advice for the week before a Half/during the race??

[krisbee911]

Hi everyone!

I am on day 14 of my October Whole 30 and am running my second Half Marathon in one week! I'm pretty nervous since I haven't gotten many good runs in since my last Half a month ago, due to my lack of energy others seem to experience too. I have been doing Crossfit regularly in hopes that it would help out where my runs were failing.

Does anyone have any advice for what to eat the week leading up to the race/fuel during the race? (I am about 5'4 and 125# for some reference) I was thinking about eating a half-full sweet potato every night but is that too much? I bought some baby food packets in hopes that they would help me along during the race. The last one I did I ate some Gu packets and have never had so much energy! But I would really like to try running this one strict Whole 30-style!! I normally just eat 2 hardboiled eggs before a run but maybe I should eat some starchy vegetable then too? I haven't been eating much fruit either (before the Whole 30 I always drank a protein/fruit smoothie before runs). Thanks guys! Hope everyone else doing the October whole 30 is doing great too!

[gatork]

I ran a half in July at the end of a Whole30, and I didn't change anything about the way I was eating for those days right before. I was eating a sweet potato every day basically, so I don't think one every night would be too much at all! I think for the week before the race, the key is really getting enough food and enough rest.

Good planning getting the baby food packets! People have suggested dates as well...

I think adding a little starchy veg with the 2 hardboiled eggs would be safe before the race - if you have any workouts/shorter runs this week leading up to the race, maybe try it out just to be sure? (Better to have tried it once than throw something new at your body on race day, you know?)

[Roberta Morris Zukauskas]

A runner friend of mine who is paleo asked this question of her FB friends - some of the things suggested included eggs and larabars. I have used these before shorter runs (6 miles) just to see how it worked for me - no stomach issues. So it may work for you.

[Carrie A 'Thompson' Snyder]

I am on day 3 of the challenge and have trail 1/2 marathon this Saturday. Due to the low-carb I really felt the performance suffer in my CF workout this am. The past couple of days I have limited my fruit, but these next few days I am going to have 2-3 fruit servings per day plus a sweet potato along with my regular veggies through out the day. In the past, even when I was no grain, I always had oatmeal the morning of a race. I will do some starchy vegetables and eggs/ham the morning of the race instead. I will be wearing a camelbak so I will be throwing 1/2 bananas into baggies to eat during the race. Post race I plan to have eggs (in a cooler), coconut water, sweet potato, and an orange.

[Ifjewel]

You will be at day 21-ish for the race, so your body may be using the fat rather than carb stores in your body. I'm months out from my Whole 30 and have been able to sustain 2 hard hours without taking on any carbs during the activity. You may be surprised at what your body can do on day 21. Keep your diet as clean as possible leading up to the race, protein, fat, veggies and easy to digest vegetables. There is absolutely no reason to augment with starches. Be sure and rest up though, taper is key. Carry your preferred carb source with you during the event just in case, but don't use it unless you feel a little weakness sneaking in. Eating prior to a half marathon only serves to cause intestinal distress and won't do anything to help you in the event. Post race, plan on having a couple hb eggs with you and a sweet potato. No reason to go crazy.