Forums >Racing>The Truth Behind Carbo-Loading Before a Race
With it being the start of Spring, the running scene across the country is building up again to take on the spring, summer and fall racing scenes. Especially with the Boston Marathon just a few weeks away, many people are starting to figure out their pre-race preparations to ensure the best race possible. With this in mind, I have noticed a lot of people talking about carbo-loading the day before their race hoping it will help them when they toe the line.
Attached is a blog post I wrote a few weeks ago about carbo-loading and how most people are doing it wrong. Is this something that you do? Have you found it beneficial? Please let me know!!
The truth behind carbo-loading before a race
I have done many forms of loading for marathons. I used to deplete 100% over 4 days and then load over 3 days. It resulted in @ 200% glycogen stores. Your body normally stores 1# of Glycogen with 7-8# of water. So being 200% loaded makes the runner carry 8-9# extra at the beginning of their marathon.
The body is a wonderful machine. I have since read studies that conclude the way the body compensates to having 200% glycogen available is to burn a higher percent of glycogen and a lower percent of fat as fuel while you race. In the end the richer mix of glycogen is burned in the same amount of running time at the same effort level if you were not glycogen loaded. Basically there is no value and actually a disadvantage to hyper-load.
A full depletion is hard to do and you are doing something that you normally do not do the week of the marathon.
Now I would just make sure I am getting plenty of sleep, hydration and eat pretty normally the week of the marathon. The day and dinner before the race I would have a reasonable amount of carbs in my meal. My goal would be to toe the line rested, fully hydrated and normal "Full" glycogen stores.
Long dead ... But my stench lingers !
Last week someone posted a link to their product and ntown-kevin found about six dupe postings across the web as an activity to keep himself busy or awake while on a long conference call or something.
Clearly I'm not as good at google as he is because I only found one over at Letsrun: http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=8123805
In my past experience these posts are "drive bys" and the OP never follows on or engages in the conversation they started because they only ever spent less than 5 minutes on RA to register and then cut and paste the post.
OP didn't bother to post a clickable link. Cutting and pasting URL's ain't my bag. Hate extra moves in cyberspace.
I think the joy of carb loading probably outweighs the benefits, but I'm ok with that. I could live on marinara and meatballs.
We are the music makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers,
And sitting by desolate streams;
World-losers and world-forsakers,
On whom the pale moon gleams:
Yet we are the movers and shakers
Of the world for ever, it seems.
Last week someone posted a link to their product and ntown-kevin found about six dupe postings across the web as an activity to keep himself busy or awake while on a long conference call or something. Clearly I'm not as good at google as he is because I only found one over at Letsrun: http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=8123805 In my past experience these posts are "drive bys" and the OP never follows on or engages in the conversation they started because they only ever spent less than 5 minutes on RA to register and then cut and paste the post.
I've noticed a lot of "drive-bys" like this too but I am not one of them. I have been running for about 16 years and grew up with the pasta dinners before 5k's (lol). After high school I jumped up to marathons but never really tried to carb-load the night before a race because I didn't want to have a full stomach (or colon) at the start of the race. I've studied a lot of nutrition and realized carb-loading the way most people do it wasn't actually doing much so I decided to write about it.
Posting on multiple threads give more exposure and therefore more insight on how people perceive carb-loading before a race.
Fixed. Thanks for the heads up.
It might have been a self promotion link to the blog ... The blog was OK. I just saw it as an opportunity to share. When I started marathon training, I searched and read anything about carb loading I could. Based on current information, we used to way overthink it and make it much harder on ourselves than needed.
Hopefully some newbie - reads this and "R-E-L-A-X" es to his or her best results.
