Blog Category: race
Carb Loading: The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly
March 4th, 2018
The day after my friend participated in a 50 mile bike race, I was eager to hear details about the epic event. His report? After extensive training he bonked hard (his body ran out of fuel) mid-race, and he barely finished. He was crushed.
Prior to and on game day he had dutifully followed the dietary recommendations given to him by countless coaches over the years: carb load
To him, this meant eating pasta the night before. Pancakes and orange juice were ingested the morning of hte race. Right before he took off at the starting line, he decided to down a few packets of sugar just for good measure.
So what went wrong?
Carbohydrates are a great source of quick energy, and carb loading is helpful for many endurance athletes. However, that does not mean that people should follow in the dietary footsteps of my cyclist friend.