Carbo loading before a race?

Anyone here do this? What exactly do you eat, and when??

I'm glad you asked this as I'm been too shy to mention it before.

I started racing last year and am trying to race every weekend that I can at
the same time lifting my weekly km to between 200-300km. During the last 6
months I've found that I need to watch what I eat (I use the word fuel now)
as if I dont get the right combination of carbs and protein I feel very
sluggish and tired during the day at work. The night before a race we have
started the tradition of making our own pasta and I pig out. This gives me
more energy for the race there is no doubt but for prolonged exercise I
still need to fuel during the ride. I've tried rice the night before but
it doesnt seem to have the kick of pasta or doest last as long I dont know.
During the ride I've switched from dates to cheap apple/cinnamon bars but
the best is the Gels. I only buy the Gels for special occasions as it gets
a bit expensive.

Anyway I'm very keen to hear what others are doing.

Cheers
Gary

"jb" wrote in message
...
Anyone here do this? What exactly do you eat, and when??

It is a know fact that carbs are poisonous to humans, hence the atkins
revolution. I would encourage you to investigate these lo-carb choices
othwerwise you are going to be addited to carbs and that's not a good thing.
Let me put it this way, your grandfather was just hunting and gathering right?
And as lean as they were, do you think that carbs were a dietary artifact, no?
No. It is a know proven fact now that the health of the ancients was due to low
carb hi protein (and yes even some fats).

For biking I would encourage a solid breakfast of ham and eggs with coffee.

"jb" wrote in message
...
Anyone here do this? What exactly do you eat, and when??

hmmm....can't say I disagree with you since I really don't know the answer
for sure, but I know that I have recently read in textbooks that carbo
loading helps store glycogen in muscles, and that for prolonged efforts, if
your muscles run out of glycogen, cramping etc. will occur...
I too am interested to hear what others here do..




"carbo_jim" wrote in message
k.net...
It is a know fact that carbs are poisonous to humans, hence the atkins
revolution. I would encourage you to investigate these lo-carb choices
othwerwise you are going to be addited to carbs and that's not a good
thing.
Let me put it this way, your grandfather was just hunting and gathering
right?
And as lean as they were, do you think that carbs were a dietary artifact,
no?
No. It is a know proven fact now that the health of the ancients was due
to low
carb hi protein (and yes even some fats).

For biking I would encourage a solid breakfast of ham and eggs with
coffee.

"jb" wrote in message
...
Anyone here do this? What exactly do you eat, and when??

On Wed, 12 May 2004 02:28:55 GMT, "carbo_jim"
wrote:
It is a know fact that carbs are poisonous to humans, hence the atkins
revolution.

This propaganda is unfortunately foisted on those whose ignorance
will allow it.

Carbohydrates are a necessary part of a healthy diet. An unhealthy
diet that's missing important parts can cause weight loss, which is
why no-carb or no-[protein+fat+whatever] diets can result in lost
weight. The lost weight does not necessarily mean a healthier body.

Let me put it this way, your grandfather was just hunting and gathering right?

My grandfather bought his food and served on a ship in the navy. He
hunted other ships, and gathered...umm...medals?

Somewhere, pre-civilization, my ancestors did hunt and gather. Of
course, they hunted protein/fat and gathered carbohydrates. This was
many thousands of years ago; since then, and over an
evolutionary-length period, humans of many/most descents have eaten
bread very commonly, maybe even as most of their diet.

I don't think that, 4500 years ago, the Egyptians building pyramids
were having any "carbohydrate poisoning" problems, eating bread
often.

From http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/diet.htm :
:For the common people of Egypt, cereal foods formed the main
:backbone of their diet from the predynastic period onward.* Even for
:the rich, this staple mean generally consisted of a variety of
:different breads, often with other ingredients mixed in.

Other civilizations also ate bread, prospered, and later descended
to become you and me.

And as lean as they were, do you think that carbs were a dietary artifact, no?
No. It is a know proven fact now that the health of the ancients was due to low
carb hi protein (and yes even some fats).

Their alleged health was due to their exercise -- they had to run
all day to get their food. They didn't live very long, so their
bodies were younger and probably healthier when they died.

For biking I would encourage a solid breakfast of ham and eggs with coffee.

Carbohydrates are the fuel your body uses best. There's no sense in
depriving your body of it's optimum fuel when you're asking it to
provide high output. Of course, more important is experimenting to
find out what works for _you_ -- if you perform and/or feel better
on ham and eggs with coffee, then that's definitely what you should
have before a race. The best way to find out is to experiment.

All this talk about food is making me hungry. Gimme a cheeseburger,
with the bun!
--
Rick Onanian

On Tue, 11 May 2004 23:50:04 -0300, "KB"
wrote:

hmmm....can't say I disagree with you since I really don't know the answer
for sure, but I know that I have recently read in textbooks that carbo
loading helps store glycogen in muscles, and that for prolonged efforts, if
your muscles run out of glycogen, cramping etc. will occur...
I too am interested to hear what others here do..

The trick is this...

Eat the carbs, by themselves (i.e., not with fat or protein) and eat them
just before or just after the exercise. This will cause a rise in insulin,
but because of the needs of the body going into or finishing exercise, the
nutrients will be used to build muscle, and will not go into fat storage.

In between exercise, it's better for those predisposed to gain weight
(fat), to eat higher protein and good fat.

Works for me.

Just before a ride I will eat some small amt of carbs (couple pieces of
chocolate?), and finish with some diluted OJ. Then about two hours later
I'll eat the protein meal. Two or three hours after that, and just before
or after the next exercise period, I repeat.

