When to use this
Before you spend a budget, a parent meeting, or a week of race prep on the wrong twenty minutes.
- Someone is proposing gels, carb loading, or gut training for a cross country team.
- A parent has read marathon fuelling advice and is applying it to a 5K.
- You want the attention back for the things that actually decide the race.
Evidence sources
These references support the handout’s general education. Individual medical, supplement, laboratory, or injury questions should be handled by the appropriate qualified clinician.
- Thomas DT, Erdman KA, Burke LM. ACSM Joint Position Statement: Nutrition and Athletic Performance. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2016;48(3):543-568.
- Burke LM, Hawley JA, Wong SHS, Jeukendrup AE. Carbohydrates for training and competition. J Sports Sci. 2011;29(sup1):S17-S27.
- Carter JM, Jeukendrup AE, Jones DA. The effect of carbohydrate mouth rinse on 1-h cycle time trial performance. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2004;36(12):2107-2111.
Where to go next
PrintableFix the morning insteadThe 5:45 bus is the part of meet day that genuinely changes how an athlete races.
ToolCheck the thing that does matterChronic under-fuelling is invisible on race day and it is the one that ends seasons.
PrintablePlan the day, not the raceThe race is seventeen minutes. The day is nine hours, and that is the endurance event.
