Practical Nutrition Tips for Stage Racing and Training
Dietitian and endurance athlete Meghan Molnar believes common sense and enjoyment should guide your nutrition habits.
Nutrition for training and stage racing can be a confusing subject. That’s especially true for stage racing, where you need to take into account racing over consecutive days. And with the endless streams of studies, articles, diets and experts weighing in it can be hard to sort through all the noise.
But we’ve got good news. It doesn’t have to be this way. Back in October, TransRockies Singletrack 6 held our first-ever Virtual Training Camp. Our first presenter was Meghan Molnar, a registered dietitian, stage racer and Singletrack 6 Ambassador. She takes a practical approach to nutrition and provided those in attendance with some high-level, no-nonsense tips for fuelling during training and racing.
In case you missed it, here’s some of what Meghan had to say as well as a few of the questions she answered from camp participants.
Optimize your nutrition with good food, family & friends.
Meghan loves to cook and she loves to eat. She’s also a staunch advocate for eating real food and believes that most people can get the nutrition they need with minimal or no supplements.
“I think a lot of people stress about what they're eating,” said Meghan, “ We already have a lot of stress in our lives and we shouldn't be stressing about what we're eating as well. Nutrition should be all about enjoyment and making sure that we get enough fuel and energy. But there’s also a lot of room for those other foods like chocolate and cookies!”
Meghan is also a big believer in the benefits of eating with others. One of her favourite books is titled Feed Zone Table: Family-style Meals To Nourish Life And Sport by Allen Limm and Biju Thomas. Thomas is a Tour de France Chef and the book talks about the importance of sharing meals as a group. The authors back up with research, the idea that not stressing about food, and eating with others, can actually enhance athletic performance.
Training & everyday nutrition.
What to Eat?
When it comes to nutrition for training and every day, there are four different, but equally important, phases of nutrition and each will have different requirements. They are refueling, repairing, rehydrating and revitalizing.
Refueling
This phase takes place between workouts and is meant to replace the energy expended during a workout. It focuses mainly on carbohydrates like whole grains and pasta. Meghan suggests athletes don’t have to steer clear of white pasta, if that’s something they enjoy eating. Just make sure it’s topped with something that’s nutrient-dense—a vegetable or meat-based sauce, for example. Other examples of foods that are great for refueling and repairing include avocados, olive oil, nuts and seeds.
Repairing
After a hard workout, muscle and other tissues will need to repair themselves. And they will be looking for protein and fat to do it. Unfortunately, there was a time when those guiding nutrition trends believed fat was bad. But Meghan points out that fat is actually a very important part of the diet. Eating a variety of different types of healthy fat is beneficial for post-workout recovery, and there’s nothing wrong with foods like butter or other high-fat dairy products as long as they’re consumed in moderation.
Rehydrating
It’s important to rehydrate during and after exercise, and that doesn’t just mean water. Electrolytes are a key ingredient when it comes to rehydration. Of the electrolytes, sodium is the most important to replace. Potassium is also important, but replacing that is generally well taken care of in the food we eat. Sodium is in most people’s diets too, but it quickly gets lost through sweat. Glucose (sugar) is also a key part of rehydration. Along with sodium, it actually helps transport water into the system. In fact, drinks with sugar substitutes often don’t absorb into the body as well as those with real sugar added.
Revitalizing
Vitamins, minerals, and again, fat are extremely important here. Most of them can be found in the food we eat. Things like fruits and vegetables, dairy products and meat (if you eat meat). Iron is one of the most important minerals for athletes. Many, especially female athletes are known to have low iron. Meat is an important source of iron and actually helps the body absorb iron from plant-based sources. Iron is also present in many plant-based sources. But iron from plant-based sources is not as easily absorbed, so those athletes who don’t eat meat (vegetarians, vegans) tend to need a wider variety of plant-based sources of iron than those who do.
Also important for athletes is vitamin B12. It’s only found in animal sources, so it’s essential for those who don’t eat meat to get their B12 from elsewhere, such as through a supplement or nutritional yeast.
During the winter months (in Canada at least!) our bodies can’t produce another vitamin that’s important to athletes—vitamin D. This is the case even on a sunny winter day. So Meghan recommends taking a vitamin D supplement year-round to compensate.
Nutrition tips for race day.
During a stage race like Singletrack 6, riders are out on the bike for several hours each day, for six consecutive days. Fuelling during a stage that long can be a challenge, as can restoring the calories needed to race hard day after day.
Here are Meghan’s priorities for race day:
fuel your body’s energy needs for the current day’s race.
replenish fluids and electrolytes and stay hydrated.
prepare your body for the next day’s energy demands.
refuel your body after the day’s race so that it can recover (replenish glycogen stores and repair tissue).
fuel your body for normal health and metabolic functioning—balancing vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients.
