It’s 6:00 AM on race day. Three hours to the start. Your bags are packed, numbers are pinned, skinsuit ready to go. Bike is loaded in the car, race wheels on, shifting dialed, chain sparkling like Cinderella’s glass slippers. Bottles filled, cooler cold, post-race sandwich packed away in a little Ziploc bag. But there’s one thing left to do, arguably more important than all these other factors combined:
What are you going to eat for breakfast?
It’s a common question that I believe has a simple answer: nothing different, nothing weird, nothing twice or half the amount that you would normally eat. Whatever you’re used to, stick with it – That’s the simple answer. The better question is: What do you normally eat for breakfast?
I’ve been eating the same breakfast every morning for the past 2+ years: 1 cup of oats, ¾ scoop of whey protein powder, and ½ cup of trail mix. The oats and whey protein stay the same, so I change up the trail mix for a little flavor variety. The standard is an Omega-3 mix from Costco, which includes walnuts, almonds, dried mangoes and cranberries, and pumpkin seeds. When I’m on the road (which is 90% of the time), I make due with what the local grocer has to offer. It’s simple – trail mix is just nuts and dried fruit. No matter the nut, no matter the fruit; just throw it in the oatmeal.
I love this breakfast because it’s simple, easy, and healthy; it fills me up for a good couple of hours as I start my day and head out for a mid-morning ride. In total, the bowl is ~800 calories with a good balance between carbs, fats, and protein (~60% / 20% / 20%).
Whatever you eat, the goal of your pre-race breakfast should be this: fuel your body for a long, hard effort.
Nutrition is extremely individual – some people love racing on Snickers bars and pizza, others can only eat CLIF Bar’s carrot cake flavor, and CLIF Shot Bloks salted watermelon. Anything else and their body (and bowels) will explode. Thus, I believe it is up to the athlete mostly, to experiment with their nutrition and figure out what works best for them. Yes, a coach or nutritionist is a great resource for you to ask questions, receive advice, and gather recommendations. But no one, other than you the individual athlete, knows with 100% certainty what the best food is to fuel your performance.
Here are my pre-race breakfast recommendations:
Carbohydrates: oatmeal, waffles, pancakes, toast, cereal, (dried) fruit, honey, syrup, jam or jelly – is there a difference?
(Be careful with too much processed sugar – oatmeal is better for your long-term health than Cinnamon Toast Crunch…)
Protein: eggs, bacon, turkey sausage, (almond) milk
Fat: nuts, nut butters, oils
**Again, these are just a few of my recommendations, with the bias of personal preference**
NOTE: You need to train your stomach just like you train your legs. If you know that your only option on race day is plain oatmeal from the hotel breakfast, make sure you know your stomach can handle oatmeal.
What do you normally eat for breakfast?