Carbohydrate loading, also known as carb loading, is a well-known strategy used by athletes to maximize their energy stores before a marathon.
In the lead up to a race, one of the first questions I get is “will you have pasta the night before the race?” Because it’s all about the carb loading, right??
For years, we’ve heard of nothing but the glorious days of carb loading for marathon day. Mounds of bagels, beautiful plates of pasta and let’s not pretend we shun the cookies.
Not any more.
After my first few races, I realized that for the most part old school carb loading (hello big pasta dinner) before a race left me feeling groggy, bloated, and lethargic.
It turns out this is a rather common feeling among many runners, but they don’t realize that the cause is the carb loading myths, which we’ve passed around from runner to runner.
Not to mention that 1 plate of pasta isn’t carbo-loading.
After personal experimentation, research, and yes using my willing athletes as test subjects too, I’ve found that avoiding these carb loading mistakes can make for a much better race day.
In this article, you’ll learn what exactly is carb loading, how to card load correctly and the 9 common mistakes endurance athletes make when carbo loading.
