The to-do thing is plain, bland carbohydrates that have as little fibre and gluten as possible:
1) Rice or rice cakes
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| Plain white rice cake with a dash of cream cheese and strawberry compote...mmm, carbs! |
The beuty of plain white rice lies in its almost complete lack of nutrients rather than carbohydrates...100g of cooked rice provides 28 g of easily digestible carbs, with 0 g of fat, 0 g of fibre and 3 g of protein; it's also naturally gluten-free (although some cross-contamination may occur in factories that handle other grains).
You can have your rice with tomato sauce and basil or - if you like it sweet - with strawberry jam and a dash of cream cheese or apple jam and cinnamon. For a to-go option, choose rice cakes (you can also make a rice cake strawberry jam sandwich from them)
2. White bread
Oh hello carbs. If you prefer bread to rice and don't have gluten intolerance, go for it. Choose white, highly processed varieties (yes! Blasphemy no 1) to reduce the intake of fibre.
And - as you can see from the nutrition information label below - it's an unbeatable source of carbs, with 45.5 g per 100 g.
3. Dark chocolate
Consume moderate amounts of dark chocolate (preferably 70% cocoa) before the race and the flavonoids from dark cocoa should prevent you from *going* on the race day.
4. Bananas
The runners' staple food, banana is probably the only fruit that you can safely consume before a race...Interestingly, their nutritional value is pretty similar to that of rice, with 27 g of carbs and only 3 g of fibre per 118 g (a medium banana). At the same time, unlike grains, bananas do help you cover your DRI of vitamin C
5. Porridge*
*Well, porridge is probably the only *healthy choice* I've decided to include here. Even though it does have a lot of fibre, a small portion (50 g) made with water and e.g. a square or two dark chocolate and sliced banana is a perfect quick-fix for your pre-race breakfast. Porridge (if prepared with just a little water, thus thick rather than runny) has great water-binding properties and this alone can save you from a running to porta-loos.
6. Pasta
Well, but of course! This list could not be complete without pasta. It's so important. Pasta parties before races wouldn't be called pasta parties without it. Prepare your own the night before a race and eat with tomato sauce and basil (you can have a sprinkle of parmesan cheese on it, yes.) Don't come any close ready-made pasta dishes with lashings of mayo in it - it may contain viscious bacteria that are likely to upset your stomach and will sit there for hours making you feel heavy (the high fat content increases digestion times and reduces the GI of your pasta dish - which can be a good thing, but not before a race)
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| Pasta - yes, pasta salad - *NO*! |
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| My last pre-race breakfast... |
