PRE-RACE
                                                              MEAL PLAN
                                                                                                                                                                            RACE WEEK NUTRITION
               Welcome                                                                                                                                                      Well your race day is getting close and it’s time to get your nutrition organized. 
               to the Blackmores Sydney Marathon pre-race nutrition guide.                                                                                                  Hopefully you have already practiced your race fueling plan a few times and feel 
                                                                                                                                                                            good about how you are going to approach the days fueling and hydration, please 
               This guide has been designed to take the guess work out of what  see the general nutrition guide if  
               to eat for the few days before the race and race morning itself.                                                                                             you have not. 
               You have put in all the effort with training over the months and                                                                                                 For races lasting longer then 1.5-2 hours it’s beneficial to focus on what is now 
               now it’s time to maximize your nutrition and glycogen stores to  called ‘modified carbohydrate loading’ for the f2-3 days before your race. The aim 
                                                                                                                                                                            is to arrive on the start line with excellent glycogen stores (carbohydrates) so as to 
               ensure you have a great day.                                                                                                                                 delay fatigue and performance decline. 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Blackmores.com.au
          CARBOHYDRATE INTAKE / LOADING 
          •  For days 3,2,1 pre-race take your carbohydrates up to 70% of total daily intake.                      •  CHO loading has been shown to enhance endurance and postpone fatigue in 
          •  This should be somewhere between 8-12 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram of                               endurance exercise at a steady state.
              body weight. Thus a 60 kilogram female will need to consume about 480 to 720                         •  It does not help increase ones speed. 
              grams of carbohydrate per day. For an 80 kilogram male this will equal 640-960                       •  This is not the time to be dieting or carbohydrate phobic as it will leave you 
              grams of carb per day.                                                                                   short of fuel for race day
          •   If you have never ‘carb loaded’ before, start on the lower end of this scale and see                 •  Please see carbohydrate chart for specific amounts of CHO in differing foods. 
              how you feel, do not go to the highest amount as this level may not be needed,                       •  There is a table of meal ideas for the week before the race. This is not an 
              especially if you are running to finish rather than race hard.                                           exact plan for any specific person, these are meal suggestions that are high in 
          •   I have found with clients that most people do really well on 8-9 grams per                               carbohydrate and low in fibre. The volume of food you need will depend on 
              kilogram and don’t need to move to the larger amounts which are more useful                              your body weight, training volume, sex and caloric needs. 
              if you are doing a 24 hour endurance race or long distance triathlon. This is a                      •  CHO loading is about upping your CHO intake, not upping your calories. Be 
              marathon and most likely will be over in 3-6 hours.                                                      aware to stay within your normal food intake (calorie) range where possible. 
          •   When you increase carbohydrates in the diet you need to decrease your protein                        •  This is where you can let go of ‘perfect eating’ and enjoy some unusual treats 
              and fat so as not to be over eating.                                                                     such as: fruit juice, jam, honey, jelly snakes, jelly beans, flavoured yoghurt, 
          •   It is good to decrease fibre intake at this time as well to limit the chances of gastrointestinal        sports drinks, crumpets, pancakes and other white breads. Don’t go over the 
              upset during the race. Thus you eat more white rice and pasta than whole grains etc.                     top but you do need to get the CHO amounts up so let go a little. 
          •   CHO loading is not about over eating it is about increasing CHO for optimum liver                    •  There are many websites and Apps that will calculate your calorie and CHO 
              and muscle glycogen stores.                                                                              intake for you so you can see if you are hitting your ‘loading’ goals. The 2 
          •   For every gram of glycogen the body will hold 2.5 to 3 grams of water and thus an                        easiest APPS that I have found are mynetdiary and myfitnesspal. 
              athlete can experience weight gain of up to 2 kilos when well CHO loaded.                            •  Alternatively you can search the web for almost any food to see what it 
          •  Your body will use this extra water during the race too!                                                  contains. www.nutritiondata.self.com is a very useful website. 
                                                                                                                                                                                                Blackmores.com.au
                     Breakfast                  Lunch and Dinner                         Snacks                               Other                       Let’s look at example of a 1 day meal plan for a 60 kilogram athlete  
                                                                                                                                                          wanting to eat 8g of CHO per kilo of body weight = 480 grams day.
