SPORTS NUTRITION DURING A RACE
By Raquel Casares López
Winner Dements 2023
Dietician Nutritionist at Nutricado Nutrition Center
Instagram:@raquelcnutricion
Facebook: Raquel Nutricion
Web: Nutricado.es
The day of the race arrives, that long-awaited race that we have trained, pampered and prepared with so much care, so many hours of training, early mornings, awakenings, hours in company, hours alone in the mountains, thoughts, comings and goings and there we are … we arrived to pick up the bib with the nerves on edge, we breathe the atmosphere of the race, the streets, its people, we have done our homework, but … Have we also trained the nutrition? Well, this ends up being one of the big problems that many runners neglect to work on for the day of the race, the food they are going to take during the race.
¿Qué debemos de tener en cuenta para ese día?
First of all, the type of race which we will face, this will mark the fact of consuming more liquid product, solid, natural food, as well as the athlete’s own preference, with which, usually, in races of greater hardness, where the profile is more “up-down”, a clear example of this would be DEMENTS, where you barely have a break of road, therefore, in this type of evidence usually have more opportunity to take “calmly” gels, bars, etc..
Secondly, and most importantly, do not try anything the same day of the race, be careful, I see a lot in races … “Hey, this works for me, try this other …” what I call “substance trafficking pre-race”, this is not a good idea as you can imagine, any type of product that you will use the day of the race, you must have previously tested in multiple workouts to ensure that we feel good, we are pleasant and do not cause us any digestive discomfort.
Once we have “all the arsenal” of tests done, we begin to study the profile of the race, refreshment points and expected race time, from here we will make the “sketch” to begin to establish a plan of nutritional monitoring during the race, where we will try to cover between 30 and 100 gr HC the hour, this is very personal, Each person must have done previous tolerance tests and assess the appropriate way to combine hydrates, as well as the intake of sodium, the amount of which will depend on both the rate of sweating of the runner, as well as the humidity and temperature the same day of the race, reaching to cover between 300 and 1200 mg of sodium per hour.
Well, we are getting closer to the end, and having all these previous guidelines under control, it is time to put it into practice, to train it, to start in “trial and error” mode, to write down and decide what to use, how and when for the BIG DAY and any digestive discomfort will make you not enjoy that race that you have prepared with so much care and illusion.
Nos vemos por las montañas, en especial a las que tengo la suerte de vivir bien cerquita…#TerritoriDements, nos vemos otro año más.
¡SALUT I MUNTANYA!
By Raquel Casares López
Winner Dements 2023
Dietician Nutritionist at Nutricado Nutrition Center
Instagram:@raquelcnutricion
Facebook: Raquel Nutricion
Web: Nutricado.es
