I am a lucky man. I have been to some of the tastiest pasta parties ever! Part of the running culture, especially in high school and college track and cross country, is eating pasta the night before a race. We call it carbo-loading. You need fuel for the fire that burns on race day.
Carbo-loading is based on three things really. First, you need to take it easy with your running the two-three days right before the race. That doesn't mean don't run. That means you should run shorter distances at a slower than typical pace. Mix in a few strides after this run just to make sure those legs are bouncy and fresh for the race day.
The second item of carbo-loading involves eating a little more than normal, but not too much. Because you are cutting back on the running, you are going to burn less calories for a few days. This is okay. The extra carbohydrates will get converted into fuel for the race.
Finally, the foods that you eat leading up to the race have to be quality carbohydrates. Stuffing yourself with greasy foods will hurt your chances at a good race. If you are going to eat some noodles, lay off the butter and don't put on too much cheese. Too much fat won't convert into race day energy. Whole grains with a side of protein is best. That is why spaghetti dinners are so popular. They have carbohydrates, a nice veggie (tomato sauce) and you can mix in some protein with chicken or beef.
How do I carbo-load? If I have to make my own pasta, I keep it really basic. I am a pretty simple man, so I can live with simple spaghetti with sauce. I don't have many culinary skills, so I boil my whole wheat noodles, and zap some frozen veggie in the microwave. When the noodles are done, I put the cold sauce right on the noodles. The cold sauce gets heated up by the warm noodles, and I have my dinner. Pretty boring, right?
I do have a good recipe for a side dish. When cranberries are in season, I make Cranberry Apple Walnut Salad. Mix those three ingredients together with a little olive oil and sugar for some delicious fruity flavor.
Author Resource:-
Those are my two world famous recipes. Well, world famous might be going a bit too far. What about your secret recipe that you eat the night before a big race? Care to share it with me at tips4running.com? Visit my Running Recipes page and send me a picture and the recipe for the world to see. You can see the full version of my two recipes here too. tips4running.com is a great source for more than just food. Visit for great running tips, beginner running programs, marathon training, running workouts, and much more.
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://best-running-articles.com/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites
