Fuel foods before an event

[Packerbacker]

Hello everyone I hav a for thoughs of you that do events or races. What do you eat 24hrs or less prior to your event? When I was in the military Id carb up on pasta then the morning of our physical fitness test I'd drink some water and just prior to the last even a 2mi timed run I would drink some dilutted orange juice for instant sugar. Now that I'm out of the service and starting to do some longer cycling and events Im curious should I be using the same concept? or should I do something diffrent? Thanks for your advice in advance

 

[kdelong]

You need to do something different. Eating a carb rich meal like pasta the evening before you ride is good. The morning before you ride you need to eat a carb rich breakfast but throw in some protein too. Pancakes or oatmeal with sausage or bacon works for me. Be sure to eat this meal 45 minutes or more prior to riding so that your digestive tract isn't competing with your legs for your blood supply.

If you are riding more than 20 miles or so, you will need to replace carbs and electrolytes. This thread deals with what to fill your water bottles with: http://www.cyclingforums.com/forum/thread/484714 . I have started to use Heed and Perpetuem from Hammer Nutrition for really long rides. They have a dealer locator on thier website; http://www.hammernutrition.com/ . For shorter rides under 60 miles, I just use Gatorade. You also need to have something to eat while on the road. Fresh fruit like bananas and pears are good. The peels and/or core are biodegradable. You can also get energy bars and gels. Most grocery stores sell some sort of energy bars or a full service drug store will carry them. You will probably need to go to your local bike shop or runners supply shop to get gels. Some of the larger chain sporting goods stores carry them too, along with a better selection of energy bars than your grocer carries. They are also a little more expensive though.

After the ride, your body will be craving some protein to repair the muscle damage that you did while riding. Go ahead and eat anything that has protein. Meat is good unless you are a vegan, then it is beans and spinach with soymilk I suppose. I always felt that it was not right to eat a sensitive plant so I usually end up a good ride with a cheeseburger.

 

[Packerbacker]

Thank You so much for the information I printed it so can use it before my next big ride shooting for 50MI plus on August 13th. Feel pretty confident just wanted to make sure my nutrition values were taken care of