What to eat before running a 5K

slepygrl
slepygrl Posts: 249 Member
edited December 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
Hey Everyone!
I'm running my second 5K this Saturday. What should I eat the day before the race and morning of? Everyone says I need to "carb load". Honestly I have no idea what that is!

Thanks!

Replies

  • tenunderfour
    tenunderfour Posts: 429 Member
    I don't carb load for anything less than a full marathon. Eat what you want. It's only 3.1 miles. You will be fine. :)
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
    I'm running my second 5k on Saturday too! :smile:

    What did you do for your first race? Like tenunderfour said, for a 5k, all the carb loading isn't so necessary. Eat a good healthy dinner the night before, and make sure you're hydrating all day on Friday. How early is your race? Mine has a 6:30am start, so not a lot of time to eat a whole lot before unless I want to get up super early. And there's a pancake breakfast after the race, so I will probably just have half an apple or banana & some almond butter, or maybe a piece of toast with almond butter before I leave the house.

    Either way, most advice I've read says do what you'd normally do if you were just going out for a run as part of your daily workouts - eat the same things, wear the same things. Never try anything new on race day.

    Good luck on Saturday and have fun!
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    Ditto PPs - no need to carb load for a 5k.
    As for what to eat the morning of - what you normally eat before a training run. Not a great idea to switch it up. Stick with what works.
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