Race day food...

mpatts

Has anyone got any advice if I should be doing anything different re race day food for a 50 min crit?

Last night I felt super hungry before hand, found a gel in my bag which I ate before warm up, and it instantly made me feel sick. As soon as I put any effort in I was fighting the urge to be sick.

Any ideas? Just eat a banana is my thought!

imposter2.0

Normal diet should be sufficient for a 50min evening crit - or indeed any other race, at any other time of the day.

mpatts

Imposter wrote:

Normal diet should be sufficient for a 50min evening crit - or indeed any other race, at any other time of the day.

I suppose i should be more specific....

It starts at 6, which is right when I tend to eat. I was starving. I should have eaten a bannana, I reckon that would have surfised.

tgotb

Different things work for different people, so you need to experiment. Assuming you mean 6pm, a few different options to try:
1. Have a big lunch of whatever carbs work best for you (pasta in my case) and leave it at that
2. Big lunch and then a decent-sized muesli bar (eg Clif Bar) at something like 4pm
3. Light lunch and muesli bar
4. Gel 30 mins before race
5. Light lunch and then nothing (the reason to try this is to find out whether you actually need any extra food at all, you may be surprised)

Bottom line is that, unless your glycogen reserves are already depleted, you'll have plenty available for a 50 min race; it's very easy to overthink nutrition for short races. Also remember that if your digestive system is busy digesting a banana while you're racing, that's using energy/blood flow that could be going to your legs; same idea as 100m sprinters not breathing during a race.

A lot of people seem to believe everything the sports nutrition companies say, and end up thinking it's impossible to ride a bike without pockets full of gels, bars etc. I've even seen people chugging gels on the way to work in the morning!

ju5t1n

mpatts wrote:

Any ideas? Just eat a banana is my thought!

I'd go with this. Dinner can wait

CYCLESPORT1

When I raced, I would normally get my butler to wake me up by 12.00am on a race day, then I would eat a full english with toast and coffee, load up the Bentley have another coffee or tea and go, maybe flat coke in the bidon.

olake92

TGOTB wrote:

Bottom line is that, unless your glycogen reserves are already depleted, you'll have plenty available for a 50 min race; it's very easy to overthink nutrition for short races. Also remember that if your digestive system is busy digesting a banana while you're racing, that's using energy/blood flow that could be going to your legs; same idea as 100m sprinters not breathing during a race.

This is true, so don't worry too much about eating loads! I like a large lunch, usually something boring like 150g rice and an omelette (with plenty of ketchup ). Then 100g pasta with a light sauce 3-4hrs before. I usually eat either a banana 1hr before or a caffeine gel as well. Tbh I can happily go without those, though the caffeine is nice for a kick.

It's worth noting I've raced on much less, but I prefer to err on the side of caution. If you know your power output for a race then you can estimate how much energy you'll need.

An important caveat - why did the gel make you ill? Are you not used to eating them or is it something else? You should be able to eat a gel or banana before/mid race.

Variety isn't the spice of life here - my food routine is pretty similar for all my races so I'm used to it.

AK_jnr

Sorry to hijack your thread but its on the same topic. I'm a second year 3rd cat but I'm doing my first RR tomorrow.

Its 66 miles, I dont have my mrs available for hand outs so will 2 750ml bottles be ok?

I take it people dont stop to pee even though its nearly 3 hours?!

olake92

Phwaaar! That's asking for last minute advice :P

Tomorrow's going to be hot, so make sure you're nice and hydrated today; don't go to bed dehydrated and make sure your urine is nice and clear. If you stay hydrated in the morning too, drinking at least a 750ml bottle in the 2hrs before the event, you should be fine with just 2 bottles.

You will need to pee beforehand, but c'est la Vie! That goes away once you're racing. Spare a thought for some of us - the Circuit of the Fens (tomorrow) is 140 miles and 5hrs of racing. No pee stops either with the likelihood of crosswinds! Good luck and have fun.

AK_jnr

Thanks for your reply.
Haha yeah its late but I've been worrying since my coach said I could do with a helper.

I just cant get my head around 3 let alone 5 hours without needing to go! Coming from football it seems mad! Lol but then I do have the bladder of a field mouse!

Pross

Helpers and bottle hand ups shouldn't be necessary in a 60 mile 3rd cat race. Biggest problem I've always found is actually getting around to taking the fluid on board (or food for that matter).