I’m running a 10k on Saturday and was wondering if anyone had any tips for “carb loading” or other general dietary advice for the 2 days leading up to the race. Normally I eat moderately LCHF, not super gung ho about it. Willing to try different options. I’ll be running with my wife instead of trying to be ultra competitive in the run…
Right now, your muscle glycogen storage is pretty much established for how much it can hold Saturday. While it can be increased over time with training, you can’t make the fuel tank any “bigger” between now and then. Eating more is simply like trying to put 25 gallons in a 20 gallon tank. It won’t hold anymore. Increasing the size of the storage tank takes time.
Your glycogen tank can be pretty much filled up with two solid, good, full meals. Do that on Thursday day and Thursday night. I assume you won’t be running too much Thursday or Friday, so you will not be depleting.
On Friday, eat reasonable, not big. Also, eat safe. Don’t try that new Indian restaurant or new Thai restaurant you have never been to…
Drink plenty of water starting now. Be completely hydrated. Drink plenty of water now and Friday. Then just a little bit of water race morning. Not too much water race morning, or you won’t make it without a pit stop.
Get a good night sleep Thursday. That’s the most important night.
Try to eat a decent carb breakfast on race morning, at least 2 hours before the start of the race. Oatmeal is perfect for race morning. Complex slower carbs is what you want. 2 hours before race start! Don’t sleep late. That’s why you need a good night of sleep Thursday.
Consider cutting down on your Tresiba today and tomorrow also.
So carb up now and tonight, and go normal to light on Friday.
You can get 10k totally with available muscle glycogen, you don’t need to try to do too much fueling during the race. Just manage BG during the race.
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Thank Eric, I dont have too many problems from tresiba while running, but I think it’s important for me to not have any bolus on board at all… like I’d give myself a 4 hour bolus free window with injected or probably 2-2.5 with afrezza. Tresiba behaves very predictably with exercise for me without need for adjustment but I can drop really fast if I start heavy exercise with any bolus on board… and I think the run starts at like 9… not sure how likely I really am to wake up especially early to eat before it…
If you are interested in performance, a little bit of food prior to the race will help you. It gives your body the ability to pull glucose out of your blood for energy.
Depends on how intense it will be for you. If you have absolutely no IOB, you can spike from adrenaline, if you have a competitive feeling in the race. If you are just taking it easy and running with your wife, you probably won’t have to deal with an adrenaline spike (unless she starts to beat you…).
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I’ve never really encountered the adrenaline spikes that I’ve seen you mention, but I suspect I don’t get anywhere near as serious about running as you do…
Shellys probably in better shape than me but I’m 13" taller than her and have an appreciably longer stride… she’d have a tough time keeping up if I was really trying
Would it never wise to take Thursday and Friday off from running beforehand? Or just maybe a light 3-4 mile run on Thursday and then rest on Friday?
You don’t add any fitness at all 2 days before a race. It’s not like studying the night before an exam.
If you are used to running a few miles everyday, then you might want to do a little something to keep your exercise consistent with your basal rates and everything you’ve been doing for a while. And just to stay loose and relaxed. You want to keep it somewhat like your normal routine, but reduce total miles and intensity.
But it also depends on how recently you’ve rested. If you haven’t taken any days off for a while, having a little bit of rest would help.
So really it’s just how you feel. The only benefit to running today and tomorrow would be to maintain a routine, maintain basal, stay loose and relaxed, and help you get a good night of sleep. It will not help your fitness for Saturday…
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I take levemir instead of tresiba, but like you I don’t find that interfering with my runs. And like you I find it important to not have bolus insulin on board but that should be easy in the morning if you don’t eat breakfast. I don’t eat before I run, but eat afterwards, so if it were me I would skip breakfast and eat a good brunch afterwards.
I have been running a lot of 10K’s just as normal exercise for the last couple weeks - five times in the last two weeks. I start with an in range BG and in general my blood sugar will be fairly steady, though I have found that I sometimes (three out of the five runs) will go down by up to 50 points in the last mile of the run - I assume this is when some of my easily mobilized glycogen is used up. This doesn’t always happen but you should be prepared for it - I’m sure you’ll carry some glucose with you. Have fun, hope you have good weather.
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How did it go, @Sam? Did @anon15668421 smoke you?
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We ran the whole thing together and crossed the finish line at 55:15. If I didn’t have to kee running back to her I probably could have done it in under 50. Went well though, was fun:)
Finally got a running blood sugar spike though… was 99 at beginning of race and ate one piece of hard candy at that point then another at about 4m in (without checking blood sugar) then by the time I got the shuttle bus back to the car I was like 200
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