MORE ON GRANDMA'S DIET

SwampTiger emailed me a good question that I thought I'd post my answer too.

When I first read your race report the other day, I wondered how you ate the night before/morning of the race. Then I saw your comment about maybe cramming too much in the pre-race meal. So what did you do for your pre-race meal? Was it different than in the past?
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SwampTiger,

What I was getting at with my post was worrying about trying to follow a certain diet (like the article I posted) to a "T". I was calculating exacting how many calories I needed race morning and during the race.

I basically ate pasta for lunch and dinner the last 5 days leading up to the race - but that's normal for me before a marathon. The night before we cooked pasta and garlic bread in our room and I drank Gatorade.

For breakfast I had 32 oz. of Gatorade along with 3 scoups of CarboPro, which is a powder that dissolves instantly and is basically all carbs. I can't remember how many carbs are in a scoop, but it's a lot (Edit: I just looked it up; 115 calories and 28.5 grams of carbs per scoop. So, pre-race, I had 585 calories and 145 grams of carbs just from fluids). I also had a bagel. I was going to have a banana too, but my stomach was spinning.

I think that's the last time I'll use the CarboPro. I used it before my Ironman and puked before the race even started. I don't have problems with it in training, just when I'm more nervous. I used it before the 30k without any problems, however that was a low-key race without any pressure.

During the race I was planning on taking gels at 3, 7, 11, 15, 19 and maybe 23. Since I felt bloated, I didn't start with the gels till 5 and took them at 9 and 13 too. Then I just stopped taking them after I "shut down".

I don't think I bonked at Gma's, it was more of a mental issue. That's why I think the "recommended" gel consumption is on the high side for me. Then again, if I'd been running 6:40 pace instead of 7:40s at the end, maybe I'd need those extra 2-3 gels.