Race day Eats

[Dell30rb]

I'm curious as to what you guys eat on raceday.. any special foods? Carb loading the night before? What to eat for breakfast? In between Motos...

Lets hear it!

[crmx91]

Pasta the night before
including spaghetti, ramen noodles.. etc

nothing too special on race days.. stay away from sugar ( soda's) they will make you pump up..

water water water.. gatorade.. energy drinks.. SoBe.. umm

[mx757]

i usually dont eat at all before my motos (here in co they run us in the morning) but the night before a bit of bread and some pasta. after the races i usually hang and have a soda and a burger.

[Matt406]

One thing i have learned and read, since i am interested in this, is that unless you establish and maintain a diet and exercise program all week, eating anything the night before or that day doesnt do very much good. IF you are on a steady diet and stick to it, you will definately feel the benefits. A few drinks and stuff or special meals may help slightly if eaten the day before, but to actually notice mprovement, you need the diet. Also, I have noticed by getting in shape gives you much more energy than trying a drink or enegry bar. thats some food for thought. LOL
Matt

[ride_red_15]

Night before : Whatever i feel like/whatever mom makes
Breakfast : McDonalds usually
Before Race : Red Bull, couple snickers bars, and a coke or two
After : Spiciest thing i can find...
Yeah, i have no diet, but it works for me

[mx_aim]

Matt's right, unless you are on a training program, carb loading the night before isn't going to do much. I'm a Personal Fitness Trainer and I can tell you that carb loading is a complex technique and it requires a very specific diet and exercise program in order for it to work correctly. In most cases, mxers don't really need to load up on carbs. MX is not considered a high endurance event because we go out for 20-30 mins max and come back in. An endurance event would be something like a marathon in which people go out for hours on end without a break. In mx, we get a break and a chance to refuel our bodies before we go back out on the track again. Use this to your advantage.

Take some examples from pro bicyclists. A lot of them eat oatmeal a couple of hours before their race, yes, even if it is early in the morning. This is a high density food that will get you through the day. I'm allergic to it, so I just do a small bowl of easily digested cereal instead. People always ask about power bars and other meal replacements, but those have a lot of sugar in them and they tend to sit like a brick in your stomach for hours. At least that's been my experience. Find whatever works for you that's low in fat and sugar and stick with it. The worst thing you can do is hit a fast food joint the night before or the day of the race.

Another suggestion, watch how much Gatorade you drink, too. Any sports drink out there will contain a ton of sugar and this can cause your blood sugar to crash half-way through the race. Not good when you need all of your energy. Drink one serving as needed, usually just after each moto, and that's it until you're finished with racing for the day. Water's best. I've got some great articles about training and nutrition at [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] . Just click on Cool Stuff/Amy's Articles in the main menu.

I hope this helps!
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

[jmiakaike]

Originally posted by mx_aim
Matt's right, unless you are on a training program, carb loading the night before isn't going to do much. I'm a Personal Fitness Trainer and I can tell you that carb loading is a complex technique and it requires a very specific diet and exercise program in order for it to work correctly. In most cases, mxers don't really need to load up on carbs. MX is not considered a high endurance event because we go out for 20-30 mins max and come back in. An endurance event would be something like a marathon in which people go out for hours on end without a break. In mx, we get a break and a chance to refuel our bodies before we go back out on the track again. Use this to your advantage.

Take some examples from pro bicyclists. A lot of them eat oatmeal a couple of hours before their race, yes, even if it is early in the morning. This is a high density food that will get you through the day. I'm allergic to it, so I just do a small bowl of easily digested cereal instead. People always ask about power bars and other meal replacements, but those have a lot of sugar in them and they tend to sit like a brick in your stomach for hours. At least that's been my experience. Find whatever works for you that's low in fat and sugar and stick with it. The worst thing you can do is hit a fast food joint the night before or the day of the race.

Another suggestion, watch how much Gatorade you drink, too. Any sports drink out there will contain a ton of sugar and this can cause your blood sugar to crash half-way through the race. Not good when you need all of your energy. Drink one serving as needed, usually just after each moto, and that's it until you're finished with racing for the day. Water's best. I've got some great articles about training and nutrition at [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] . Just click on Cool Stuff/Amy's Articles in the main menu.

I hope this helps!
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

Amy,
first of all Welcome to All Things Moto!

and secondly, a very informative piece... awesome first post!

