Pre-Competition Nutrition

  You've trained months for this race! What do you eat the night before? What about the morning of?
 I've dealt with this question many times before a half or full marathon, and have made some mistakes along the way.  Here's my advice
    DO "TRIAL RUNS:" If you have a long run (over an hour-and-a-half) planned in your regimen, eat a dinner and breakfast that you may think may work for the race. Get up at the time you would before your competition (usually at leas three hours before), and sample a breakfast. Run at the same time the race starts and see what your energy level is, and how the digestive tract reacted. If you ate too much, you might have stomach issues. If you consumed too little, you may "bonk," energy-wise. This long run, in which some should be at race pace, will be a good test. Remember, though, that nerves play a part, too, and a nervous runner usually means a runner with a nervous stomach. Err on the side of bland food to  limit the amount of acid in that jittery gut! If your trial worked smoothly for your long run, I'd repeat it for your race.
  HYDRATE: An important, yet tricky part of the mix. I normally drink at least half a gallon of water each day, and more in the summer. Nutritionists recommend a half-ounce of water per body weight, over a 24-hour period. Coffee and tea can be considered part of that total, but not sweetened iced tea or soda. The day before a long race, I make sure I get quite a bit of water, but I ration it the morning of to limit the urge to visit the port-a-potties when the gun goes off.
  PRE-RACE DINNER: The best part of marathon training was always the "carbo-load" the few days before. Real serious-minded runners would "carb-deplete" early in the week before a marathon, and then start the carb replacement a couple days before the race. My college training partners and I never bothered "depleting," and that aspect has fallen out of favor in recent research. The "carbo-load" is to make sure your glycogen levels are at full before they're depleted,  usually at around the 20-mile mark of a a marathon. Carbohydrates turn to energy faster than other food sources, so are the preferred fuel within 24-hours of a competition. Pasta's great, of course, but be careful with too much tomato sauce. The acid, as I mentioned before!
   ALCOHOL: The night before a big race,: I find one beer or glass of red wine is enough to calm down my nerves and get me to sleep. Anything more than that can affect your sleep negatively and give you a headache, stomach ache, or lack of energy on race day. I was surprised, when I ran the Boston Marathon, how many runners were drinking pretty heavily the night before the race. "You've trained so long for this," I thought. "Why do something that can ruin your race day?" Running a marathon takes months of discipline and deprivation. Wait until after the race to celebrate!
  CAFFEINE: Undoubtedly, the fuel that has propelled me through more than 40 years of running. Like alcohol, though, be careful the day before a race. You're head's going to be spinning with all the logistics of the day: transportation to the race, weather and clothing considerations, and time concerns that morning. Too much coffee will get you that much more wired, and sleep will be even harder to achieve than normal (and it's tough as it is, before a marathon!). Morning of: just drink the same amount as you always do - don't change routine!
PRE-RACE BREAKFAST: Hopefully, you didn't "carbo-load" so much that you can't look at food race morning. Besides your normal coffee or tea, I find what works for me is a Power Bar or banana and peanut butter. Either has the right mix of carbs and protein to give me fuel for the race,but doesn't leave me full and bloated. Always finish eating at least two hours before the race so you have time to digest it through your system before the race starts. I usually bring a water bottle along to the race start, and just slosh water through my mouth and spit it out. It keeps my throat from going dry (another symptom of nerves!) but doesn't fill my stomach up with unnecessary liquid.
   I hope this article gives you a general guide of race day nutrition. Good eating habits before a race will not insure a satisfactory race, but the wrong choices will pretty much guarantee a bad one. I've been on both sides!