1. Develop Race-Day Eating Habits Through Training
Just as your body adjusts to new training stress over time, sometimes with pain and soreness, a new diet can also cause stress to your system. Determining the proper diet needed to deliver a maximal performance on race day starts early in your training program. Take note of preride meals before each training session to develop an understanding of which types of foods work well and which ones don't. There are hundreds of "performance" foods on the market, and they may be of benefit for you. But some foods may leave you feeling less than powerful. Never eat something for the first time the day or moments before a race. Use your training as the time to experiment with various diet choices.
2. Prerace Carbohydrate Buildup
As your training develops over time, there should be an inverse relationship in your intake of calories from carbohydrates and calories from fat. In the early stages of endurance development, carbohydrates should represent only 40 percent of your daily intake compared with 35 percent from fat (with the remaining 25 percent from protein). By race day, this breakdown should reflect a high carbohydrate intake of 50 percent and fat intake reduced to 25 percent.
Within a few days of the race, most riders begin the process of glycogen storing. Muscle glycogen is the fuel for muscle action and is crucial for high-level performance. Foods high in carbohydrates include grains like bread and pasta and vegetables like potatoes, green beans and corn. Be careful not to overdo on the calories when trying to build carbohydrate stores. Try not to exceed the normal caloric intake levels that you have developed during your training regimen. The increase in carbohydrates should be offset by the reduction of calories from fat.
3. Race-Day Nutrition
There have been a number of studies to determine the effects of high levels of carbohydrates on performance when ingested within an hour of competition. Your body naturally produces a reaction to spiked sugar levels by creating more insulin, which may affect muscle action. Although there is no clear effect on performance, positive or negative, the important factor to keep in mind is that your body will be affected in its own unique way. If your training has benefited from last-minute food, it is likely your race will benefit as well.
Additionally, eating during the course of the race is an individual choice. There are a number of performance bars, gels and pastes designed for in-race ingestion.
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