Carb Loading - What You Need to Know
For many of you, marathon day is just around the corner!
If you are thinking about carb loading ahead of race day then we’ve put together some information for you to think about…
What is Carb Loading?
Carb loading is a nutrition strategy used to maximize performance on race day. It involves increasing the amount of carbohydrates in your diet in the days leading up to he race so that the energy reserves in your muscles are fully fueled when you get to the start line.
The human body can only store so much glycogen so carb loading can help to maximize energy and help you to avoid hitting the wall.
Which Carbs should I be taking on?
It’s recommended that you take on carbs that are easy to digest, this could be foods such as bagels, bread and porridge are good options. Fruits such as bananas are also good and are a low fibre food so quick to digest - however it’s good to note that eating too many fibrous foods in the two days before the marathon can potentially cause crams and diarrhea so it’s important to be mindful.
When to start carb loading
One week before the marathon, start stocking up on your carbphydrate snack so that you are ready. Then 2-3 days before the maarthon you can begin the carb laoding process.
This is now where 85-90% of your diet is reccommended to be carbohydrate based.
The night before the marathon - don’t over eat - have a normal sized meal that is carbohydrate based and try to eat early, this means you will wake up on race morning feeling hungry and ready to eat again.
On the morning of your race, you can opt for a high carb breakfast - good options include:
Bananas
Porridge
Toast with Jam
Bagels
How many carbs should I be aiming for?
According to the experts, you should be aiming for around 8-10g per kilo of bodyweight.
So for example, a 70kg runner would be consuming 560-700g carbohyhdrate - each gram of carbohydrate is around 4 calories so this equates to around 2800kcal per day. We know this sounds a lot and if yo are not used to consuming this much it might feel odd, but this is only for 2-3 days and is highly researched strategy to help you maximize your performance.
Are there any side effects?
Sometimes people may experience slight bloating from carb laoding and there can likely be a slight increase in weight during this period. However, your body will benefit highly from increased glycogen storage on race day and it can help muscle recovery post run.
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