... i think if i remember correctly, i read an interview of Ivan Tedesco, and the question was what he ate before a race... he said peanut butter and jelly sandwich.. .. what do you think?

james

[quadracer]

Originally posted by mx_aim
Matt's right, unless you are on a training program, carb loading the night before isn't going to do much. I'm a Personal Fitness Trainer and I can tell you that carb loading is a complex technique and it requires a very specific diet and exercise program in order for it to work correctly. In most cases, mxers don't really need to load up on carbs. MX is not considered a high endurance event because we go out for 20-30 mins max and come back in. An endurance event would be something like a marathon in which people go out for hours on end without a break. In mx, we get a break and a chance to refuel our bodies before we go back out on the track again. Use this to your advantage.

Take some examples from pro bicyclists. A lot of them eat oatmeal a couple of hours before their race, yes, even if it is early in the morning. This is a high density food that will get you through the day. I'm allergic to it, so I just do a small bowl of easily digested cereal instead. People always ask about power bars and other meal replacements, but those have a lot of sugar in them and they tend to sit like a brick in your stomach for hours. At least that's been my experience. Find whatever works for you that's low in fat and sugar and stick with it. The worst thing you can do is hit a fast food joint the night before or the day of the race.

Another suggestion, watch how much Gatorade you drink, too. Any sports drink out there will contain a ton of sugar and this can cause your blood sugar to crash half-way through the race. Not good when you need all of your energy. Drink one serving as needed, usually just after each moto, and that's it until you're finished with racing for the day. Water's best. I've got some great articles about training and nutrition at [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] . Just click on Cool Stuff/Amy's Articles in the main menu.

I hope this helps!
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

Very good post. I race with people who try to do things the day before or day of a race, yet, they don't do anything to keep in shape the other days of the week. A regimen of some sort is needed to be in consistent, good shape. The better conditioned you are, the less you have to depend on external sources. You would then just need enough to maintain yourself.

[jmiakaike]

Originally posted by quadracer
Very good post. I race with people who try to do things the day before or day of a race, yet, they don't do anything to keep in shape the other days of the week. A regimen of some sort is needed to be in consistent, good shape. The better conditioned you are, the less you have to depend on external sources. You would then just need enough to maintain yourself.

Quad..
Welcome to All Things Moto!!!!

so true.... i think it was dr. phil.. (sh. don't tell anyone) that said..

"Winners do what losers don't want to do..." we all know what needs to be done, we just don't do it.. that is why we look for the miracle diet pill etc....lol

james

[KTM250rm393]

WAY TO GO AMY,

Thanks for the info.

[mx_aim]

Thanks!

PBJ is decent before a race. If you put it on whole grain bread, you add a bit of fiber which will help you digest the peanut butter a bit easier. If you eat it on white bread, your sandwich becomes full of simple carbs which won't last that long in a race. You'll essentially run out of fuel before the finish line. Also, jelly's full of sugar, which isn't great before a race. What you may not have been told was when he ate that sandwich. I'm sure he didn't just wolf it down on his way to the starting line. I'll get to that in a second.

I think I'd stick with something a little lower in fat and higher in complex carbs, but you know it comes down to whatever works for you. I once raced a girl who swore that eating chili dogs before a race made her faster. They never seemed to bother her, but just the thought of something like that made me sick.

The key is to make sure that you're eating your "big" pre race meal, even if that's a small bowl of cereal, at least 2 hours before the race so that your body finishes digesting before you hit the track. This way, your blood supply will go straight to your muscles and you'll get more oxygen to your muscles and thus be able to ride for longer. If you eat more than a small, light snack right before your race, your blood flow will get diverted away from your muscles so that it can focus on digestion. Then as your muscles begin demanding more oxygen, your blood flow gets diverted once again back to y our muscles. The problem with this is that when your muscles pull the blood away from digestion, the food you just ate will sit in your stomach like a brick and can cause the runs, cramps, gas, bloating, etc, none of which you want on race day.

Even after riding or racing, it will take between 30 minutes and 2 hours for digestion to resume. This is why if you guzzle a ton of some sports drink or if you eat a huge meal right after riding, you often feel kind of sick and bloated up.

Eat several small, light snacks during the day. I was eating rice cakes with canned chicken on them in the hot summer months, or even rice cakes with fresh ground peanut butter to avoid the sugar. When you're finished riding for the day, be sure to get a small snack right away and then eat a well balanced meal as soon as you get home. Just eat it slowly to prevent an upset stomach. This way, your muscles will be able to refuel themselves and you'll be ready for another great day of riding.

