Food Before A Meet

I'm with Allen. If the meet's not too early, I'm having some combination of pancakes (if my husband makes them), eggs, toast with peanut butter and honey and/or a banana. During the meet, I'm sipping 50% accelerade. I'll also bring a Luna bar, strawberries or a banana to nibble on if it's a multi-hour meet. And, don't forget, coffee before the sprints. :coffee: If the meet is at the crack of dawn, I'm probably not attending. If I have to because it's a big meet, I'm eating an energy bar and banana in the car as I'm complaining about early risers and "morning people." :shakeshead:

Quicksilver: I'll check out that link. But pancakes aren't loaded with sugar if you make them right. And they are easily digestible, which is a good pre-race thing. Endurox is a good recovery drink too.

Greg: I like eggs in the am before a meet too, but it seems like I read that protein doesn't digest quickly. Should we really be eating all those eggs? My daughter's swim coach also told her that she should eat a lot of pasta a few days before the meet but not the night before. This nutrition stuff changes so quickly. Pretty soon they'll start saying that coffee is bad again...

I use 50% gatoraide(1/2 gatoraide,1/2 water ) as gatoraide alone is too concentrated for me and upsets my stomach. At World Masters Games in 1985 in Toronto I bought a Whopper and fries on the way to the pool. That didn't agree with me and at the 100 M point of the 200 M Br I was sure I was going to throw up. The only reason I didn't stop at that point was I was ahead of guys I had never been ahead of before. I ended up with my best time ever. I have no explanation for that and I don't recommend Whoppers before swimming.

All I can handle is a power bar on the way to a meet and watered down Gatorade ... long meets suck but that is all I can eat or else blech

Between the time I wake up, and then get to the meet...usually two hours will have passed. This gives me time for for a fairly decent breakfast which might be something along the lines of a turkey sandwich. I shy away from sugar...especially a pancake breakfast which gives an initial boost...and then leaves me feeling drained when the sugar high wears off. A protein based breakfast staves off hunger pangs and offers a good source of energy. After each race, my recovery beverage is chocalate soy milk. It's lactose free...and the sugar goes right back into the muscles and liver. Gatorade is good...but too much and you'll be visiting the locker rooms every 20 minutes or so. www.webarticles.com/.../Chocolate-Milk-better-than-Gatorade-for-Post-Exercise-Recovery?

Eat whatever tastes good and do not upset the tummy. You name it I have eaten it. I am a bacon and eggs guy but have eaten steaks etc no greens for breakfast they give me trouble, although left over Pizza was great with all the trimmings. Even Anchovies they made me swim like a fish.

Morning of the meet I will have 4 scrambled eggs with cheese and jalepenos in it, 2 pieces of toast with jelly, few stips of bacon and a glass of oj and chocolate milk. The evening before meet I will load up with pasta and red sauce (not da wine!) During meet I nibble on fruit and power bars washed down with plenty of water.

If it doesn't involve getting up too early,I'll eat a big breakfast,eggs sausage.sweet rolls or pancakes,something like that about 2 hr before warm-up. During the meet I take a bite or 2 from a balance bar every time I feel hungry and drink a lot of 50% Gatoraid.

A wise man once sent me a list of do's and dont's for the 4.4 Mile Chesapeake Bay Swim. Regarding dinner the night before and the breakfast, it was "Eat something you have eaten 100x or more without incident." I generally keep the food pretty simple, ie bagel, dry cereal, etc... power bars and other granola/snack/breakfast-type bars (and the occasional plain ham sandwich) during the meet... just enough to keep me from starving and provide some energy, and not so much it feels like I ate and exercised with bad timing... i don't do bananas at all :banana: