TIPS FOR THE TRAIL

NUTRITION FOR TRAIL RUNS
By Rachel Cieslewicz

Training for races calls for proper training, sleep, nutrition, and life in general to all  come together perfectly.  Nutrition  impact is often severely overlooked.  Has  it ever happened to you: your stomach feels great during training, but on race  day gastric distress or bonking has kept you from reaching your race day  potential?  Sometimes it is nerves  causing the issue, but more often, we put in our mind that race day nutrition  needs to be severely different than that of a hard training day.  In fact, the opposite is true. 

Each person has individual needs when it comes to  nutrition.  It is imperative to realize  that what we put into our bodies is every bit as important as the actual  running when training for events.  Just  like a training journal for your workouts, it is a great idea to keep a food  journal alongside it.  My favorite way to  log it is in Training Peaks  www.trainingpeaks.com  This website is amazing in that you can track  all of your training, racing, and nutrition in one place. It has amazing  analytical tools you can use to track and adjust progress for years.  When you log your training day details, keep  in mind and report what affect the food and hydration you consumed before,  during, and after your workout had on your ability to complete your  training.  It is a great tool to have  over time to help you with race day.

Generally, you might hear that pasta and other forms of  carbohydrate loading the night before the race, along with massive quantities  of sports drink will lead you to the best race ever.  This is not necessarily true.  Before hard training days, have you tried  this?  What was the outcome?  Did you feel great and light and able to  train at your full capacity?  What about  during your races?  Do you all of a sudden  in the race take in foreign gels and sports drinks you’ve never tried  before?  This is asking for  disaster. 
READ MORE