I enjoyed participating in the St. Nick's meet at Ga Tech on Saturday! It was a well-run meet, everybody was very friendly, and the facility is beautiful. Thanks to Atlanta Rainbow Trout & everybody who worked on the meet. It was great.
Here's the question -- I don't like eating anything very heavy on the day of competition, so for breakfast I had a banana, a bagel with cream cheese, and about 6 cups of coffee. Warmups were at 10 am, I swam the 800 around 11:30, a few more events, and finished with the 400 around 5:30. Throughout the day I had plenty of water, red grapes, two more bananas, and three carbo power bar type things.
By the time the meet wrapped up around 6, I was RAVENOUS and about ready munch my way through downtown Atlanta. So I'm not sure this is the best eating plan for the day of competition, and even less sure how well it would work for a multi-day event.
What do you eat on the day of the meet?
I am never hungry in the morning and have to force myself to eat. I can usually handle a banana or a bagel. BTW, it is hard to find a good bagel down south, we have biscuits and gravy... A powerbar on the ride to the meet and water and a little gatorade throughout the day. I worry more about what I eat the day before a meet.
I don't eat anything at or before a meet, I just can't do it, but I do go through a few bottles of Gatorade in the course of the day. Saturday in Long Beach I was running on some In-n-Out burger from the night before all the way until about 7pm!
Rob... since you are my friend and I love you dearly, I am going to tell you that this is one of THE WORST plans I have ever read!
But still some poor USMS athlete will read it and say, "Right on. Dumouchel can swim pretty fast and I like In-n-Out so thats what I'm doing too!"
By the way, I really appreciate how whenever we eat out, I can count on an extra helping of veggies off your plate since you flat out do not touch them! :)
I do all of my swimming on an empty stomach. I've always eaten once a day--dinner--and simply can't imagine having something in my stomach when I exercise. If I have an open water the next day, I'll probably eat like a horse the night before, but never the same day as the competition.
Still waiting for the pre-meet nutritian experience. But on the topic of alcohol I have noticed I perform better the next day following a night of wine consumption. Not a glass or two but a whole bottle and the cheaper the better.
Anyone else experince this?
LOL, most certainly not.
If it's a morning meet (which they almost always are in the New York area), I have my usual breakfast -- oatmeal, grapefruit juice and coffee -- and I bring some Power Bars and a water bottle with me to the meet. The meets here generally start around 8 or 9 AM and I'm usually finished by 12:30 or 1 PM (my usual lunch time) so that's enough to get me through the meet.
I don't eat anything at or before a meet, I just can't do it, but I do go through a few bottles of Gatorade in the course of the day. Saturday in Long Beach I was running on some In-n-Out burger from the night before all the way until about 7pm!
Re: eating at Nationals,definitely become a Gold Medal Sponsor.That gives you access to the hospitality room so you can eat at the meet when you need to.The food at Fresno was really good,Indy-OK.
I plan on eating here for ALL of my pre-meet meals when I swim in Atlanta this spring for Nationals.
Katie, planning in sinking in Atlanta? hee-hee.
Glad to see you'll be there, too.
