Pre-Race Nutrition Strategies

Hey swimmers! This is coach Milo.

Welcome to another Q&A session where I answer questions from you all on the internet.

Today's question is:

"Pre-Race Nutrition Strategies"

Summary:

Milo's pre-race nutrition advice centers on consistency and keeping it light. On race-day morning, eat something you normally eat, never something brand new, because race day is no time to surprise your stomach. Whether that's overnight oats, bagels, or oatmeal, stick with your usual. He recommends keeping breakfast light, up to about 400 calories, high in carbohydrates, and drinking roughly 16 ounces of water before you leave the house. He warns specifically against heavy proteins like pork, steak, or beef on race morning, which sit heavily in the stomach, and against anything unfamiliar, which can shock your body so it can't process the food quickly or efficiently enough to leave you ready to race when it counts.

Answer:

So the question is what some pre-race nutrition strategies are. Let's say it's race-day morning and you've just woken up. What you want to do is keep your breakfast something you usually eat. You don't want to try something brand new on the day of your race. If you like overnight oats, stick with overnight oats. If you like bagels, stay with bagels, or oatmeal, whatever it is. It's highly recommended that whatever you eat, you keep it light, up to about 400 calories, and that it's high in carbohydrates. And drink about 16 ounces of water before you leave your house. Just know that if you try to eat something new, or you eat pork or steak or beef, all of that is going to sit really heavily in your stomach. And if it's something new, your body is going to be a little shocked, like, what is this? It won't be able to process that food quickly or efficiently enough for you to be ready for your race. So keep it familiar, keep it light, keep it carb-heavy, and hydrate before you head out the door, and your body will be ready to perform when the race starts.