Yes! Easily meet your needs with a well-crafted strategy!
We’ve all been there. We don’t have a nutrition plan for endurance events! We sign up for an endurance event, train hard for months, even travel across the country or the world for this event, and then crash and crash hard because we haven’t fueled correctly. It’s so disappointing and it makes us second-guess our decisions to undertake races of that distance or to travel for races.
What’s the solution? A thoroughly thought out nutrition and hydration plan that is SPECIFIC FOR YOU at YOUR ENDURANCE EVENT (the course, the weather, your personal needs and challenges).
What’s in this race day plan?
- Eating guidelines and specific foods for before the race or event. This can include carb loading.
- Nutrition and hydration for the race or event.
- Eating guidelines and specific foods for after the event.
- Travel guidelines and suggestions for eating in the car or airport.
How is this endurance plan developed?
- Trial and error tastings of different foods and beverages during long training sessions of your sport (rides, runs, skis, swims, hikes, etc).
- Sweat tests to determine how much you need to drink.
- Discussions of travel logistics. What can you take with you from home and what, if anything, do you need to purchase near the race venue?
- Discussions of event logistics. What’s on the course, what can you carry, when you should consume foods and fluids based on the course, where you can refill bottles or pockets or bags, food safety, trash disposal, who can provide assistance during the event.
- Event week discussions on adjusting for weather or course conditions.
- As needed: elimination of foods and beverages that cause GI distress.
How long does it take?
- It depends on your experience with competition. More experienced athletes start the process with a better understanding of what foods and fluids and schedules work for them.
- 4-6 months before an endurance race or multi-stage race for experimentation and fine tuning a race day plan.
- 1-2 months for a tournament plan (soccer, track and field, swimming) or multi-day/week excursion (backpacking, bicycling, kayaking).
How is this useful?
- Peace of mind. You know what you need to start with, how much to consume, how to refill your nutrition and hydration stores, and how to adjust for the unexpected during the race.
- You get to explore! Early in the process you have free reign to try every sports food and drink you can find, including all the ones your training buddies, coach and significant other swear by.
- You save money. Once you know what you like and what works for you, you can buy enough for training and your event but not more. Also, when you have a travel plan, you can eliminate a lot of impulse buying at rest areas, convenience stores and airport shops.
- You can make healthy choices, at least for before and after the race. Foods consumed during the race may be chosen for logistical reasons or GI comfort, not health.
Why hire Dr. Schubert and Nutrition HeartBeat to develop a plan for your event?
- We have extensive experience planning for endurance events. Laurie knows what questions to ask to make sure all your needs are met!
- Dr. Schubert is more than happy to do some legwork for you, such as calling race directors, looking at nutritional profiles, and thinking about weight and space requirements.
- Your final plan comes in both written and graphic formats.
- We are happy to make an event day (or full event or excursion) cheat sheet for easy reminders of when to eat and drink.
Check out Nutrition HeartBeat’s Endurance Event Race Day Plan Package for more details!
Not sure if you need a specific plan? Sign up for a Discovery Call with Laurie to ask all of your questions.
Need a testimonial? Check out these words by a long-time endurance athlete currently working toward his first 140.6:
“Today’s “Ironman Chattanooga 70.3 Thank You” goes to Dr. Laurie Schubert. At my 3rd-ever indoor triathlon in winter 2014, Laurie was in charge of the swim area at that tri. I was an abysmal swimmer. At one point during that swim, she yelled at me, “GET AND KEEP YOUR HEAD DOWN!” More than five years later, Laurie and I still laugh about our first meeting. I have replayed it in my mind numerous times during my bad swim moments … including one I had early at Chatta on Sunday.
In the past five years Laurie has watched my weight go up and down, and seen my speeds improve and regress. She has always been extremely helpful when I have needed it. She made suggestions for race preparations and race-day nutrition and hydration that got me through “Revenge at Racine in 17”, Chatta 70.3 this year, and other races. On a hot Sunday in Tennessee and Georgia, how to stay hydrated for maximum performance was one of many tips of hers that I followed. You may be surprised by how many people mess that up.
If you do any type of long-distance endurance training or events, you should consult an expert in nutrition. If you are in or around Chicago, I cannot recommend Laurie highly enough.”