What, when, and how much? Proper carb-loading before running in a marathon
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- It's Dick's Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon weekend, so let the carb-loading begin -- but does it work, what do you eat, how much, and when?
KDKA's John Shumway went looking for answers.
First of all, the answer to 'when' starts two days before running in the race.
Just like you fuel your car for a trip, experienced runners will tell you that pumping in the carbohydrates is their fuel.
"Making them have a better performance, and it also it could reduce the the amount of fatigue that they have," said registered dietician and nutritionist Laura Zervos.
Zervos says it's all about storing glycogen from the carbs.
"And that's stored in our our muscle in our liver. So when you're running that could be used as fuel," Zervos said.
When it comes to what you should eat, Zervos says that refined carbs like white rice, white pasta, white bread, cereals, fruit, fruit juice, and those kinds of things are recommended.
Now that you know what to eat, how much should you eat?
"So, for a 150-pound, person that would look like about 680 grams of carbohydrates a day, and that person typically now may be eating around 160 to 170, so it's a large increase," Zervos said.
Zervos says to spread that increase across all of your meals, and no, not all carbs are created equally, saying to avoid fiber.
"Avoid. avoid. You know you don't want to use this. The things like donuts, muffins, and pastries," Zervos said.
They could wind up creating an inconvenient moment during the race, but good carb-loading is a big help.
"it is important to have those glycogen stores, or you're going to hit the wall a lot sooner," Zervos said.
Zervos says that glycogen will definitely help you get through the first 10-12 miles, but says it's really best to make carb-loading part of your training regimen, but it's a little late for that now. There's still a benefit, just don't overdo it.
While pasta and rice can be boring, Zervos says you can spice things up by adding veggies to rice to make a pilaf or marinara to pasta, but says to avoid things like heavy meat sauce or alfredo sauce, which is heavy on fat.