I have done many forms of loading for marathons. I used to deplete 100% over 4 days and then load over 3 days. It resulted in @ 200% glycogen stores. Your body normally stores 1# of Glycogen with 7-8# of water. So being 200% loaded makes the runner carry 8-9# extra at the beginning of their marathon. The body is a wonderful machine. I have since read studies that conclude the way the body compensates to having 200% glycogen available is to burn a higher percent of glycogen and a lower percent of fat as fuel while you race. In the end the richer mix of glycogen is burned in the same amount of running time at the same effort level if you were not glycogen loaded. Basically there is no value and actually a disadvantage to hyper-load. A full depletion is hard to do and you are doing something that you normally do not do the week of the marathon. Now I would just make sure I am getting plenty of sleep, hydration and eat pretty normally the week of the marathon. The day and dinner before the race I would have a reasonable amount of carbs in my meal. My goal would be to toe the line rested, fully hydrated and normal "Full" glycogen stores.
You make a very good point about the extra water-weight associated with the increased glycogen stores. Even if the increased glycogen helped with energy for the run, it seems a lot of the energy would go towards carrying the excess weight and not towards getting you to the finish line faster.
It would seem that small amounts of carbs throughout the race, when you are losing water weight through sweating, would be the best bet.
'Truth' is a deal breaker for me.
I've noticed a lot of "drive-bys" like this too but I am not one of them. I have been running for about 16 years and grew up with the pasta dinners before 5k's (lol). After high school I jumped up to marathons but never really tried to carb-load the night before a race because I didn't want to have a full stomach (or colon) at the start of the race. I've studied a lot of nutrition and realized carb-loading the way most people do it wasn't actually doing much so I decided to write about it. Posting on multiple threads give more exposure and therefore more insight on how people perceive carb-loading before a race.
Yet you swing by and follow the "drive by" formula to a t with the exact same post as elsewhere. Exact down to the double exclamation points!! I bet that was your first post here. Am I wrong?
Kudos for following up, I guess. It's probably my day to be grumpy round here.
Everybody carbo load before Boston. My carb of choice will be a tasty ale.
Cheer up ... Life is a wonderful adventure. There is a difference between trying to drive some traffic to a real blog or business with the good intention and some useful information and senseless trolling or promoting male enhancement products. It would appear it is associated with a Chiropractic practice in Lakeville, MN. Be nice ... they look like good people.
http://exuberancechiropractic.com/about/meet-the-doctor/
The funny thing is from the map at the bottom of the blog ... I used to live about a few miles away from the address (North of 170th off Fairhaven). Back in 2004 - 2005, I could have seen the blogger running as I was out running.
It's probably my day to be grumpy round here.
Yet you swing by and follow the "drive by" formula to a t with the exact same post as elsewhere. Exact down to the double exclamation points!! I bet that was your first post here. Am I wrong? Kudos for following up, I guess. It's probably my day to be grumpy round here. Everybody carbo load before Boston. My carb of choice will be a tasty ale.
Remember when dicky99 gave us all the 'truth' about mileage?
http://www.coolrunning.com/forums/Forum6/HTML/023473-2.shtml
10 years goes by so fast.
Cheer up ... Life is a wonderful adventure. There is a difference between trying to drive some traffic to a real blog or business with the good intention and some useful information and senseless trolling or promoting male enhancement products. It would appear it is associated with a Chiropractic practice in Lakeville, MN. Be nice ... they look like good people. http://exuberancechiropractic.com/about/meet-the-doctor/ The funny thing is from the map at the bottom of the blog ... I used to live about a few miles away from the address (North of 170th off Fairhaven). Back in 2004 - 2005, I could have seen the blogger running as I was out running. It's probably my day to be grumpy round here.
Wow, small world for you to have lived here 13 years ago. Back then this area was still pretty small and had just begun its massive growth which is still going on today. Seeing as I was in high school back then, had you attended any track meets you most certainly would have seen me running in the 800 or mile!
Remember when dicky99 gave us all the 'truth' about mileage? http://www.coolrunning.com/forums/Forum6/HTML/023473-2.shtml 10 years goes by so fast.
A lot of what's in that thread is anecdotal evidence.
Glycogen storage and ketosis are basic components of human physiology and have been studied for decades.