What kind of nutrition would you recommend to take prior to a relatively short and flat (20-30 mile) race? (If this was discussed before I would appreciate a link pointing me in the right direction).

Would a few shots of black coffee and a cereal bar do the trick or you have a more elaborate nutrition scheme to get you in top shape for the race?


Happy holidays to all!

What kind of nutrition would you recommend to take prior to a relatively short and flat (20-30 mile) race? (If this was discussed before I would appreciate a link pointing me in the right direction).

Would a few shots of black coffee and a cereal bar do the trick or you have a more elaborate nutrition scheme to get you in top shape for the race?

The only thing that might help is caffeine. Carb loading won't even help for such a short race.

I would take in some easily digestible carbohydrates a couple of hours or so before the race. Overnight your liver glycogen levels drop. Liver glycogen is what maintains your blood sugar level. MIGHT be an issue (but probably not) in a race like this if you eat nothing. Personally, I would be looking for 100-200 grams of carbohydrates about 2-3 hours before the race, and some coffee (mainly because I like a cup or two of black tar coffee in the morning). This is not much different than my normal breakfast anyway....

Mike
P.S. Bacon and eggs would not be an ideal choice ; )

try 10-15 shots of esspresso...or whatever the lethal dose is minus 1 or 2 units. that should get you moving.

What kind of nutrition would you recommend to take prior to a relatively short and flat (20-30 mile) race? (If this was discussed before I would appreciate a link pointing me in the right direction).

Would a few shots of black coffee and a cereal bar do the trick or you have a more elaborate nutrition scheme to get you in top shape for the race?


Happy holidays to all!
Cereal's awesome. Post Selects Great Grains.
Carb loading could do some good, but the advantage would be minimal unless your metabolism is extremely inefficient.
I don't think caffeine really does that much other than make you jittery. Which would make people, in turn hate you. Also, it dehydrates you, which could break a race.

What kind of nutrition would you recommend to take prior to a relatively short and flat (20-30 mile) race? (If this was discussed before I would appreciate a link pointing me in the right direction).

Would a few shots of black coffee and a cereal bar do the trick or you have a more elaborate nutrition scheme to get you in top shape for the race?


Happy holidays to all!

Skip the coffee, as others have said, it is a diuretic, and could cause more harm than good. Although, probably a cup ain't gonna kill you, just don't overdue it.

For a race of 20-30 miles (crit? Short road race?), I would approach eating for the race much the same I would for a long road race, with just a little less. For me, it's whole grain cereals with some fruit (banana usually), and lots of water. I include sometimes oatmeals, regular cold cereals, bagels, grits, and some other stuff.

I think you're underestimating just how hard a 30 mile race can actually be. The distance sounds short, but the effort is hard.

Skip the coffee, as others have said, it is a diuretic, and could cause more harm than good. Although, probably a cup ain't gonna kill you, just don't overdue it.

For a race of 20-30 miles (crit? Short road race?), I would approach eating for the race much the same I would for a long road race, with just a little less. For me, it's whole grain cereals with some fruit (banana usually), and lots of water. I include sometimes oatmeals, regular cold cereals, bagels, grits, and some other stuff.

I think you're underestimating just how hard a 30 mile race can actually be. The distance sounds short, but the effort is hard.


The races I plan on entering next season so far are all crits and should go under an hour. Also a century or some other long distance race is always a possibility later in the season.

The problem I have with eating all the cereals, and loading on water and gatorade-type of drinks an hour before the race is the bladder issue that will come up during the race. How do you deal with that? Now a few shots of coffee is not a whole lot of liquid to consume and is easy to sweat off. Am I missing something here?
Also races typically start very early in the morning, so its not very feasible to take something 2-3 hours in advance unless you wake up in the middle of the night.

The races I plan on entering next season so far are all crits and should go under an hour. Also a century or some other long distance race is always a possibility later in the season.

The problem I have with eating all the cereals, and loading on water and gatorade-type of drinks an hour before the race is the bladder issue that will come up during the race. How do you deal with that? Now a few shots of coffee is not a whole lot of liquid to consume and is easy to sweat off. Am I missing something here?
Also races typically start very early in the morning, so its not very feasible to take something 2-3 hours in advance unless you wake up in the middle of the night.

Don't eat an hour before the race, for me, I'm a 2-2.5 hour before a crit eater. For a road race, a long one, I'll get up 3 hours before the race and cram as much food into my gullet as possible, and go back to sleep for another hour (if the race is over say 80 miles, and is in the early morning). So load up on food and or water earlier, and make sure you get everything out of you before the race. Normally, for me, I'll be warming up, be drinking and everything, and will be going to the bathroom before the race, as required.

As mentioned, you can eat early for races, you just have to get up early, eat, nod back off for a short while, and then get ready to race. If you're eating an hour before the race, you're going to be in trouble. At the very least, you should be getting dressed an hour before a short race, and be warming up and or riding for 45 minutes or so before the race. At least, for me, that's how it is. I warm up slow.

Coffee, the problem is not so much the coffee, but the caffeine. Talk about bowel troubles. The caffeine, if you have a lot, will make you poop, that's for sure. The caffeine, will dry you out (if you have a lot of it), so just don't overdue. A cup, maybe 2 should be all good. I myself, don't drink coffee, mostly because I don't like it.

And like I said, remember, a crit, under an hour, is a very intense and hard effort. If you're not fueled properly, it could impede performance.

The races I plan on entering next season so far are all crits and should go under an hour. Also a century or some other long distance race is always a possibility later in the season.

The problem I have with eating all the cereals, and loading on water and gatorade-type of drinks an hour before the race is the bladder issue that will come up during the race. How do you deal with that? Now a few shots of coffee is not a whole lot of liquid to consume and is easy to sweat off. Am I missing something here?
Also races typically start very early in the morning, so its not very feasible to take something 2-3 hours in advance unless you wake up in the middle of the night.
I have early morning races too (I'm a junior, so my races are at 8AM.). I've found that anything I eat isn't really a problem, try to eat an hour in advance. Then, know what time your race is (duh), and about 15 minutes before, visit the porta-john. Pee, even if you don't really feel like you need to. This way, you will not need to go to the bathroom during races.
If you just have a cup of orange juice, or anything like that - less than 20 oz, with a bowl of cereal, you won't need to pee probably.

If you just have a cup of orange juice, or anything like that - less than 20 oz, with a bowl of cereal, you won't need to pee probably.


I would stay away from orange juice for short intense efforts(i.e. crits). The acid content of the juice combined with the effort will come back to haunt you if you know what I mean.

Chris