Breakfast
When racing, and especially for long races, breakfast can be one of the most important meals of the day. For Meghan, having a fairly large pre-ride breakfast works well. She recommends a large amount of carbohydrates, limiting fat and adding a little bit of protein. The protein helps keep blood sugar from spiking later on. Easily digestible carbohydrates for breakfast include eggs, oatmeal, fruit, toast, pancakes, maple syrup, etc.
It’s also important to leave a good gap of time between breakfast and the race—two to three hours, if possible. This gives the body time to digest and to fully top up any glycogen stores that weren’t replaced the night before. And finally, don’t eat things you haven’t eaten before a race or training session in the past. Right before, or during, a stage isn’t the time to find out that a certain food doesn’t agree with you.
During the Race
Just before the start of a race—while waiting at the start line, for example—is the time for some carbohydrates. This might include a drink with calories in it, an energy gel, energy chews or half of a banana. A pre-race dose of carbs will top up blood sugar and get you ready to start the day fueled and ready to race.
A general rule of thumb in long races is to start eating early and often and to keep eating even if you don’t feel hungry. In a race like Singletrack 6, much of the route is singletrack, which doesn’t leave a lot of time for refueling. So it’s important to optimize any opportunity you have to stuff food into your face!
If possible, try to drink and eat every 15-20min and aim for around 60-90 grams of carbohydrates per hour. During longer races, the higher end of that spectrum is preferable. The body can only absorb 60 grams per hour of one type of carbohydrate. So for longer races, where 90 grams per hour is preferable, food with a mix of different carbohydrates will allow the body to absorb more—energy gels/chews will often have this mix. Add in some fat and protein during the stage to keep blood sugar from spiking. And to keep your stomach from growling, try to eat some solid food during longer stages.
As for hydration, amounts vary widely from person to person, so this will take some experience. On the bike, Meghan likes to carry a bottle filled with electrolyte drink and a hydration pack filled with water. She recommends keeping food sources handy, so that they are accessible while on the bike. This way, you’ll be more inclined to eat more often.
Aid Stations
Stocking up at aid stations during a race is a great way to avoid carrying a lot of food with you. Megan recommends finding out what kind of food, gels, etc. will be supplied at the race, so you can train with them ahead of time to make sure they won’t cause any stomach problems while on course.
Post-race
Within twenty minutes of getting off the bike, you want to start replacing your glycogen stores for the next day by eating and drinking. A high-quality source of protein and carbohydrates will get the recovery process started very quickly. Recovery supplement mixes can be helpful if you don’t have quick, easy access to regular food. This is the time to get as many calories into your body as possible.
At dinner, Meghan recommends eating as much as you can! And continue to hydrate as much as possible. Inadequate nutrition and hydration will compromise the speed of your recovery, leaving you feeling sluggish and tired. Not to mention you’ll be digging yourself into a hole and will be starting the next day’s race at a deficit. A snack before bed can be helpful as well, depending on how long dinner was eaten prior to bedtime.
A Few highlights from the Virtual Training Camp Q & A with Meghan
You talk about limiting your fat intake in the mornings before a race. What is the reasoning behind that?
It’s really hard to digest and it will slow you down. It takes energy to digest fat and you want to save your energy for racing. Fat is a long, slow-distance fuel, so in racing we tend to use more carbohydrates as an energy source.
When training, how many grams of carbohydrates do you consume for endurance vs. tempo workouts?
Tempo training is generally going to be shorter, so you don’t need to consume calories during that type of training session if it’s 90min or less. For a short training session (ie. less than 90min), I probably wouldn’t bother consuming any calories. Make sure you have something for fuel before you go and after. If the workout is longer than 90min have some gels/chews or food and use the type you will be consuming on race day so you can practice your strategy.
You talked about what to eat right after a race, but what foods are ideal for dinner if you’re racing again the next day?
Things that you’re familiar with. Lean proteins and lots of carbohydrates: pasta, rice, sweet potatoes, potatoes. Starchy vegetables that have lots of carbohydrates in them—beans and legumes as well.
You mentioned carrying water and electrolyte drink on race day. Why would you not drink all electrolyte carb drink rather than water to assist with keeping up with your fuelling? Is there too much sugar, or is there a reason to step back from those electrolyte drinks later in the race?
For me, I just want to drink plain water half the time because I find it's nice to have something plain. I get sick of always drinking something sweet or eating something sweet. So it’s nice to have water to wash it down. I’m not cramper and so I don’t tend to need as many electrolytes and there are a lot of those in energy gels anyway. And, I also just tend to drink more if I have water.
Meghan Molnar
Meghan is a Registered Dietitian and athlete working in the field of public health. She knows the value of eating for performance and is keen to share what she has learned through her own research and through experimenting with food and its effects on her racing and training. Meghan lives on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia and the forest is her happy place. She spends as much time there as possible mountain biking, trail running, or just walking her dog.
We want to hear from you!
Do you prefer water or electrolyte drinks during a stage race?
Do you prefer pre-made supplements like gels or chews, or do you make your own on-course snacks?
Let us know in the comments section below.