Race Prep: Nutrition

Well the marathon countdown is now at 17 hours!! We are in Austin staying with Sam's sister Kelly and trying to keep it low key today. The weather looks like it is going to be perfect tomorrow so that's a plus! Today we went to the expo and picked up our shirts & our bibs with our numbers on them, so I guess this is really happening! I also snagged a free 5x7 print that I think is pretty cute and will look good in some sort of frame collage in the house:

I talked the other day about mentally preparing for a race, which has been my biggest challenge so far. But another important component of race prep is nutrition. Of course it is important to eat healthy foods while you are training, but the last few days before the race are extra important. I am not an expert in this area at all, so I've been looking for articles to help making a plan.

Basically, the articles I have read online (such as this one) suggest the following principles:

1. Don't try to just load up on carbs the night before the race. Instead, increase your daily carb intake gradually in the week before the race up to about 70% on the last few days before.
2. Do the same thing with hydration - don't just try to drink a lot of water the day before or you may feel bloated. Ensure you stay well hydrated the week before the race rather than just chugging water the day before.
3. On the morning of the race, eat what you usually eat! Presumably you have done numerous trainings runs, so you know what worked and what didn't as far as breakfast before a run. Don't try something new just because it is race day.

And obviously, it is wise to avoid greasy foods or lots of sugar right before the race also. We have definitely been eating Valentine's candy this week, so at least for today I am trying to hold off!

I already track my calories daily on MyFitnessPal and the app also shows a chart of % carbs, protein and fat. So my plan was to use that to make sure I ramped up my carb intake over the week. Typically I eat 50-55% carbs, so Wednesday and Thursday and did about 60%. I was planning to do 70% yesterday and today but I somehow ended up back down around 55% yesterday - oops.

Today I have no idea where I stand - we ate lunch at Whole Foods and I just got a wide assortment of things from the salad bar so that will be a challenge to add up, but I did try to make sure I got a decent amount of carbs in. We are going to have pasta for dinner, so hopefully I end up closer to 70% today? Regardless, I think I will be fine since I never really bothered "carb-loading" for my long training runs!

I've definitely tried to be conscious of staying hydrated this week, which just reminded me I need to be drinking more today than I have been. So I think I've got that one covered.

In the morning I am planning to eat an english muffin with peanut butter and a banana, which is what I pretty much always eat before long runs. Hopefully that means no digestive issues on the course since it is tried and true! I'll probably eat a couple of energy gel chews before the race starts too - sounds weird but they are basically just big fruit snacks! And then during the run I will refuel every 8-9 miles with either an energy gel or more chews, which is also what I have done in training so I think that will work out well.

I have tried enough different things in my training that I think I know what works for me. Next time, if I'm targeting a fast pace or something of the sort I might pay a little more attention to what I eat for the entire week before, but for now, it is what it is!

Anyway, we are off to hit up some thrift stores I think. Hopefully next time I write I will be a marathon finisher!!