works very well for me.

jacksonpt wrote: »

3dogsrunning wrote: »

codename_steve wrote: »

The race I have in a few days is a half. and it sounds like a half isn't long enough to bother worrying about nutrition too much. I guess I'll consider this experimenting for my full marathon in September

If you are eating at a deficit for weight loss, I have found that moving up to maintenance for the week before a half works very well for me.

Agreed.

A couple of other notes worth mentioning, but may or may not be worth following...
- carb loading is most beneficial when you carb deplete first (i.e. low carb for a few days followed by a week of high carb leading up to the race)
- there is growing support for fats being important in the days leading up to a big race. I haven't read enough to have any informational-based feelings, but anecdotally, I always do better on ben and jerrys than I do on spaghetti or pancakes.

*looks at my diary yesterday*

Well. I like that news.

The_Enginerd wrote: »

jacksonpt wrote: »

3dogsrunning wrote: »

codename_steve wrote: »

The race I have in a few days is a half. and it sounds like a half isn't long enough to bother worrying about nutrition too much. I guess I'll consider this experimenting for my full marathon in September

If you are eating at a deficit for weight loss, I have found that moving up to maintenance for the week before a half works very well for me.

Agreed.

A couple of other notes worth mentioning, but may or may not be worth following...
- carb loading is most beneficial when you carb deplete first (i.e. low carb for a few days followed by a week of high carb leading up to the race)
- there is growing support for fats being important in the days leading up to a big race. I haven't read enough to have any informational-based feelings, but anecdotally, I always do better on ben and jerrys than I do on spaghetti or pancakes.

This has been the traditional way of thinking, but the more recent recommendations based on research I've seen says there is no benefit to a carb depletion before a carb load.

Good to know, thanks.

codename_steve wrote: »

So I have increased to a goal of maintenance for this week. But I'm also finding I have less of an appetite since Monday (Monday and Tuesday I ended up 200 calories below maintenance goal). I'm not stressing it too much, since we've already determined that it's not that important for a half. But how would you handle this situation if it were for a full? Do you eat even though you aren't hungry? Or eat "less healthy" foods to get the calories/carbs without taking up room in the stomach? Ice cream, Sprees, and gummy bears were not on my radar when planning; the closest I got was apples/caramel and chocolate chip muffins.

Chances are, you will be used to eating more due to the increased training load for a full. But in your taper, you really need to make sure you are still getting enough calories because you will need them. As mentioned above, don't shy away from drinking juices and sports drinks, especially if you are not feeling hungry.