                                                120-150 grams protein such         Yoghurt with a piece of                                                From the options listed in the meal and CHO tables 
             Yoghurt with 1-2 piece of fruit     as: red meat, chicken, fish      fruit and a tablespoon of     Fluids – best is water, mineral water     Breakfast 
              and a sprinkle of seeds and         etc. plus vegetable stir fry     honey (berries, banana,       and herbal tea to keep fluid levels 
                          nuts                    (unlimited veggies) and              fresh dates etc.)              topped up for race day              • 200 grams of vanilla yoghurt (45 grams CHO)
                                                          white rice                                                                                      • 1 banana ( 30 grams CHO) 
             Smoothie – 20 grams protein        120-150 grams protein plus                                       If you are short on CHO it is ok to      • 2 Tablespoon honey (30 grams) 
              powder or yoghurt, fluid of      unlimited veggie salad and 1        Hummus or guacamole         add a few jelly snakes, honey, sports      • Sprinkle of seeds/nuts (minimal carb)
              choice (juice, milk, coconut      of the following: toast, pasta,      and rice crackers or             drink etc. to get to your           Snack
              water etc.), 1 banana, ½ cup      potato, sweet potato or rice        crumpets with honey                     CHO goals.                    • Sports bar (45 grams CHO)
                   berries and honey                                                                                                                      • Fruit juice 250ml (30 grams) 
               Porridge ( oat or quinoa or       Frittata (eggs and veggies        Fresh fruit, dried fruit or   Best to avoid alcohol in the week        Lunch  
               rice) with a few sultanas or     use lots of potato and sweet     dates and small amount of      before the race…beer is not good          • 2 pieces of bread (30 grams)
             strawberries and some honey             potato) plus salad                    raw nuts                       for CHO loading                 • Nut butter 
                   (not race morning)                                                                                                                     • 2 Tablespoons jam (30 grams)
              2 eggs as you like them, 1/3      Baked veggies plus 120-150         Muesli bar, gluten free                                                • 150 grams baked sweet potato ( 30 grams) 
               avocado and 2-3 pieces of          grams meat / fish / other       muesli bar, hot cross bun       Great to add a little extra salt to     Snack 
              low fibre toast or gluten free           protein source             or a high CHO sports bar     food in the few days before the race       • 3 tablespoons hummus (6-7 grams CHO)
                 toast plus fruit or juice                                                                                                                • 15 rice crackers (30 grams) 
               2 eggs with spinach, fetta                                                                                                                 • Chocolate milk 350ml (35 grams)
             and mushroom sauté and 2-3          Lasagna made with lots of        Jelly snakes or jelly beans  DO not over hydrate, but make sure         Dinner 
             pieces toast or potato/sweet       veggies (in it) or with a salad                                        to not be dehydrated.              • Protein of choice
                      potato mash                                                                                                                         • 1.5 cups white rice (65 grams)
                                                Home-made slow cook stew/                                                                                 • Stir fry veggies (aprox 20-30 grams) 
              150 grams of cereal (2 cups)     goulash with protein and tons     Chocolate milk, fruit juice,                                             Snack
                plus milk, 1 banana and        of veggies, add potato, sweet      sports drink, 4:1 recovery      Any breakfast can be eaten for          • 15 jelly beans (45 grams) or 
                     berries/dates.              potato or rice for increased    drink can all be great high       lunch or dinner and vice versa         • 1.5 hot cross buns (45 grams ) 
                                                            CHO                          CHO snacks                                                       This meal plan totals approximately 480 grams of CHO, 
                                                   Wrap or sandwich with                                          Post training 4:1 Carb:Protein is       • Please remember this is not about being perfect or eating only super healthy, this is about 
              Pancakes with maple syrup,           120grams protein and             Small smoothie – see              your best recovery ratio!           getting your glycogen stores to a great level for race day. You can go back to eating your kale, 
                 yoghurt and fresh fruit         plentiful veggies/salad or            breakfast recipe                  Within 30 minutes!               chia seeds and quinoa after race day! 
