Carbohydrate Loading

Yesterday I did about 3-4 miles, again easy with a few 10 second strides involved but nothing strenuous. That done means except for Sat mornings little stride out thats it now before the 50 mile. Scary. I am now a little nervous, thus a little excited it's still unlike any feeling I've had doing any other run. Not like preparing for a 10k anywey!

I've pretty much got all my kit ready, tomorrow I'll gather them all together and maybe I'll try and get a first picture of all the kit and supplies up on the blog.

With that done it's left today and tomorrow for a Carbohydrate load. Usually I just eat lots. I've tried a few different methods from the carb cut at the start of the week which is suppose to completely empty the body of most of it's glycogen (sugar) stores which is suppose to mean you can eat even more when you come to the load at the end of the week. I found this to work but I don't like the idea of cutting early in the week of say a marathon which leaves you low on energy the week when you really want to feel good. It doesn't seem logical, but then like most things it works for some not for others. I've tried Carb loading for a whole week - I didn't like this, too much food, and too long feeling sluggish. Another method I've tried is leaving the load until the day beforean event then eating an huge amount, again this was not nice as it left my stomach all over the place the morning of the run. I tried this one in this years London marathon - what an error, it certainly made me slower! My grudge with the marathon continues, I know there's a fast one in me somewhere. I've even tried loading on lots of junk food in the past which gives you a serious sugar rush but again left my stomach rumbling. Sometimes though I do think there is a place for eating a little junk when loading. A dessert or choc bar does good to up your calories without eating as much but I tend to just top up with say a choc bar if I have to. First choice is good quality food. The final method I've tried which is the best for me by far and is what I'm doing this time is eating normally until Wednesday. Thursday and Friday aiming for about 800g of carbs then Saturday eating a little less so that come Sunday I'm not over full and hopefully full of energy and eager to start. I don't usually keep a strict track but today as I have the day off and wanted to update the blog on the nutrition side I have. So todays nutrition (overly specific is below).

Todays nutrition (This is approximate intake, just going off labels)

Breakfast - 50g oats, 200ml skim milk, banana, berries
Carbs - 65g Protein - 13g Fat - 5g

Mid morning - Banana, 2 x Wholemeal pittas with a little marmite
Carbs - 70g Protein - 14g Fat - 2-3g

Lunch - 200g Sweet potato, 100g Turkey, Veg (broccoli, carrot, cabbage, long peas)
Carbs - 80g Protein - 30 - 35g Fat - 2-3g

2pm - 2 x Wholemeal pittas with a little marmite, apple
Carbs - 60g Protein - 14 Fat - 2-3g

3pm - 125g Dried apricots
Carbs - 70g Protein - 2-3 Fat - 1-2

4pm - 2 x Wholemeal pittas with a little marmite
Carbs -50 - 55g Protein - 14 Fat - 2

So far I'm not near 800g and with the huge cut in exercise I'm pretty full. Thats about 400g and if I'm being more keen the fats are a touch low so tomorrow I'm going to maybe swap marmite for peanut butter which will up the fat intake but keep a good intake of mono and poly unsaturated fats. As well as this I've got oily fish planned for both days so it's not too bad in my opinion. I use marmite at times just to increase the B vitamins in my diet, especially pre race as with out going to scientific it increases red blood cell production, helps break down the energy from the food I eat as well as help regulate blood sugar levels and keep nervous and digestive system healthy.

Food I have planned this evening to up the intake is rice pudding which per tin has about 75g, another veg based dinner with salmon but I'll maybe try and get 2 sweet potatos which will add approx an extra 40g from my lunch. With that I'll be nearing about 600g which is a bit below my target. I'll top up with a bowl a couple bowls of cereal which may get me to about 700g. That will do for me then unless I have a couple choc biscuits with a cuppa. All in all thats definitely good enough for me. I'm happy with the fact it's been all fairly healthy to.

I'll repeat this tomorrow to then I should be good to go.