Racing Fuel

10 surefire ways to fuel your racing

by: Liz Applegate Ph.D.

For once you've done your homework. You've trained intensely, slaved on your start, your turns and your kick, and sharpened your mental focus. You're almost ready to race. In order to make the grade, however, you must do one more thing-fill your body with the fuel it needs to run fast. You must feed your facethe right way.

Why? Because what and when you eat the week of a big meet can determine whether you'll blast a PR or bomb with a DNF. The following 10 steps will tell you exactly how to set the stage for the former. Think of them as Cliff's Notes for maximum performance-and the one piece of homework you can't afford to blow off.

Loaf
This means two things: One, eat lots of carbohydrates such as bread and pasta. And two, get plenty of rest. Begin to do both five to seven days before your big meet.

Your body converts the carbohydrates you eat during the day into glycogen, which it uses to power your muscles for maximum performance. So if you eat lots of carbohydrates such as bread, cereal, pretzels and fruit before a big meet, your body will have more energy to use as you race. The problem is, your body uses glycogen during your training workouts, too. So you must eat more than 450 grams of carbohydrates each day to keep your body's glycogen stores full.

How much is 450 grams? About 10 to 12 servings of breads, cereals and other grain products. Munch on cereal for breakfast, bagels or pretzels during the day, and pasta or a baked potato for dinner. And wash it all down with fruit juice or high-carbohydrate drinks such as GatorLode or Exceed High Carbohydrate Source, each of which supplies about 50 grams of carbohydrate per cup.

The second part of the equation is rest. Believe it or not, loafing around also helps build glycogen stores. Tapering isn't very hard on your muscles, so they don't use as much glycogen as they do in regular training. In fact, they actually end up storing more. Talk with your coach about devising the very best taper for you.

Slurp H20
Start soaking up water or sports drinks five to seven days before your big meet to replenish the water your body has lost through sweat during training. Take a bike bottle to school, and sip from it often. Stuff one in your gym bag or your locker as a reminder. And check the color of your urine when you go to the bathroom to make sure that you're drinking enough. Clear or pale yellow urine indicates that you're well hydrated; dark urine means you may be dehydrated.

Buzz Off
Avoid caffeinated beverages such as soda, coffee and tea the day before and the day of competition. Because caffeine increases urine production, more water is lost from your body when you drink it, and this predisposes you to dehydration. Your blood thickens, so your heart must work harder to pump it to your muscles. And as a result, your performance drops.

It's true that many scientific studies have shown that drinking caffeine before exercise can improve endurance, but it can't make you run faster. You would need to drink several cans of soda about an hour before running for the caffeine to have any effect. And even then, it won't work unless your event lasts longer than an hour.

Prev 1 2 Next >>>