Hi all,I did a long (well long for me anyway) kayaking trip last Sunday - 45km (about 29mi). It took me about 9 hours which included two 30 minute breaks. About 8 hours of constant paddling. I'd normally do 20km (12.5mi) in a day, no problems, but I wanted to push myself way past the norm. to see how I'd handle it.Anyway I took a pretty average lunch - two boiled eggs, two cheese/tomato sandwiches and two pieces of fruit.I was rather famished and hungry at the end of it, and had basically run out of energy. I've heard a lot about carb loading but need some details on what's best to eat, when to start carb loading, and what's best to eat on the actual day of the workout.Any help would be greatly appreciated. The day after I still felt quite down on energy levels and I'd like to reduce the recovery time, the next time around...TIASR
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Carb loading - help?
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Thanks mate I will do that. As for the energy bars - do we have access to this energy rather quickly (say within an hour or so)?I suppose Gatorade would be better than water also. I had only taken water with me.
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You should start loading up for long distance events about 3 days prior if possible. For the first two days, you want to increase quantities of everything, especially carbs. The day before you want to eat plenty of easy to digest foods - white flour pasta - and foods you know that are easy on your body and won't cause you indigestion, or sit around in your gut. Steak, for example would not be a good day before meal. Also, things like milk products may not be good the day before depending upon how well your body tolerates lactose; and this applies to other things like spicy foods, etc.
Your lunch sounded pretty good, although as Helms said bringing energy bars wouldn't hurt either. I've taken Helms advice with the oatmeal in the morning as well and it is an excellent way to fuel up before a race or any day of the week.
Also, just as important to reduce recovery time afterwards is to eat a good meal with protein and carbs approximately 2 hours after you finish. A snack 10-20 minutes afterwards to replace some carbs, such as a banana, is also great.
While you will still be sore for a couple of days, your muscles should recover more quickly if you eat right and you will definitely feel more energetic afterwards. This is what I did for my 100km bike for cancer I did this spring and the 3 days before thing was advice from a teacher in our school who has done ironman triathlons.
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Thanks guys this is great info!I wondered how long before-hand I should start loading. I think vegetarian pasta meals will be the go. They're easy to digest and I love them.I don't drink milk as the lactose upsets me - so rice milk and soy milk do me fine.I'll probably take the same lunch with a few energy bars next time. I'll do a few more 45km trips then go for 55 or 60km. The only issue is that I run out of daylight, though that's not such a bad thing if I know that part of the river well.I really didn't plan this one well at all, only dreamt up the idea the day before. I was bored doing easy trips and just wanted to throw myself a curveball to see if I could do it.Congratz on the 100km bike ride! What a blast! How long did that take you?
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Glad it helped.Thanks, the ride went well. I didn't get an exact time because it was supposed to be non-competitive, but I was around 4 hrs so I averaged approximately 25 km/hr including short breaks.