When I ran on carbs I always found carb-loading to be widely
misunderstood. The intention is supposed to be to increase the ratio of
calories consumed from carbs as opposed to fats or proteins, the general idea being to increase the consumption of low GI carbs (and lower the consumption of
fats in particular) in the last few days so as to steadily build up muscle
glycogen stores.
Most carbs are not low GI and fructose (fruit, juices and
50% of table sugar) doesn't get converted to muscle glycogen very well, so they
are a bad idea when carb-loading. Some folks think you need to eat a lot and others not. Some say eat big meals, other say graze.
It’s all actually rather complicated, and
represents a change that you have possibly not tested unless you are a regular
distance runner. And when you consider that carbohydrate loading is estimated
to improve performance over a set distance by just 2-3%, is it really necessary? Add this to the ubiquitous advice "Don't try anything new just before Marathon day" and you may have a big dilemma to deal with. My advice: don’t try it unless you have tested it first.
Clearly carb-loading is a thing of the past for me on LCHF but it is
interesting to consider if there are any last minute dietary changes that fat-adapted runners like me should be
adopting. Prior to a big race should we eat more fat, less protein or even, dare I say it, more
carbs?
Some fat burning runners chose to train low and run high. They will train on LCHF but load
up on low GI carbs the day before and use gels during the race to supplement
their fat burning. I have to confess I don’t really understand this fully as
insulin generated by eating those gels may directly block our ability to
burn fat during exercise. Are these people actually training better and longer
on fat but racing purely on carbs? Mark Sisson of Primal Living talks
about this approach here: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/how-to-fuel-a-marathon/#axzz3GraMzjck
Others, such as Bruce Fordyce, a prolific ultra-marathon
runner and past winner for the Comrades Marathon will eat normally on LCHF up
to race day, have nothing before the race except a cup of coffee with cream and
then run for many hours on water alone. http://citizen.co.za/153910/looking-beyond-carbs-can-pay-major-dividends/
For now I prefer, like Fordyce, to change nothing.
Just eat normally and re-hydrate normally. I have practiced the early breakfast
routine that gets my breakfast of eggs & bacon digested before a 9 a.m.
start and that is what I will be doing again come Saturday morning.
