It's race week!
You've put it countless hours of work to to get to this point. But, it order to reap the benefits of your hard work, you must ensure your energy stores are topped off for the big day. Knowing what to eat during race week causes athletes stress. To help alleviate this stress, we outlined some steps for loading your body with calories for your big day.
It's A Process
In the old days we just ate a big ass bowl of pasta the night before our event and called it a day. Now we know this isn't always the best approach. Athletes get concerned with eating too much during the taper for their event. While it is true you need to adjust your energy intake based on your activity level, this adjustment is not the same during race week as other times of decreased training load.
We've found the best approach is to use the reduction in training volume combined with a SLIGHT reduction in daily energy intake* to create a small surplus of energy each day leading up to the race. Too many calories starting too far out will leave you bloated and with heavy legs on race day. Cramming too many calories in too close to the event will leave you with an upset stomach and your energy stores still will not be as full as they could be.
*Reduction from your intake during high peaks of activity.
Examples
For our examples, we will look at two athletes who are both racing on Sunday. Athlete #1 is a female who weighs 135 pounds, and athlete #2 is a male who weighs 165 pounds.
Monday - Thursday
The goal is to be in a slight caloric surplus so your body absorbs the glycogen and fat. Follow your normal eating pattern, but make sure you are ingesting about 75 - 100g of carbs and 20 - 40g of high quality protein post training. After that, divide your remaining macros up evenly over your snacks and meals. While this is not an excuse to eat Sour Patch Kids until you go into a coma, consuming some simple carbs may help you hit your numbers. This is also a great time to make avocados your friend. Guac anyone?!
Athlete #1 Macro Breakdown
- Fat: 90 - 100 grams
- Carbs: 325 - 375 grams
- Pro: 110 - 125 grams
Athlete #2 Macro Breakdown
- Fat: 90 - 100 grams
- Carbs: 425 - 475 grams
- Pro: 135 - 150 grams
Friday
Big energy day! This is a more eloquent way to say you can eat your face off, but do so with some restraint. We will breakdown your macros, but the easiest thing to do is eat calorically dense food throughout the day.
Athlete #1 Macro Breakdown
- Fat: 125 - 150 grams
- Carbs: 400 - 450 grams
- Pro: 110 - 125 grams
Athlete #2 Macro Breakdown
- Fat: 125 - 150 grams
- Carbs: 500 - 550 grams
- Pro: 135 - 150 grams
As an example:
Breakfast:
- 3 eggs your choice
- 3 slices of bacon
- 3 pancakes (save one for later)
- glass of juice or chocolate milk
Snack
- 1 pancake with 2 tbsp. of peanut butter
- 1 banana
Lunch
- 3 slices of pizza
Snack
- Peanut butter and jelly or peanut butter and honey sandwich
Dinner
- Bacon cheeseburger with avocado or mayo
- french fries
Dessert
- Bowl of ice cream
Listen, before you get all sanctimonious about calorie quality - I hear ya. Calorie quality does matter, but not today. Here's why. Indulging in some higher caloric foods helps by reducing the amount of food you have to ingest and process. These types of foods will also release quite a bit of feel good hormones, which in turn will help alleviate some of the stress you are feeling about your race. It's a win-win! Please make sure you adjust this to your specific lifestyle. If you've been Whole 30 for all of your training, this is probably not the best example for you.
Saturday
Today you want to start with a big breakfast, and then taper off throughout the day. Your lunch should be normal, and your dinner should be just enough to keep your stomach from growling. If you plan it right, you will wake up race morning hungry which is a good thing. The hunger means your stomach is empty and it will be more accepting of the calorie choices during your event.
Athlete #1 Macro Breakdown
- Fat: 75 - 90
- Carbs: 175 - 200 grams
- Pro: 110 - 125 grams
Athlete #2 Macro Breakdown
- Fat: 75 - 90 grams
- Carbs: 225 - 275 grams
- Pro: 135 - 150 grams
