Carbo-loading: tips for endurance athletes.

Does carbo-loading mean stuffing myself with pasta?

Should I avoid protein the day before the marathon?

Will carbo-loading make me fat ...?

If you are an endurance athlete who is fearful of hitting the wall, listen up: proper fueling before a marathon, triathlon, century bike ride, or other competitive endurance events can make the difference between agony and ecstacy! If you plan to compete for longer than 90 minutes, you want to maximize the amount of glycogen stored in your muscles, because poorly fueled muscles are associated with needless fatigue. The more glycogen, the more endurance (potentially). While the typical athlete has about 80 to 120 mmol glycogen/kg muscle, a carbo-loaded athlete can have about 200 mmol. This is enough to improve endurance by about 2 to 3%, to say nothing of making the event more enjoyable.

While carbo-loading sounds simple (just stuff yourself with pasta, right?), the truth is many endurance athletes make food mistakes that hurt their performances. The last thing you want after having trained for months is to ruin your performance with poor nutrition, so carbo-load correctly

Training Tactics

The biggest change in your schedule during the week before your event should be in your training, not in your food. Do not be tempted to do any last-minute long sessions! You need to taper your training so your muscles have adequate time to become fully fueled (and healed). Allow at least two easy or rest days (48 hr) pre-event.

Fueling Tactics

You need not eat hundreds more calories this week. You simply need to exercise less. This way, the 600 to 1,000 calories you generally expend during training can be used to fuel your muscles. All during this week you should maintain your tried-and-true high-carbohydrate training diet. Drastic changes can easily lead to upset stomachs, diarrhea, or constipation. For example, carbo-loading on an unusually high amount of fruits and juices might cause diarrhea. Too many white flour, low fiber bagels, breads, and pasta might clog your system. As Marathon King Bill Rodgers once said "More marathons are won or lost in the porta-toilets than they are at the marathon ..." Fuel wisely, not like a chow hound.

Be sure that you carbo-load, not fat-load. Some athletes eat gobs of butter on a dinner roll, big dollops of sour cream on a potato, and enough dressing to drown a salad. These fatty foods fill both the stomach and fat cells but leave muscles poorly fueled. The better bet is to trade the fats for extra carbohydrates. That is: instead of devouring one roll with butter for 200 calories, have two plain rolls for 200 calories. Enjoy pasta with tomato sauce rather than oil or cheese toppings. Choose low-fat frozen yogurt, not gourmet ice cream.

Meal Timing

NYC Marathon Queen, Grete Waitz, once said she never ate a very big meal the night before a marathon, as it usually would give her trouble the next day. She preferred to eat a bigger lunch. You, too, might find that pattern works well for your intestinal tract. That is, instead of relying upon a huge pasta dinner the night before the event, you might want to enjoy a substantial carb-fest at breakfast or lunch. This earlier meal allows plenty of time for the food to move through your system. You can also carbo-load two days before, if you will be too nervous to eat much the day before the event. (The glycogen stays in your muscles until you exercise.) Then graze on crackers, chicken noodle soup, and other easily tolerated foods the day before your competition.

You will be better off eating a little bit too much than too little the day before the event, but do not overstuff yourself. Learning the right balance takes practice. Hence, each long training session leading up to the endurance event offers the opportunity to learn which food--and how much of it--to eat. I repeat: During training, be sure to practice your pre-event carbo-loading meal so you will have no surprises on the day of the event!

Weight Gain

Athletes who have properly carbo-loaded should gain about one to three pounds--but don't panic! This weight gain is good; it reflects water weight and indicates you have done a good job of fueling your muscles. For every ounce of carbohydrate stored in your body, you store almost three ounces of water.

Fluids

Be sure to drink extra water, juices, and even soda pop, if desired. Abstain from too much wine, beer, and alcoholic beverages; they are not only poor sources of carbohydrates, but are also dehydrating. Drink enough alcohol-free beverages to produce a significant volume Of urine every two to four hours. The urine should be pate yellow, like lemonade. Do not bother to overhydrate; your body is like a sponge and can absorb just so much fluid.

Protein

Many endurance athletes eat only carbohydrates and totally avoid protein-rich foods the days before their events. Bad idea. Your body needs protein on a daily basis. Hence, you can and should eat a small serving of low-fat proteins such as poached eggs, yogurt, turkey, or chicken as the accompaniment to most meals (not the main focus), or plant proteins such as beans and lentils (as tolerated).

Event Day

Carb-loading is just part of the fueling plan. What you eat on the day of the event is critically important and helps to spare your limited muscle glycogen stores. So fuel yourself wisely both be lore and during the event--and hopefully you will enjoy miles of smiles!

