Guide To Fuelling For Training & Racing

‘Food is fuel. Fill your tank with premium’

This blog is intended as a guide to help anyone who is looking to get the most out or their rides, training or racing.

Hydration and nutrition are absolutely crucial to your training and performance. Getting it wrong whether it is too little, too much or the wrong balance can have a huge impact on performance, reduce the benefits of training and increase the amount of time that it takes to recover from the ride.

Here’s how to tackle it…

Hydration:

It’s crucial for you to start your training or race already adequately hydrated for the exercise. Make sure you are drinking plenty through the day or even the day before, you may also need to pre load electrolytes and/or sodium.

A good rule of practice would be one bottle (500ml) per hour of water or electrolyte mix per hour of exercise that you are doing.

You can also use urine colour as a rough guide throughout the day as hydration strategies should be individualised, the lighter the colour the better hydrated you are.

Timing – Pre training or racing:

You should be aiming to get your pre exercise meal in 2-3 hours before you start the training session or race. This gives your body sufficient time to digest and convert the energy to be available when you need it.

When you are less than an hour before the session or event then make sure that you don’t consume fats or protein and stick to a coffee and/or some fruit.

Timing – During training or racing:

Any session shorter than one hour – nothing!

Any session which is indoors, lasting less than 2 hours – Energy drink only.

Any session or race which is 2 hours – One energy drink & one energy bar (See below for a homemade energy bar recipe)

Any session or race which is 2 hours (at high intensity) or longer – You should be aiming to consume around 250 calories per hour, your body will struggle to digest more than this. This should be made up of energy bars, drinks or gels for racing. This should allow you to take on 30-60 grams of carbohydrate per hour (Some riders made need to consume up to 90g/hr).

After any training session or race – Try to get your post ride meal in as soon as you can to maximise the use of the ‘golden window’. More information on recovery can be found on our blog post ‘Optimum Coaching’s guide to the perfect recovery.’.

Homemade energy bar recipe:

Ingredients

2 large eggs

3 tablespoons honey

Oil spray

2 teaspoons grated orange zest

2 cups granola

85g chopped walnuts

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F) and spray an 8-inch square baking tin with cooking oil.

2. Lightly whisk the eggs. Stir in the honey, add a few sprays of oil and the orange zest.

3. Stir in the granola and walnuts. Mix until thoroughly combined.

4. Spread the mixture in the baking pan and bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown and set.

5. Cool for 10 minutes before cutting into 9 squares. Store tightly covered in the fridge.

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