Pre-Race food

eliwallach

I find that I seem to suffer more at the beginning of a race than later (although the memory at mile 9 of a 10 mile race seems to get deleted).
In my innocence I am blaming what I have (or haven't) eaten the morning of the race.
I tend to be conservative enough on the morning of a race and have porridge and orange juice about 3 hr before the race. A litre of water 2 hr before the race. I don't take anything during races (up to 10 miles).
I know some who have bananas 15min before the start:eek:,
Basically, should I be eating more/less on the morning before a race?

cfitz

Is there some reason why you think it's because of food. Could it be that you start out fast and then slow down coz it hurts?

cfitz

Sorry, check my edit above!

Stupid_Private

Race mornings I'd eat the same as any other morning - a load of porridge and 2 slices of toast. I'd have that about two and a half hours to three hours before. Water I drink right up to the start. I haven't had to race anything longer than 10k in a while but when I did race 10 miles and half marathons I'd take an energy gel with water half an hour before the start.

eliwallach

cfitz wrote: »

Is there some reason why you think it's because of food. Could it be that you start out fast and then slow down coz it hurts?

No. My pace is pretty constant.
It's just that I seem to be running out of breath, sore shoulders and stitch in the first 3 or 4 miles and then bang(!) all of a sudden breathing is easier, no stitch, no pain....
Maybe my body just stops rebelling to my running and just accepts it as the "norm"?

BeepBeep67

What type of a pre race warm up routine do you have - it's important to get your body up to race pace before the race - so you can hit the ground running so to speak.

eliwallach

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

What type of a pre race warm up routine do you have - it's important to get your body up to race pace before the race - so you can hit the ground running so to speak.

I mainly concentrate on stretching (you would too with my leg muscles) pre-race. I will jog a little but not more than 1km.

cfitz

Are you nervous at the beginning of your races? Do you get any of these symptoms during speedwork or tempo runs in training? Like BeepBeep67 says, maybe if you do some race-pace strides during your warm-up, your body won't be shocked by the pace at the beginning of the race. Or maybe it is to do with your food...

BeepBeep67

Personally I would add 6 - 8 strides at race pace up to 5 mins before the race, if the starting process allows for it.

shels4ever

You may suffer more at the atart of a race due to a number of reason. Body taking a long time to warm up, I faced this last year and on runs it was 3 miles before I was running free, I found stretching helped .

Also another aspect maybe that your over aware of how your feeling early in the run, You maybe notice ever little things breathing (do you focus much on your breating in races?),, then come the latter stage of the run your focus shifts to finishing and you forget about everything else.

I know my best runs are races that i've run about 30% of the race distance as a warm up but this isnt possible for anything more then a half mara really.

eliwallach

I see these (elite?) guys doing their 3 or 4 miles before a race - I always feel that this would adversely affect my race, probably in the latter stages.

Beginning to look like it ain't my pre-race food then.....

ike

I used to get or feel winded in the first few miles of a race - but before the start of the dungarvan 10 mile I did about 6 or so strides of about 50 yards each, and then just joggged around for a couple of minutes. Really got the heart rate up and I settled into 7:10/mile from the start.

Didn't get that shock to the system at the start.

cfitz

shels4ever wrote: »

I know my best runs are races that i've run about 30% of the race distance as a warm up but this isnt possible for anything more then a half mara really.

30% of race distance probably isn't a great measure for your race warm-up. I think your warm up prepares you to run fast rather than to run for a long time. Therefore, a long warm-up may be of greater benefit for a short race than for a long one. Maybe someone else here has a scientific explanation?

shels4ever

Yep your right there, was just thinking about it more . For 2 mile races I would have done way more then that. But for 4-5-6 miles prob about 2+ miles would be around what I need to get me going .

PainIsTemporary

eliwallach wrote: »

Basically, should I be eating more/less on the morning before a race?

Normally eat light race day. Last meal 4 hours in advance of race starting time. Get up very early race day morning and eat moderate Breakfast -Small bowl of porridge, 1 slice of toast, small glass of multi-vit, boiled egg . Then back to bed for an hour or 2 and have small bowl of pasta, chilli tomato and tuna 4 hours before race.

Usually have sports drink in build up to race, but not too much. Don't want to be bloated/full/in need of a toilet:eek: Only tend to drink water to rinse out mouth before the race.

Hope this is helpful and best of luck

Running Bing

I always have a cup of strong coffee the morning of a race. I find that really gets me going.

mrak

Personally I don't like the feeling of any food in my stomach in a race. If a race is on in the morning I won't eat from about 7 o'clock the night before. Before DCM I had a slice of toast and regretted it a bit at 10 miles when I felt a bit of a gurgle. If it's on in the afternoon I just have plain porridge in the morning and nothing after that but water (which I stop drinking 1 hours before race). I have a friend that has run very well in 100k races on a breakfast of 2 figrolls.

rainbow kirby

Babybing wrote: »

I always have a cup of strong coffee the morning of a race. I find that really gets me going.

Likewise. My usual pre-race breakfast is porridge with honey and dried fruit, and a cup of strong coffee, delicious and it gives lots of energy!