What to eat before racing

Fit For Sailing: What to eat before racing

Plan raceday meals to get the best out of your body, by Andrew Verdon.

It's Saturday morning of a two-day local regatta. Do you just have your regular orange juice, two pieces of toast and a cup of tea before you race out the door? Then hope there will be some food at the venue to eat before racing? And you find only pies, sausage rolls and coke for sale.

Plan ahead.

The best advice for any racing sailor is to plan ahead and to ensure the body is sufficiently fuelled before, during and after all racing. Ready access to food and fluid is crucial. Portable, nutritious options should be carried with you so you are not reliant on anyone else.

Better performance.

Gary Slater, a sports dietician who has worked with both the Singapore and Australian sailing teams says, "What you eat and drink before a day of racing will have a real impact on your performance. It should be given special consideration, with a goal to optimise fuel stores and hydration."

Eat big meals early.

You should aim to have a larger meal around three to four hours before competing, smaller snacks around one to two hours before, and move to liquids under an hour before competing.

Food is only useful once it has been digested and absorbed and the nutrients have entered the blood stream ready for uptake by the muscles as a fuel source.

Hence by having the larger meals earlier you give the body time to turn it into available fuel. A larger meal obviously also takes longer to digest than a smaller meal.

Experiment.

It is important to experiment with the timing and type of pre-racing foods your body will tolerate and be most comfortable with.

Food prior to racing should be:

• High in carbohydrate

• Low in fat

• Low in fibre

• Include some fluid

Some people find eating before an event unpleasant (especially important ones) due to being anxious or nervous (butterflies in your stomach).

Longer race strategy.

Always keep in mind that you will perform better over a longer race or series of races by being well-fuelled and hydrated rather than on the short term adrenal energy that is a response to this nervous condition.

The best option here is to use liquid meals such as sports drink or a home made smoothie. These may be easier for the stomach to tolerate over solid foods.

Solid food options may be cereal, yogurt, nuts or fruit eaten slowly over a longer period to keep the volume of food small.

Andrew's super smoothie

2-3 cups skim milk

Banana

Half cup frozen blueberries

2 scoops skim milk powder

4 ice cubes

Put in blender and mix for 30-45 seconds. Have half before you race and the remainder as soon as you get off the water.

As with many other areas of your training and competing, self management is the key to being prepared. Have a plan of what works for you and have it to hand when you need it. Rather than have to go to the shops on race days, plan and shop a few days before so it is there ready for you on the morning of racing.

Experiment with your meal times

3-4 hours before race:

Cereal with milk and yoghurt

Baked potato with cottage cheese

Baked beans on toast

Bread roll with meat/chicken/tuna filling and salad

Fruit salad with yoghurt

Pasta or rice with vegetable and meat

1-2 hours before race:

Smoothie

Sports bars

Cereal and milk

Cereal bars

Yoghurt

Fruit

Less than 1 hour:

Sports drink

Carbohydrate gel

Cordial

Sports bars