Birkie Trail Run Partners With Nutritionist Alex Larson

We are 7 weeks out from race weekend and now is the time to start planning out your race-week nutrition!

Here’s a checklist from endurance sports dietitian Alex Larson, sharing what you can do in these final weeks to perform your best on race day.

• Trial what you plan to eat and drink before your race. Use your training runs to practice fueling before your runs with easy-to-digest carbs, such as cereal, oatmeal, fruit, bagel, applesauce or graham crackers.  
• Practice your intra-run nutrition. Fueling with energy gels, chews, waffles or fluids to provide that consistent source of carbohydrates to keep you feeling strong throughout your run. The amount of carbs to consume will depend on the duration of exercise:
  • <75 minutes: 0-30 grams carbs
  • 75 min – 2-½ hours: 30-60 grams of carbs per hour
  • 2-½ hours+: 60-90+ grams of carbs per hour
• Hydrate! Now is the time to practice drinking larger volumes of fluids during your training runs. This will help you comfortably hydrate at aid stations on race day. Carrying fluids with you and setting a timer on your sports watch every 15-20 minutes can help you stay on schedule in drinking more.
• Support your body’s post-run recovery needs! Make sure to rehydrate immediately and refuel with carbohydrates and protein within 1-2 hours after you finish your workouts.
• Write out your race-day nutrition and hydration strategy now. That way you can order or shop for any fueling products and equipment (i.e. hydration vest or belt) and have early enough to test out for your final long runs.

Carb Loading. For those running the half marathon and full marathon, I highly recommend carb-loading in the days before the race. If you’ve never done a proper carb load before, take advantage of a long training run and do a practice carb load the day before.

More about Alex: Located near Duluth, Minnesota, Alex is a registered dietitian, Ironman finisher and mom of 3. She started Alex Larson Nutrition with the mission of supporting endurance athletes with practical and simple nutrition advice for lifelong health and performance. You can find Alex on social channels @alexlarsonnutrition.

Posted August 8, 2024 at 2:00 pm