I have found that even sugar free drinks or chewing gum will often suffice.
I think in some ppl, the sweet taste can cause a rise in insulin, and thus
movement of nutrient into muscles.

Obviously, the converse is true. Beware of eating sweet-tasting things
along with fat, b/c you might be one of those that has an insulin rise just
to the taste, even in the absence of digestible carbs/glucose.

-B

On Tue, 11 May 2004 23:09:48 -0400, Rick Onanian wrote:

On Wed, 12 May 2004 02:28:55 GMT, "carbo_jim"
wrote:
It is a know fact that carbs are poisonous to humans, hence the atkins
revolution.

This propaganda is unfortunately foisted on those whose ignorance
will allow it.

Carbohydrates are a necessary part of a healthy diet.

There is -no- dietary requirement for carbs. The body produces glucose when
needed by way of 'gluconeogenesis'.

This doesn't mean that judicious use of glucose/carbs can't help the
exercising individual.

-B

I have been low carbing for a while to lose a few, but now I do eat carbs
before I take rides over 30 miles. I find if I don't I hit a wall and did
get a bit dizzy once. That was enough of that. I find for me YMMV, that if
I eat a balanced meal with good carbs the night before and during the ride
eat a banana or some granola or something, I feel fine. If I am just going
to ride like 25 miles I don't pay attention to what I eat much, just make
sure I drink enough water. I think this would be different for everyone. I
have heard people starting to carbo load 3-4 days in advance. I am not sure
why because it takes something like 24 hours for you to digest food you eat
+-.

You may have to find what is right for you. I would make sure you eat a
good dinner the night before for starters and a good breakfast that each
have some good carbs.

Enjoy,
Curt

"jb" wrote in message
...
Anyone here do this? What exactly do you eat, and when??

Carbo loading before a race?
Anyone here do this? What exactly do you eat, and when??

Having read the first 7 replies to this post, I must say I'm a little surprised
that this subject isn't better known among cyclists, as it is well known among
distance runners. If you posted this inquiry on rec.running, for example, you
would get an earful of valuable replies. Perhaps you should do that.

The length of your race is the first determiner of your answer. Runners
wouldn't really consider the topic worthy of much discussion for distances less
than 5k (13-30 minutes), but once you get up over 10k (27-60 minutes), and to
half-marathon (60-100 minutes) and marathon (2-4 hours) or ultras (30k to 100
miles, etc.), carbo loading becomes of genuine value. Use equivalent expected
cycling event times to estimate the significance of loading.

The original theory was that you needed a carbo-depletion phase during your
pre-race taper, but that seems to be largely discredited now, and the
generally-accepted view is simply to do your carbo-load the last day or two
before the event, and perhaps top it off the morning of the race.

As to how to load, you need not be very scientific. For shorter events of
higher intensity, I personally favor a mix of complex carbohydrates (starches)
and simple carbohydrates (sugars). For example, toss down a couple glazed
donuts and some strong coffee the morning before you race.

For longer events (century, double century, etc.) where true carbo-loading is
desired, eat what you know from experience your system can handle well, but
emphasize things like bread, rice, pasta (the best-known carbo-loader), and so
on. Have a good sweet dessert (but not a particularly fatty one), e.g., cake
or cookies. This will stock you well with glycogen for your event. During a
longer event, it is also common to intake enough carbs on the fly to maintain
your levels, using sport drinks, gels, bananas, fruit, honey, etc. I once
recovered from a bonk on the road by chugging most of a jar of honey. Don't
let that happen to you!

"TopCounsel" wrote in message
...
Carbo loading before a race?
Anyone here do this? What exactly do you eat, and when??

Having read the first 7 replies to this post, I must say I'm a little
surprised
that this subject isn't better known among cyclists, as it is well known
among
distance runners. If you posted this inquiry on rec.running, for example,
you
would get an earful of valuable replies. Perhaps you should do that.

Interesting.


The length of your race is the first determiner of your answer. Runners
wouldn't really consider the topic worthy of much discussion for distances
less
than 5k (13-30 minutes), but once you get up over 10k (27-60 minutes), and
to
half-marathon (60-100 minutes) and marathon (2-4 hours) or ultras (30k to
100
miles, etc.), carbo loading becomes of genuine value. Use equivalent
expected
cycling event times to estimate the significance of loading.

I covered this in my post, just not in such detail.


The original theory was that you needed a carbo-depletion phase during
your
pre-race taper, but that seems to be largely discredited now, and the
generally-accepted view is simply to do your carbo-load the last day or
two
before the event, and perhaps top it off the morning of the race.

I stated the same thing, but made it more personal because I feel this is a
personal thing. Some people eat a big mac the day before a race and feel
that is the best for them. Just read that in a running mag and found if
pretty funny.


As to how to load, you need not be very scientific. For shorter events of
higher intensity, I personally favor a mix of complex carbohydrates
(starches)
and simple carbohydrates (sugars). For example, toss down a couple glazed
donuts and some strong coffee the morning before you race.

If I did what you do, I would not perform well at all, but as I stated
earlier, everyone is different and you need to find what works for you.


For longer events (century, double century, etc.) where true carbo-loading
is
desired, eat what you know from experience your system can handle well,
but
emphasize things like bread, rice, pasta (the best-known carbo-loader),
and so
on. Have a good sweet dessert (but not a particularly fatty one), e.g.,
cake
or cookies. This will stock you well with glycogen for your event.
During a
longer event, it is also common to intake enough carbs on the fly to
maintain
your levels, using sport drinks, gels, bananas, fruit, honey, etc. I once
recovered from a bonk on the road by chugging most of a jar of honey.
Don't
let that happen to you!