bobby c

We'll we've been talking about nutrition post ride, I ran across this article about nutrition before and during riding, geared particularly to events such as races. Now I don't race, but I have a few centuries coming up so this advice is handy for my type of riding.

https://www.velonews.com/train/articles/12445.0.html

In summary:

1. Consume 3-5 grams of carbs per pound of body weight in the day before. The longer the event, the more days you should start carbo loading (you may want to start 2-3 days before a century, for example)
2. Pre-event protein & fat consumption can be low
3. Moderate dinner the night before
4. The morning of, food should be easy to digest & carb rich
5. Drink enough fluids to replenish lost sweat. This varies per individual, sweat rates range from 1/2 to 3 quarts per hour.
6. Keep intake (both solids & liquids) to known tolerances (i.e. easily digested)
7. Crush anyone who is in your way (or not, it's a personal preference)

tlc20010

Well, since we ride together now and again, I am a little concerned about number 7.

BluesDawg

Some of the guys on my team have been drinking Slim-Fast before races.

doctor j

Thanks for posting, bobby c. I've got my first century coming up at the end of the month. I'll need all the help I can get. I believe I will do the carbo loading beginning a couple of days before the ride.

Terrierman

Plan on a spaghetti dinner Friday evening in Spokane. Whole wheat pasta of course. I'm thinking buckwheat pancakes for breakfast and maybe some egg beaters. You'll not get me to eat oatmeal, no matter how hard you try or how many blueberries you put in yours.

doctor j

You're on!

Camilo

My experience is with 50+Km XC ski events, but unless told otherwise, I plan to prepare the same for an upcoming metric century and (hopefully) a 100 miler later this summer. I've never done long bike events, but have done many 50K ski events, which take me 3.5 - 4 hours. I'm thinking my metric will take about the same.

From what I've read, carbo loading the day before an endurance event does little. Carbo loading should be done in conjunction with tapering the week before the event. As you taper while keeping your carb intake the same, the excess carbes help to store glycogen in the liver and muscles. You don't store carbs, so eating carbs the night before does little imho. It is the glycogen that you want to be maximized so it can be burned during the endurance event. So, the week (or so) before your event, decrease your mileage to rest and keep your diet high in carbs and you will build up glycogen stores also.

Remember, being overtrained and/or tired is much worse than being undertrained and rested.

During the event, "eat" and drink early and often. You should start taking in easy-to-burn carbs (e.g. gu type things and / or carb. rich sport drinks.). I don't think protein does much if anything during the event, but is indeed important afterwards for recovery.

If you don't start early and really keep on top of oit, once you start getting really tired, it becomes much more difficult to motivate oneself to eat and drink and gets very hard just get that stuff down. You tend to neglect it. Result is a spiral into bonk. BTDT.

You should also concentrate on hydrating at least a few days before the event, to maximize that as well. Don't wait until the day before or the night before.

The morning before, I eat a good size meal of oatmeal (complex carbs, easy to stomach, has water in it) and some protein like an hard boiled egg or two. I try to do this 3 hours before the start time. I hydrate like crazy up until an hour before the event, when I quit drinking. That will allow me to get the bladder emptied a couple of times well before starting time. You don't want your bladder full when you start. Then, 15 min - 30 min before start, I take a packet of gu and a few ounces of fluid, not enough to have to pee again though.

During the event, I try to take several ounces of fluid every 20 minutes or so and the equivalent of a gu packet every 30 minutes. Yes, during a 3.5 - 4 hour event I do eat 7 gu's. It's important to chose some you like and to use it during training to get used to it. There's guides to how much fluid you should take per hour - make a mental schedule and don't skimp on that. Roughly I try to take a large bottle of fluid every hour. When skiing I carry one, so I have to get the rest at the stations. On the bike, I plan to carry two and get the rest at the stations.

I also drink full strength sport drink alternating with water or whatever they're offering at the water stations. I carry my own full strength stuff and my own nourishment, because I often can't stomach what they're offering (except for plain water).

I have had extreme "full body" muscle cramps at the end of a 50 K ski and think full strength sport drink is needed for electrolytes and sugar. Many hydration stations supply 1/2 strength sport drink thinking it is better for most people.

I have tried a variety of things for carbs, but have settled on gu-type products, but I carry them in a "gu flask" mixed 50:50 with water for ease of eating it. The clif product that are like little square gummies work great too.

Anyway, like I said, this works pretty well for me during ~4 hour ski events - does it sound reasonable for a 4 hour biking event?