Pre-Race Nutrition

Good food nutrition needs to play a critical role in your preparation for Lloyds TSB Cardiff half marathon. What you eat and drink will play a key element in you successfully completing this half marathon. Here are some of my own nutritional tips for you! 

The Days Leading up to the Race 

Increase your calorie intake

As your mileage increases throughout your training so does your calorie intake. The majority of your food intake before the race should be composed of complex carbohydrates. Foods such as pasta, potatoes and rice, the amount you need depends on several factors including weight, and gender.

You can use online calculators to get an idea of your half marathon training nutrition    requirement. 

You will need a diet that contains lots of fruit and vegetable as they are a great nutritional source. Remember to avoid foods that are high in fat at all costs! All the bad things you hear about fast foods are true! Fatty foods remain in your stomach longer and can cause problems during the race.

Drink, drink, drink

Runners you need to be drinking lots and lots of water. Staying well hydrated is something vital throughout your training. Do not wait until you are thirsty to start drinking water, because this means that you are already dehydrated. If the weather is hot and humid you will need to drink even more! And remember in the days leading up to Lloyds TSB Cardiff half  avoid all alcohol, alcohol will dehydrate you!

Practice drinking water throughout your training runs, particularly your long training runs. This will help you on the day if not you will waste your time waiting to use the portable toilets along the course! 

The night before the race

Do not eat something unusual the night before, eat something you would eat on a normal day however the meal ideally should contain carbohydrates. At all cost avoid eating a spicy curry- it could end badly! 

The morning of the race

Try eating your breakfast a few hours before the race, some good pre-race food can be bread, bagel, cereal or a fruit smoothie. The more liquid and easier to digest the food, the better! 

An hour before the race

Try not to eat very much at this stage; this now would be the perfect time to drink an energy drink to get you all gearing to go! 

 

I hope these tips prove to be useful! Have you got any pre-race nutrition tips you can share? Please share your thoughts below.

 

Happy Training

Nickita

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