Tools for Carbo-loading

When carbo-loading, you want to consume about 3 to 5 gr carbohydrates per pound of body weight. (This comes to a diet with about 60% of calories from carbohydrates.) Divide your target grams of carbohydrates into three parts of the day (breakfast+snack; lunch+snack; dinner+snack), and choose foods to hit our target! You can find carbohydrate information on food labels and www.fitday.com.

If you weigh   Total #gr     Target #gr carbs
               carb/day      per five hours
                             7:00 a.m.-noon
                             noon-5:00 pm
                             5:00-10:00 pm

100 lbs        300-500 gr    100-175 gr
125 lbs        375-625 gr    125-210 gr
150 lbs        450-750 gr    150-250 gr
175 lbs        525-875 gr    175-290 gr
200 lbs        600-1000 gr   200-330 gr

Sample 50 gr carbohydrate choices for foundation meal or snack

Wheaties, 2 cups

Nature Valley Granola Bar, 2 packets (4 bars)

Thomas' Bagel, 1 (3.5 oz)

Banana, 2 medium

Orange juice, 16 ounces

Apple, 2 medium

Raisins, 1/2 cup

Pepperidge Farm multi-grain bread, 2.5 slices

Baked potato, 1 large (6.5 ounces)

Pasta, 1 cup cooked

Rice, 1 cup cooked

Fig Newtons, 5

Flavored Yogurt + 3 graham cracker squares

Two Sample Carbo-loading Food Plans (3,200-3,400 Calories)

Appropriate for a 150 pound athlete who needs about 4 gr carb/lb body weight

Menu #1

                            Approximate   Carbs (gr)
                            Calories

Wheaties, 2 cups                220          48
Milk, 1% lowfat, 8 ounces       100          12
Bagel, 1 (3.5 ounce)            300          55
Cream cheese, lowfat, 2 Tbsp    50           2
Orange juice, 12 ounces         160          40
                  Breakfast: 830 cals/75% carb

Whole grain bread, 2 slices     200          40
Peanut butter, 2 tablespoons    200          8
Jelly, 2 tablespoons            100          25
Fruit yogurt, 8 ounces          230          35
Potato chips, baked, 2 ounces   240          45
                 Lunch: 970 cals/65% carb

Apple, 1 large                  120          30
Graham crackers, 4 squares      120          22
               Snack: 240 cals/90% carb

Chicken breast, 5 ounces        250          --
Rice, 1.5 cups cooked           300          65
Brocolli, 1 cup                 50           10
Dinner rolls, 2 whole wheat     200          40
               Dinner: 800 cals/60% carb

Banana, 1 medium (4 ounces)     100          25
Sherbert, 1 cup                 260          45
               PM snack: 360 cals/100% carb

TOTAL Menu #1                   3,200        547
(70% carb; 4 g carb/lb for a 150lb athlete)

Menu #2

Oatmeal, 1 cup dry, cooked in 300            55
Milk. 16 ounces                 200          25
Raisins, 1/4 cup                130          30
Brown sugar, 1.5 tablespoons    50           12
Apple juice, 8 ounces           120          30
                 Breakfast: 800 cals/75% carb

Sub sandwich roll, 6" (4 ounces)320          60
Lean meat (4 ounces)            200          --
Fruit yogurt, 8 ounces          240          40
Grape juice, 12 ounces          220          55
                  Lunch: 980 cals/80% carb

Fig Newtons, 6                  330          65
Jelly beans, 15 large           150          38
                  Snack: 480 cals/85% carb

Spaghetti. 2 cups cooked        400          80
Prego spaghetti sauce, 1 cup    250          40
Italian bread, 2 slices         150          30
Root beer, 12 ounces            140          38
                 Dinner: 940 cals/80% carb

Canned peaches in syrup, 1 cup 200           48
                 Snack: 200 cals/100% carb

TOTAL Menu #2                   3,400        646
(75% carb; ~4.5 g carb/lb for a 150 lb athlete)

Sport Nutrition is a regular department of PALAESTRA which addresses issues and answers questions sport-active people of all ages and abilities ask about high energy, healthful eating, and offers a scientific approach to eating for top performance, as well as the practical how-to approach which includes specific food suggestions. Sports dietitian Nancy Clark, MS, RD counsels casual exercisers and competitive athletes at her private practice in Healthworks, the premier fitness center in Chestnut Hill, MA (617-383-6100). Her Sports Nutrition Guidebook, Food Guide for Marathoners and Cyclist's Food Guide are available by writing to P.O. Box 650124, West Newton, MA 02465 or via nancyclarkrd.com.