Race Nutrition

I started mountain bike racing this year. I had no idea what I was doing at first and I'm still learning. Here I'll share some of my nutrition related preparations. Feel free to dispute and mock.

The day before a race I eat basically what I eat for typical meals except for the following:

• higher sodium 
• more carbohydrate, less protein
• nothing spicy
• I eat a bit more than typical (carb loading)
• Low fat

Example

Spinach salad with tomatoes, extra olives, and mushrooms. Fat free soy vinaigrette.

Chicken taco:

• whole wheat tortilla
• shredded chicken breast
• black rice/quinoa
• guacamole
• olives
• tomatoes

Then about an hour before bed some fruit/yogurt, ex

Sliced peach with nonfat plain yogurt

Not just for race preparation but for all my meals I tend to eat smaller meals, more often. It just works better for me and I don't feel bloated or experience food comas.

For breakfast on race day I have the following at around 6am (Race starts at 10am)

1 cup coffee
1 1/2 cups homemade granola (low sugar, low fat) with soy milk
Fruit: blueberries and maybe half a banana
No dairy (though I've read others have no problem with dairy as long there's enough digestion time)

About 2.5-2  hours prior to the race in the car I'm snacking on sweet potato, banana and toast. I want to finish all eating with at least 2 hours prior to the race, to allow for digestion, though I may have some banana with 1.5 hours to digest. I drink about 32 oz of water with a scoop of EFS during the drive. I want to be fully hydrated prior to race start.

Just before the race I take a gel. During the race I will attempt to drink and take clif shot bloks but sometimes there are few opportunities. My hydration drink of choice is EFS, 1.5 scoops. Anything around 1.5 hours or so I don't worry as much about food. But over 2 hours and it's critical for me. Ideally I'll take a blok every 20-30 minutes. And drink about 18oz over 2.5 hours. I've been racing at Winter Park and they start in the morning so it's never going to be hot, but the sun can be intense.

I bring a cooler so after the race I have an ice cold protein drink waiting, burrito or something lunchy and green tea.

So far this has been working okay for me. I'm sure there are things I could do better and I'll continue to tweak it as I go along.