They all look something like this.
The day of the run, have a protein drink for
Your body-machine converts very roughly
breakfast, made with some juice, almond milk,
packaged energy into a form that can be stored so
protein powder (preferably whey isolate), cinnamon,
that it is available for quick use and long-term use.
and nut butter. Follow that with a half cup of oatmeal
The chemistry that is necessary to accomplish this is
if you have more than an hour until the race starts.
complex and governed by the laws of physics. Every
On the drive to the race drink water for
hydration. But stop drinking about an hour before
the race; you are less likely to be looking for a
comfort stop in the middle of the race that way.
If the time since breakfast is over 2 hours, then
eat another piece of fruit or a fruit sauce packet.
Do not consume complex foods like protein bars
food takes a certain amount of time to breakdown
and to then transfer that energy into the muscles,
bloodstream, and fatty tissue. This process cannot
be speeded up just because you ran for your life for
ten minutes (from a tiger) or for an hour (in a mud
run). The process happens continuously and steadily
throughout the day and night with some small
immediately before a run.
variations.
Re-Fuel
In general your body can refuel itself with fluids,
Your body is constantly burning fuel and
electrolytes, and calories at the following rates:
refueling itself from internal stores in your stomach,
• Fluids 16-28 oz/hr
muscles, and fatty tissue. Most people are surprised
• Electrolytes 100-400 mg/hr
to learn that these two processes do not happen at
• Calories 150-280 cal/hr
the same rate. Your body has the ability to ramp up
This does not speed up just because you are
performance and fuel burning by as much as a factor
of 10X. But, it does not have the ability to change the
rate at which is absorbs new fuel. If you think about
how the body is constructed and what it needs to
perform for survival, this makes complete sense.
burning fuel faster than this. So you cannot improve
your performance by pouring more fuel into your
stomach faster. That bulk material will just become
extra weight for you to carry and it will unbalance