A Shred Girl Guide to Sports Nutrition: What to Eat Before, During and After a Ride… And Race Day Tips!

If you read last week’s post on the basic guide to sports nutrition for Shred Girls, you know what we’re talking about here: The basics that you need to know to ride and race like a boss, without getting too crazy with fad diets or weird food hacks. So today, I wanted to talk about before, during and after a ride or race. Now, these are general suggestions, so don’t forget, you can look outside of the examples that I give here, and you can experiment to see if eating a little more or less works best for you.

Before Riding

Within an hour of heading out to ride, try to eat a 100-200 calorie snack that contains simple carbs and ideally a small amount of protein, like pretzels + hummus, a granola bar, half of a PB&J sandwich, etc. so that you’re fueled to go hard during practice.

During Riding

1 bottle of water per hour is the usual rule. Go a little more on hot days, and you can drop it a bit when it’s cold. (If you use a hydration backpack, think around 16-20 ounces/hour, or 12-14 if you’re under 100 pounds). Do you need sports drink mix? I generally don’t think so, but if you don’t eat a lot on the bike, it’s a good way to get some calories. And another alternative is an electrolyte tablet like nuun, with a bit of added flavor and sodium and potassium, but no sugar.

Food-wise, I like real food on the bike, and here’s where you can have fun: gummy bears and cookies are totally solid ride food! Aim for 200-400 calories/hour, sticking to that low end if you’re not riding hard. If you find that you’re feeling too full or too hungry, adjust as needed: we all absorb food at different rates, so even an NFL linebacker might only be able to absorb 200 calories an hour, while a 4’6″ gymnast may be able to process 600!

Race Day

Carbs + Protein. Most people skip protein at breakfast, but for athletes, it’s necessary, especially on a race morning when we want to feel comfortably full (but not stuffed) for the whole day. Do your normal breakfast, and if you’re a nervous racer, maybe eat a bit extra if you know you’ll have trouble eating as the race gets closer.

Lunch: Carbs + Protein. Since this is your main source of fuel before the race, you want it to be something simple and easy to eat and digest. Sandwiches are great: bread provides carbs while lunchmeat or peanut butter gives you some protein so you’re ready to race.

Hydration: You can’t digest food if you’re not drinking enough water, so have a water bottle around all day to sip!

DON’T EAT ANYTHING NEW ON RACE DAY! Only use foods that you’ve used before + know you can easily digest.

Pre-Race: About 45 minutes before your race, have around 100 calories of carbohydrate (a small granola bar, a sports drink, a quarter of a PB&J sandwich) so you top off your glycogen stores and prime your muscles

In-race: Try to eat and drink like you would in a ride, though this might be where you’re going to have to rely on a sports drink for calories if eating in-race is hard. (A lot of pros will do this.)

Post-Race/Ride

First tip: You shouldn’t finish a ride feeling like you want to eat everything in sight. You want to be a little hungry, not starving.

Your meal: Protein + Carbs. It’s fine to eat a burger and fries on the way home, but after your race, you want to start to repair and rebuild your muscles ASAP. Bring some kind of snack that has protein and carbohydrates, like apples and peanut butter, hummus and crackers, a recovery sports drink, etc. (More tips on a protein + carb meal here)

Tummy Trouble? Keep a Log

I don’t like food logs, in general. But if your stomach is hurting during or after rides, it might be time to take a few days listing what you’re eating and when, especially around rides. It might be that you’re eating a certain thing that, every time you eat it, is causing you tummy pain (bloating, cramping, gas, nausea, diarrhea, and any feeling of being ‘off’).

Everyday Eating Beats Ride-Time

Like I said in the first post, what you eat during the rest of the day will effect your performance more than what you eat on any one ride. (A diet of solely pizza and milkshakes won’t make a race go well, even if you eat and drink during the race! Pizza and milkshakes are great, but let’s make sure we’re getting in plenty of veggies, proteins and plain old water every day!)

Like I said last week, we can get waaaaaay more in-depth about this stuff, so let me know in the comments if you have any questions about everyday nutrition! Next time, we’ll tackle the issue of how to eat for training. And yes, we’re going to talk about ‘junk food,’ because let’s be honest, it’s hard to avoid!