{"id":516,"date":"2016-04-15T08:37:04","date_gmt":"2016-04-15T12:37:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bergenxpress.com\/?p=516"},"modified":"2016-08-25T10:22:59","modified_gmt":"2016-08-25T14:22:59","slug":"carbo-load-before-races","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bergenxpress.com\/?p=516","title":{"rendered":"Carbo Load Before Races"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"pasta-fill\"BY COACH GEORGE<\/p>\n

Here’s a primer on why runners should eat pasta, rice, potatoes, or other high-carb foods beginning 2 day before a track meet\u00a0so your athlete comes to the starting line fully fueled and ready to go.<\/p>\n

And don’t forget the water. \u00a0Lots and lots and lots of water bottles beginning Friday night…..NO SPORTS DRINKS, NO SODA, NO ENERGY DRINKS….<\/p>\n

GOOD EATS<\/strong><\/p>\n

When you eat a bowl of spaghetti, most of the carbs are stored as glycogen in your muscles and liver. Glycogen is your body’s most easily accessible form of energy, but it’s not the only source. During a race, you burn both glycogen and fat. \u00a0But the latter is not as efficient, which means your body has to work harder to convert it into fuel.<\/p>\n

When you run out of glycogen during a race, especially the longer races like the 400 meters (1 lap) and 800 meters (2 laps), you hit “the wall.” Your body has to slow down as it turns fat into energy.<\/div>\n

You can’t completely fill your muscles with glycogen from just one meal, which is why you should start carbo-loading two or three days before your race.<\/p>\n

Choose Wisely<\/strong>
\nWhich carbs should you load up on? \u00a085 to 95 percent of your diet beginning 2 days before the track meet should be carbs.<\/p>\n

Tortillas, oatmeal, bread, pancakes, waffles,\u00a0bagels, yogurt, and juice are all easy-to-digest options. Many fruits are high in carbs but are also high in fiber\u2014and too much can cause stomach trouble midrace. Bananas are a low-fiber choice. \u00a0And you can peel apples, peaches, and pears to reduce their fiber content.<\/p>\n

Feel free to eat white bread and baked potatoes without the skin since both are easily digested.<\/p>\n

Avoid high-fat foods\u2014like creamy sauces, cheese, butter, and oils\u2014as well as too much protein. \u00a0They fill you up faster than carbs and take longer to digest.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Meal Ideas<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/section>\n

Breakfast<\/strong>
\n1 bagel with 2 tablespoons strawberry jam (71 g)
\nOatmeal
\n1 medium banana (27 g)
\n8 ounces fruit yogurt (41 g)
\n8 ounces orange juice (26 g)<\/p>\n

Lunch<\/strong>
\nbaked potato with 1\/4 cup salsa (69 g)
\nbsourdough roll (40 g)
\n8 ounces chocolate milk (26 g)
\n1 large oatmeal cookie (56 g)<\/p>\n

Dinner Foods<\/strong>
\nSweet Potatoes
\nJust about any type of bean — Kidney, pinto, black, garbanzo
\nSquash<\/p>\n

Snacks<\/strong>
\nPopcorn
\nBlueberries
\nCheeries
\nNature Valley\u00a0Oats\u00a0‘n Honey Granola Bars (29 g)
\nClif Bar\u00a0(42 g)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY COACH GEORGE Here’s a primer on why runners should eat pasta, rice, potatoes, or other high-carb foods beginning 2 day before a track meet\u00a0so your athlete comes to the starting line fully fueled and ready to go. And don’t forget the water. \u00a0Lots and lots and lots of water bottles beginning Friday night…..NO SPORTS […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bergenxpress.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bergenxpress.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bergenxpress.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bergenxpress.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bergenxpress.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=516"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bergenxpress.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bergenxpress.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bergenxpress.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bergenxpress.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}