Go Hard

Like every other aspect of my racing I do apply a drinking and carbohydrate strategy during the race. The best way to describe this is cover what I actually did during the race and give some reasoning along the way. The carbohydrate loading leading was covered in Carbohydrate Loading - Melbourne Marathon . Pre-race: 2.5 hours prior to race start: 60g cornflakes 150g peaches & pears 200ml low-fat milk Espresso 500ml Gatorade  This topped up my liver glycogen stores that get depleted during the overnight sleep.  The timeframe allows everything to settle and pass through my stomach to minimise the risk of gastrointestinal problems during the race. The water within the gatorade combined with the hydration strategy as part of the carbohydrate loading over the previous days should have me adequately hydrated for the race start. 45min prior to race start: 300mg caffeine 10min prior to race start: 200ml water This was preceded by a 15 minute easy war...

Yet another topic that can have more opinions than participants. I'll keep things relatively simple. This is my plan as it relates to me. It is the carbohydrate loading plan I have followed many times over the years. I have tried other modifications, and results seemed to be at least less than optimal. Mainly I follow the guidelines from the Australian Institute of Sport. There is a lot of evidence, research and practice behind these guidelines. They are well tested. However, there is a little bit of extra detail to go beyond these guidelines. AIS - Carbohydrate Loading Fact Sheet . Depletion Starts on Monday with a run of approximately 80-90min, which includes 30min at or above marathon pace. This should tap slightly into the stored muscle glycogen, and set up the body for some mild to moderate carbohydrate depletion. My diet from Monday to Wednesday will be relatively low in carbohydrate. The focus will be on protein dominant foods. The calories will also be relatively low for m...