What should I eat before a distance race?
What to Eat Before a Long Distance Running Race How important is diet for a distance runner? The quick answer is, it’s vital. What you eat will dictate how well you perform. You can run and train all you want, but if you don’t eat properly, you won’t be able to maximize your performance. This is true in every aspect of preparing for a distance race, even before the starter’s pistol fires on race day. The runner’s diet is heavy in carbohydrates — but not just any carbohydrates. Believe it or not, all carbohydrates are not the same. Some are great for quick energy while others burn more slowly. As a result, carbohydrates are rated (1-100 with 100 being the highest) on a glycemic index or GI. Running burns a lot of fuel — runners may have 1,800 carbohydrate-based calories in their system at the beginning of a race [source:
