Your race day nutritional preparation should be specific and well thought out so that when you arrive to the start line you are both optimally fueled and confident that your food and fluid choices are tolerated through the intensity of racing.

Depending on the distance of your race, what you eat in the 24 to 48 hours before race day can allow you to maximize the muscle glycogen content of your trained muscles- an important fuel source at any racing intensity. Often referred to as “carbo-loading” this strategy is simply tapering or resting for the race as your training programs dictates and eating an adequate amount of carbohydrate so that you replace any exercise glycogen deficits and fill up your muscle stores to capacity. This process can result in a slight weight gain as your carbo-loaded muscles retain some fluid.

How much you should eat when resting the day before a race is an important consideration. First, if your exercise is very light the 1-2 days before a race you are not burning as much energy in training and do not require as high a caloric intake. Yet, you do need to consume an adequate amount of carbohydrate- therefore, the percentage of your daily intake should be high in carbohydrates. To achieve this proportion of carbohydrate, protein can be kept to modest amounts, and fat to low amounts in your diet. If you are competing in a ultra-distance race or over several days, then you will need to consume more protein in the 1 to 2 days leading up to the race.

Generally, aim for 35 to 40 calories for every kilogram of body weight, more if you do some light exercise, and consume 6 to 8 grams of carbohydrate for every kilogram of body weight. Likely there is a leveling off effect from carbo-loading at 500 grams daily for women and 600 to 700 grams for men. Women also do not seem to obtain the same magnitude of benefits from carbo-loading as men. Generally, easy to digest foods, nothing overly spicy, and cooked foods are best tolerated the day before a race. If you are travelling to compete, keep it simple and have fun with eating out after the race.

A sample pre-race day carbo-loading menu providing 600 g of carbohydrate is outlined below. If aiming for a menu more in the 500 g carbohydrate range, you can eliminate two of the three snacks:

Breakfast
Orange juice, 8 ounces
Cereal, dry, 1.5 ounces
Dairy or soy milk, 8 ounces
Toast, 2 slices
Jam, 2 Tbsp.Snack
Yogurt with Fruit, 6-8 ouncesLunch
Turkey, 3 ounces
Bread, 2 slices
Pretzels, 1.5 ounces
Pear, 1 large
Juice, 12 ouncesSnack
Energy Bar, 1
High carbohydrate drink, 12-16 ouncesDinner
Rice, 2 cups
Poultry, 3 ounces
Bread, 2 slices
Cooked vegetable, 1 cupSnack
Frozen Yogurt, 1 cup
Fruit, 1 medium piece

The morning of the race, it is most optimal to eat 2.5 to 3 hours beforehand. Carbohydrates at this meal fill up your liver glycogen stores, which help maintain blood glucose levels during the race. This pre-race meal is also a good time pre-hydrate. At the very least, this meal should prevent any hunger that you could experience during the race.

Two to three hours beforehand, aim for 3 to 4 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight. Often, your favorite pre-training meal consists of foods that work well before hard training, with some adjustments made to have some liquid carbohydrate calories rather than solids foods. Low fiber, easily digested choices are also best before hard racing efforts.

Hydrate before racing to top off fluid stores. Many athletes like to hydrate leading up to a race with a sports drink for an easily emptied and absorbed source of carbohydrate, fluid, and sodium. You can even top off your fuel stores with a gel or bar in the 60 to 90 minutes before your start time. Make sure that you know your tolerances and experiment in training. You can refer to the April 27th posting for some pre-exercise meal ideas. Just consider some slight modifications for racing with slight longer times between eating and exercise, lower fiber carbohydrate choices, and dense sources of carbohydrate such as a high energy carbohydrate drink, juice, jam on toast, and a more refined cereal for your pre-race meal.

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Monique Ryan, MS, RD, is author of "Complete Guide to Sports Nutrition,"and "SportsNutrition for Endurance Athletes," from VeloPress, and the upcoming “PerformanceNutrition for Team Sports,” (Peak Sports Press March 2005). She isa regular columnist for Inside Triathlon and VeloNews magazines, and isfounder of Personal Nutrition Designs, a nutrition consulting company basedin the Chicago area. Ryan regularly counsels endurance athlete across NorthAmerica on performance and health-related nutrition concerns and offersonline services through her website atwww.moniqueryan.com. She was the nutritionist for the Performance EnhancementTeams for USA Triathlon and the T-Mobile Women's Cycling Team for Athens2004. She also consulted with professional triathletes, the Saturn CyclingTeam, and the Volvo-Cannondale Mountain Bike Team. Ryan offers answersto reader's questions twice monthly. Readers are welcome to send theirquestions directly to Ryan at RyanWebQA@aol.com. The information providedin the "Feed Zone" does not constitute prescriptive nutritional advice.The information provided in this column is solely for general interestof the visitors to that site and is intended for educational purposes only.