eating before/ day of race

helpplease · Post by **helpplease** » March 30th, 2006, 8:11 pm

So what is the best thing to eat the night before a normal 1500 meter highschool race, and day of.

I usually try to drink for bottles of water the night before and eat pasta.

Day of i have a bottle of water and a banana with a bagle.

Do you think that sounds good? or what should i do?

Also i weigh about 145 lb normally and cannot get above 150

Yukon John · Post by **Yukon John** » March 31st, 2006, 3:29 pm

Hi,
You've opened up a topic that probably has a lot of opinions and it would be fun to here what others do. It sounds to me like you have a good idea of what works for you. It probably doesn't matter too much on a short distance event what you take into your body although having a few meals that have a lot of carbs can help to make sure your stored glycogen is at a high level. It's probably more important what you eat (and when) after a race. You want to replace nutrients as soon as possible after a race to help with recovery, and it's been talked about on the old forum, the benefit of having some protein as part of your post race intake. Sounds to me that you're right on track. Good luck with your races! John.

helpplease · Post by **helpplease** » April 7th, 2006, 6:26 pm

Ok my normal weight is 147lb (after a #2) I am afraid that i will weight over 150 though if i drink 4 bottles of water and eat a lot the night before (i like to eat a lot of pasta night before weight to load up on carbs) should i not drink and eat so much or do you think i should be able to crap and pee out the excess weight?

Citroen · Post by **Citroen** » April 7th, 2006, 6:52 pm

helpplease wrote:Ok my normal weight is 147lb (after a #2) I am afraid that i will weight over 150 though if i drink 4 bottles of water and eat a lot the night before (i like to eat a lot of pasta night before weight to load up on carbs) should i not drink and eat so much or do you think i should be able to crap and pee out the excess weight?

If you're a fella. The lightweight limit for indoor rowing is 165lbs (75Kg, 11st 11lb). So at 150lbs you have nothing to worry about.

If you're female you're already above the LWT limit of 135lb (~61Kg, 9st 9lb).

helpplease · Post by **helpplease** » April 7th, 2006, 8:15 pm

but for outdoor highschool rowing it is 150lb

Engine#4 · Post by **Engine#4** » April 8th, 2006, 9:23 am

Finally another lwt that actaully rows on the water!!!!

I used to row high school and was 150lbs, now I row senior @ 160 or if you in canada 72.5kg. it sounds like you have a good grasp on what has to be done and you are doing alot of really good things.
here are some rules I stick too.... but I have the opposite problem you do, I am too heavy.

-Start thinking about your weight the week before not the night before, finding out you have to loose 5 lbs the night before is added stress and not healthy!

-buy you own scale (a good one) especially if you think you are going to be rowing for a while as a lwt. it's a great investment.

-pratice weighing in, every morning weigh yourself and keep track of your weight. I used to play around and do things like weigh my self and then drink water or eat supper and see how it effected me. this way you can know your body, also try weighing your self before and after you take a
sh*t, or after a long row. you would be amazed at how much weight you loose in sweat. ( I have had to drop 300grams the morning of my race and I lost it during a 10min warm up wearing a sweat shirt and sweat pants, but don't plan on sweating weight off!!)

-as soon as you get to the regatta take your new fancy scale and weigh your self, with out changing anything, get on the official scale you will be weighed on before your race. this way you can figure out how close or how far off your scale if from the official one. (i do the same with my watch and the official clock so i am never late for a race)

-have a sports drink and a bagel ready for right ofter you weigh in if you haven't been able to eat all moring, because you should have 2hrs before you race and getting that bit of fuel in early is important.

-I find that when we start to taper for a big race I gain weight. Decreaseing my training volume and eating the same is a bad combo, if you taper eat less.... I know it's hard but you have too.

-NEVER EAT AFTER 7PM

-the day before and day of is all about how much the food weighs thats going in your mouth. Rice cakes are light and have a very high glcymic index. Dry cereal too

-Stay hydrated by drinking power aid or gatorade, this gives some extra calories and still hydrates you. (not all the time but when you are eating less, maybe the day before the weigh in) Coke is sometimes good if you can stomach it, lots of energy there!

-3 pounds under is actually alot, being about a pound over the night before is pretty good because you will loose that over night.

-check out the concept 2 uk site, they have a really good article on lwt rowing.

-last summer I had the oportunity to go to 2 training camps with Volker Nolte (former lwt national team coach and head coach of the western university rowing team, in my opinion the best coach in the world!!) and he talked to us about weight alot even the heavy weight rowers. He and other coaches have explained lwt rowing as a lifestyle more than anything else, you have to be commited to eating well and always thinking about your weight.

just out of curiosity where is your race at (canadian high school champs?)

TRAIN HARD, RACE EASY!!

helpplease · Post by **helpplease** » April 8th, 2006, 10:15 am

Thanks a lot for your help.

This isn't a big race it is just a Manny Flick in Philadelphia. But it is the first place that is actually weighing in the ltwt's this year for my boat at least