What you eat and how much water you drink on the race day (both before and during the event) has a significant impact on how you perform, for better or worse. If you consume the wrong things or the right things at the wrong times or in the wrong amounts, unfortunately, you can have great problems during your race ranging from runners gut discomfort to dehydration. The right race strategy consists of “three rights”: right things, right times and right amounts. Consuming the right things at the right times in the right amounts is a guarantee of your successful performance in the race. Here are some useful hydration and fueling tips for better performance on race day.
The Pre-Race Nutrition
When you’re training for a marathon, you realize that you should gradually prepare your body for the race – strengthen your legs and make your cardiovascular system more efficient. You also know how important it is for you and your comfort to choose the best marathon outfit and shoes. For example, you commonly pick your running shoes, having looked at the top 15 best Asics walking shoes or running shoes previously, and rightly so. But at the same time, you shouldn’t forget about your stomach as to train your stomach is as hard as you train your legs, lungs and heart.
As we all know most races and marathons start early in the morning, and a lot of people ignore their breakfast and decide to run not having eaten or drunk anything for twelve hours and so. But keep in mind, eating before your race helps to fill glycogen stores and when they are full, your body has enough energy (in muscles and in the liver) to run well and restore a normal level of hydration. The best time for a pre-race meal is three hours before the race starts. The longer your race, the more crucial fueling you need for a good start and a strong finish. The perfect pre-race meal consists of about 800 calories. Oatmeal, bananas, sausage, eggs, cheese sandwiches are the best option for such breakfast.
As for hydration, you should arrive at the race fully hydrated, but this doesn’t mean that you drink too much before your marathon as you’re not a camel and your body cannot store excess water. Start hydrating for a marathon for 3 days before it. You should be drinking two liters of water a day for 3 days prior to the marathon. By the way, add a pinch of salt in water to help increase the uptake of water into the cells.
The Final Hour
One hour before the marathon starts you should stop drinking. So you can start the race with an empty bladder. If you feel thirsty at that time, you can have a tiny sip of water from your water bottle, but no more!
About five minutes before your race starts, you should eat a packet of energy gel or several energy chews for a successful start.
During The Race
Most runners need about 30 – 60 grams of carbohydrates per hour. Sports drinks, energy gels, chews, bars fit perfect for such snack. Don’t forget that your gut can absorb just a certain amount of carbs at one time. So it would be better to divide this snack into 2 – 3 parts during the hours.
Highly important part of your race nutrition strategy is hydration! Of course, it`s difficult to define the amount of water you lose or need during the race because it’s very individual and dependent on the weather conditions. Normally, most people need 600 – 750 milliliters of water per hour. Listen to your body and drink frequently enough to keep your body well-hydrated during the race.
The proper nutrition and good hydration allow you to perform up to your potential. Practice the race nutrition strategy in your usual race workouts to minimize your chances of experiencing any stomach problems on race day.