Doing mayhem solo and wondering if folks carb load at all? Does it work, if so how do you go about it. Thanks

I think it works to some extent, but i think its slightly old school now. I’d try to eat way more pasta and rice etc in the 36-48 hours before the event start time. Done it for 24s in the past.
I think people are now moving more towards training and teaching your body to burn fats as fuel during specific training, but that takes time.

It did in the 90s, but not anymore. Our bodies have evolved to be more paleo since then..
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It does work. If I eat crap-loads of carbs the day before a big ride, I barely need to eat anything during the ride the next day. It’s like bonk doesn’t exist. I also crap, loads.

I’d have a look at some peer reviewed scientific papers rather than anecdotes on a forum..

I like Chicken and rice to be honest, a nice mix of carbs, protine and taste

*looks at huge bowl of pasta in front of me*

Hope so…

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12942597

Well, don’t go into it hungry is my advice. I dunno if proper technical carbo-loading really works – I know someone who reduces carbs for a few days and then loads up in hope of a rebound effect. I just eat lots the day before, seems to work for me.

Yes

reducing fibre has a good effect too.

My understanding is that the evidence is week but….I always seem to do much better after a massive bowl of spaghetti the night before!

Don’t go into hungry is good advice.

Personally I do think it helps but I’m not doing the whole reducing and then cramming thing. I just have a second portion for a couple days pre-race. I find changing too much causes stress in the gut which is the last thing you need before you even start a 24hour race.

If you maintain a normal (for you) diet but taper in the build up to an event, you’re effectively carb loading. I don’t see additional calorific intake to be neccassery. Hydration is more critical, but don’t over hydrate especially immediately before the race. For endurance events it’s then about ensuring you don’t lose too many electrolytes. Saying all that, eating and drinking stuff you don’t normally take during training is equally as bad if not worse!

Thanks for your thoughts. I’m training hard at the mo and eating everything in sight!!. Good thinking tallpaul. I’ll be tapering about 10 days before , doing a couple of interval sessions ,but will maybe tweet my diet to include a bit more rice and pasta and less chocolate and pies!!.

It does to an extent but stuffing your face is not good. BAsically you need to eat a small amount more over the few days before an endurance event. Too much, too late and it will still be in your digestive system and likely give you issues during your race. Hydration also important.

First bit of advice I would offer is to try out what works for you as everyone is different. You’ve got a bit of time for some big rides before the event. I wrote a few things here from my experiences http://e3coach.com/blog/107-going-long take everything you read from others with a pinch of salt (pah) but don’t do anything crazily different if you can help it before or during a big race.

No matter how many carbs you consume pre event, the human body can only store 2000 calories,before you
Just have a huge bunch of carbs with nowhere to go. Your body will spend the first 1to2 hours of your event/race trying to get rid of the excess,not giving you energy to race.

Load up sensibly, and take food (homemade flapjack?)
With you?

Yes. The body burns alcohol first, so beer load at the same time.

Simple version, there is an amount of carbon you can store by body weight, any more is pointless. You also need enough water to convert it back out again.

Look up the numbers, it’s not a huge amount. Also eating post exercise stimulates the conversion or storage of glycogen so eating after a short spin to get the HR up helps (why recovery stuff works)