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

If you're only doing a half, there's no need to carb load. The pre-race meal is a tradition, not a necessity.

No need but is there any value?

As far as I can tell, no.

I'm not citing this from personal experience (I've done one half and one race of 20.2 miles) but from what I've read in books on running and from Runners World and Running Times.

Personally, I give a limited amount of credibility to personal experience. By definition, it's impossible to get a broad overview when only a smattering of folks come forth with information.

If you look my photo (taking during my half), you'll see that I'm wearing a Nathan water vest (excellent product, BTW) and there's a clif bar in the front left pocket. A half is so short, distance and duration, that the body barely runs out of glycogen before the race is over. Why did I carry the Clif bar? Just in case I bonked but I didn't come close.

For my 20.2 mile race, I don't think I bonked, either. Historically, pre-Gu, runners would bonk at about mile 20 but I did OK in that race (it was 1985). In fact, that's the day I decided to…quit smoking! :-)

Accoding to Tim Noakes carbs are now a big no no before big races.

If you're only doing a half, there's no need to carb load. The pre-race meal is a tradition, not a necessity.

I agree, I do about 4 half marathons a week without carbo loading

I have heard from different podcasts that women burn fat during a long run and the carb load will just weigh you down. Men can benefit from a carb load but not when "loaded" less than 18 hours before running. The better option is to watch your nutrition the 5 days before the run. Don't overdo the carbs or fiber in the 18 hours before running. You're going to do great! BTW, which 1/2 are you running?

I wouldn't worry about carb loading, definitely not for a half. I've also read that for a full marathon if you keep eating at the same level but taper your runs during the last week it's the same effect as carb loading. I certainly wouldn't do anything before the race that you haven't done before in training. Everyone is different, you need to figure out what works for you. The couple of days before the race is not the time to experiment.

Have fun!

i just ran my first half in march and did not carb load before. just ate normally and drank a ton of water the day before.

and finished in 2:05. yippeee

I didn't "carb load" before either of the two half marathons I did - i just ate normally- and I was fine. And I agree with one of the above posters advising to limit the fiber intake 18 hours before the race!

and finished in 2:05. yippeee

Way to go!

I've done five half marathons. In my experience, I didn't need to carb load. That's not to say that I didn't go with my other runner friends for a bowl of pasta the night before for two of the races, but since I pretty much never eat pasta in my normal diet, it made me feel heavy and sluggish the next day like my body wasn't done digesting. I found that I felt significantly better eating things that my body was already used to, like some grilled chicken and a salad the night before... 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.

I never carb-loaded before a long run when I was training (I always trained up to 11ish miles as well) so really, it didn't make sense to me to carb load for 2 extra miles than I had run before.

Edit: My two best times were when I ate my normal diet... 2:04:47, 2:04:57. Also, keep yourself well hydrated throughout the week before. Best of luck!

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.

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.