Bite Size Series Tip #1 – Training – The Perfect Opportunity to Master your Sports Nutrition
Sometimes we need quick reminders when it comes to sports nutrition, mindset and training. Check in here regularly for my Bite Size Series tips where I’ll keep it brief, while reminding you about one thing you can focus on to take a small step towards succeeding on your performance journey.
Today’s tip is a reminder to practice your race day nutrition during training. You put a lot of time and dedication towards your training and skipping workouts ranks low on your agenda. Many of you are aiming to complete a challenge, a race or some type of goal. But here’s the thing, if you don’t fuel yourself properly and recover between all of these amazing training sessions, it’s likely you’re not maximizing them. That feels like a missed opportunity to me. Why try to build the best machine possible and not fuel it with the best nutrition, at the right times in the right quantities and master the process?
Don’t wait until the day before your race or challenge to think about your pre-race day meal. Don’t try that new race day food for the first time on race day. Look at training as an opportunity to practice for race day, including but not limited to your nutrition and hydration strategies.
My suggestion is you pick a few training sessions that will act specifically as “mock” race days. Plan for the day before, the morning of, during and after. YES ACTUALLY PLAN IT ALL OUT. Then execute it. Then reflect.
How did it go? Did you feel good til the finish or did you hit the wall? Did you give yourself enough time to digest? Was the composition of your pre-race meal ideal or did it sit heavy in your gut? What about your hydration? Were you able to keep pace with what you need (different race day temps will affect this), and how about your GI tract, do you need to challenge it with higher carbohydrates more often to train it? Were those gels too sweet? Hands get sticky with those rice bars? Did you time your caffeine intake well? As you can see there is a lot to learn.
That’s it for today’s Bite Size Tip. Remember, we have to plan to succeed. Everyone loves doing the training, but it’s as important to support that training with a nutrition strategy that you trust based on your own experience. Sports nutrition isn’t an afterthought, it’s a tool you should add to your tool kit that will help you line up with more confidence every time – and we can all use that.
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