Hope this helps.
Aim
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

[mx_aim]

Physical conditioning is so essential to racing. I'm not sure why the mx industry hasn't seen that sooner. Pro cyclists or all kinds, runners, and all other elite athletes train hard and pay attention to their diets and exercise programs, but up until recently, mxers think they can go out there and ride and ride and ride without training. Some of the pros know this isn't the case anymore. If you want to be on top anymore, you've got to know what you're doing and you've got to work hard.

Besides, what fun is riding if you're sore after each ride? I'd rather be the one out in front of the pack all day long, the one who can get up and ride all day tomorrow, and the one who has still got enough energy left at the end of the day to enjoy laughing about what happened that day at the track.

[egoallenpoe393]

Dang

Ya mean all the years of a personal fitness program and steady diet consisting of
Twinkies, Mudpies, rocky road ice cream, root-beer milkshakes, rolos, and beef jerky (Protein ) is not the right thing to do


Next you gonna tell me my exercise program is bad too, it consisted
of a recliner working my right arm back then up back then up, back then up. This was great for my throttle arm

Occasionally I would do a cardio work out by running to the bathroom then back to the fridge for a refill on root-beer milkshakes then run back. Thats tough when you run between two 60 sec commercials

for the left I lift and pointed an 8oz remote clicker

Up click down
up click down
up click down

[mx_aim]

You crack me up!

[quadracer]

Originally posted by mx_aim
Eat several small, light snacks during the day. I was eating rice cakes with canned chicken on them in the hot summer months, or even rice cakes with fresh ground peanut butter to avoid the sugar.

Hope this helps.
Aim
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

Is fresh ground PB a much better solution, than say, just standard store bought Jif? I have access to get freshly ground PB, so I'm curious if it's worth it. Also, what about fresh ground cashews? This place called Central Market has several different nuts that you can get freshly ground "butter" from. The cashew butter is really good.

I can do with or without the jelly.

[quadracer]

Originally posted by jmiakaike
Quad..
Welcome to All Things Moto!!!!


james

thanks!

[KTM250rm393]

Watchout Ego,

Amy can and will com kick your butt if you get on her case :

[mx_aim]

Fresh ground peanut butter is the best. That's all we eat around here. Jiff and most other brands of PB have added sugar and trans fatty acids, otherwise known as partially hydrogenated oils. It's best to stay away from those because the health risks associated with eating them are incredible. Shoot the FDA may even pull them from the market in a few years because they're so harmful. Lovely isn't it.

As for the added sugar, there's typically molasses, honey, or high fructose corn syrup, etc. in most PBs out there. That's why we love fresh ground. It's so much better. Plus, if you do that, you can add a little bit of jelly without overdosing on sugar.

When we lived in Colorado, we absolutely loved fresh ground cashew butter as well. I miss the health food stores that we had out there... Cashew butter's also really good and it's a little bit lower in fat than peanut butter. You can also try almond butter and other nut butters as well. If you want to make your own, just throw some nuts in a food processer and blend until they're the right consistency.

[quadracer]

Originally posted by mx_aim
Fresh ground peanut butter is the best. That's all we eat around here. Jiff and most other brands of PB have added sugar and trans fatty acids, otherwise known as partially hydrogenated oils. It's best to stay away from those because the health risks associated with eating them are incredible. Shoot the FDA may even pull them from the market in a few years because they're so harmful. Lovely isn't it.

As for the added sugar, there's typically molasses, honey, or high fructose corn syrup, etc. in most PBs out there. That's why we love fresh ground. It's so much better. Plus, if you do that, you can add a little bit of jelly without overdosing on sugar.

When we lived in Colorado, we absolutely loved fresh ground cashew butter as well. I miss the health food stores that we had out there... Cashew butter's also really good and it's a little bit lower in fat than peanut butter. You can also try almond butter and other nut butters as well. If you want to make your own, just throw some nuts in a food processer and blend until they're the right consistency.

Excellent info. Thanks.

[Florida 393]

Amy,
Welcome to our family. Wow, your posts are really good and informative. I hope you will consider posting a concise diet thread in the General Knowledge forum some time. I used to teach bbbiology and coach so I preached diet and self control before I returned to engineering but I am dated on the current science. It is good to have you on board.

Bill