We spend months training for a big race or sportive, and then the week before we completely wing the nutrition. I have done it myself — eaten rubbish all week, panicked on Friday night and inhaled an enormous bowl of pasta, then woken up on Saturday morning feeling like a sack of potatoes. So I wanted to put together a proper race week protocol based on what I have learned from the nutritionists and sports scientists we have had on this podcast.
The good news is that race week nutrition is not complicated. The bad news is that most of us overcomplicate it by trying to change too many things at once. Carb loading is the big one — and the modern approach is nothing like the old "depletion then supercompensation" method from the 1970s. You do not need to starve yourself for three days and then binge. A focused 48-hour window of higher carbohydrate intake (think 8-12 grams per kilo of body weight per day) alongside reduced training volume will top off your glycogen stores nicely. That means more rice, more pasta, more bread, more fruit — foods you already eat, just more of them.
Hydration is the other one people get wrong. Drinking three litres of water the night before does not hydrate you — it just means you are up every hour visiting the toilet. Consistent fluid intake with some added sodium across the two to three days before the event is far more effective. And the golden rule for the whole week: nothing new. Same foods, same routines, same breakfast. The only thing that changes is the quantity of carbohydrate and the reduction in training volume.
Key Takeaways
- Carb load over 48 hours at 8-12g carbs per kg of body weight per day, alongside reduced training volume
- Hydrate consistently across the week with added sodium rather than overloading on water the night before
- Stick to familiar foods all week — race week is about topping up stores, not experimenting
- The night-before meal should be boring, carb-rich, and something you have eaten before hard efforts many times
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