Preparing for the upcoming Gran Fondo Moab, the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic Weekend, Ride the Rockies, Triple Bypass or Colorado’s Endurance Mountain bike series, takes methodical planning in terms of training, recovery, appropriate bike parts selection. Yet, just as important as daily training is to get you to the start line, every day nutrition plays a critical role too. The season is just beginning are you race ready? Here’s what you need to know to dial in your daily, weekly, and race day nutrition for optimal performance.
You get a glimpse of the importance of monthly nutritional preparation in the post, Race Day Nutrition for Cyclist. Overall it is a guide for monthly, weekly, and race week nutrition preparation with a focus on how viewing nutrition in terms of how it can support your physical training cycles rather than just eating for pleasure. As many cyclist are already lining up on the start line, preparing nutritionally for weeks in advance isn’t an option.
As you approach your first race of the season, you may want to read the post, A Guide to Race Day Nutrition. Many cyclist have different preferences as to how they prefer to get their fuel – whether that is in nutrition bars, gels, and liquids. However, oftentimes, the course may dictate other options. As in, for mountain bike riders, a technical course may present obstacles in taking solid food while riding versus taking fluids. Furthermore, as the post suggest, “having all of these different (nutrition) options can tend to create confusion and challenges for athletes as to which is ideal and which is best for them. In addition, choosing the right type of fuel depends on many factors such as duration, intensity and what type of activities such as cycling, running or multisport.” The end result: experimentation during training and early season races will aid in dialing in proper race day nutrition for your “A” races and events.
But what happens when you have stomach issues while racing? How do you know what the cause is and what to do about it? As noted in, Stomach Issues while racing – Possible causes and solutions, poor pacing can easily lead to stomach issues, ingesting too many carbohydrates and or too much protein can be another possible cause for stomach issues, as well as too many surges within a long duration race can lead to a shutdown or at the least a slowdown of digestive ability. Ultimately, it’s about utilizing the early season races to dial in your nutrition. Preparing well and listening to your body is the key to preventing stomach issues during competition.
Next up? Dial in your race day strategies! Remember to set your goals, recon the route or course, practice race day rituals, and define your success parameters.
Posted by staffwriter8 
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