                                                        baked potato                                                                                      • Eating the more carbohydrate dense foods is what you need to aim for, it will feel like a lot of 
              2-3 Crumpets with honey or           Recovery drink in a 4:1       Rice pudding or sushi rolls      If in doubt use a food diary app        food but 42.2 kilometers is a long way to go and you need to make sure your fuel take is full! 
                  jam and a nut butter               (CHO:Protein ratio)                   with rice            such as mynetdiary or myfitnesspal        • I have found with clients that if they are really struggling I move to high CHO liquids and 
                                                                                                                                                          white rice to hit their goals 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Blackmores.com.au
           RACE MORNING NUTRITION                                                                              What does 30 grams of carbohydrate look like (approximately) 
           The morning of a race can be a nervous time. It is best to consume tried and                         
                                                                                                                                                                                                          3
                                                                                                               Bread                   2 slices                            Pasta – cooked                 /  cup
           tested foods/fluids and to never eat or drink anything new on race day no                                                                                                                       4
                                                                                                                                                                                                          1
                                                                                                               Bread roll or pita      1 roll                              Rice - cooked                  /  cup
           matter how much someone talks up a product.                                                                                                                                                     2
                                                                                                               Crumpet                 1.5                                 Hot cross bun                  1 average
                                                                                                                                                                                                          1
                                                                                                               Wheet bix               3                                   Untoasted muesli               /  cup
           Foods                                                                                                                                                                                           2
                                                                                                                                       1
                                                                                                               Cereal (avg)             /  cup (read label)                Cooked oats                    1 cup
           •  The goal is to replenish liver glycogen stores from the overnight                                                         2
               fasting state.                                                                                  Rice cakes              4                                   Sports bars                    Read label 
           •  Timing of your pre-race meal will depend on the start time of your event.                        Yoghurt – greek         300gm                               Fruit yoghurt                  150-200gm
           •  If the marathon starts at 7 or 7:30 you should aim to eat a light breakfast 2                    Milk                    600ml                               Honey                          2 Tablespoons
               or so hours before the race start.                                                              Sustagen sport          2 scoops                            Up and go (regular)            350ml / 1 pack
           •  Don’t sacrifice sleep for an earlier, larger meal as eating CHO during the                       Choc muesli bar         2                                   Muesli bar                     2 (read label)
               race will compensate for a smaller meal eaten here.                                             Pancakes                2 average                           Crisp bread                    6 biscuits
           •   A light meal of mainly carbohydrate is best at this time.                                       Fruit juice             300ml                               Sports drink (IsoWhey          3 scoops (approximately)
           •  Aim for 1-2 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight.                                                                                               Sports Electrolyte Formula)
               Thus if you weigh 70 kilos have a light meal of approximately 70 to 140                         Gels                    20-30grams (depends on brand)       GU (gel )                      25 grams carb
               grams of carb.                                                                                  Jam                     2 tablespoons                       Jelly beans                    10 (read label)
           •  Eat at the smaller end of this scale if you only have a short window before                      Fruit salad             1 cup                               Orange/apple/pear              2 medium
               the race; use the larger end of the scale if you have a few hours.                              Dried figs              4 medium                            Grapes                         1 cup (12-14)
           •  The meal/snack should be high CHO with low fibre, fat and protein to                             Banana                  1 med/ large                        Dried apricots                 10 halves                                                                w
               decrease the chance of gastrointestinal upset. Meal replacement drinks,                                                 1
                                                                                                               Sultanas / raisins       /  cup (45 grams)                  Watermelon                     3 cups
               sports bars and sports drinks can be useful when nerves or time are a                                                    3
               factor.                                                                                         Dates                   6 small                             Blueberries                    1.5 cups
           •  Great food choice can be; white bread, crumpets, honey, jam, bananas,                            Dates                   3 (large / fresh)                   Strawberries                   3 cups
               smoothies etc.                                                                                  Kiwi                    3                                   Raspberries                    2 cups
           •  Often whatever you eat before a long run is the best thing to eat                                Pineapple               1.5 cups                            Mango                          1 medium
               on race morning.                                                                                Rockmelon               2.2 cups                            Nectarine                      2
           •  Be aware, oats are very healthy but some people find they contain too                            White potato (no skin) 180-200 grams                        Sweet potato                   150 grams
               much fibre for them on ‘race morning’ and result in gastrointestinal issues                     Carrots                 300 grams                           Beet root                      300 grams
               during the race.                                                                                Pumpkin                 500 grams                           Lettuce                        1 kilo (not a good source ) 
                                                                                                                                                                                                          Blackmores.com.au