How to fuel during race week and the taper

What should you eat in the final week before a big race? The short answer: a bit more carbohydrate than usual, less fibre as you get close, sensible fluids, and absolutely nothing new. Race week is not where you get fit. It's where you avoid undoing the work, and most people sabotage themselves by overthinking it.

Let me clear up the single biggest source of confusion first, then give you a practical week.

Glycogen loading is not "eating loads of pasta"

People use "carb loading" to mean stuffing themselves the night before. That's not really what the science describes. Carb loading is the process of supercompensating muscle glycogen, your stored fuel, over a couple of days while your training drops off.

The key insight from the research, the work by Bussau and others, is that you no longer need the old depletion phase. The brutal week of low-carb training followed by a binge is obsolete. Well-trained athletes can fully top up glycogen in 24 to 48 hours simply by eating a high-carb diet while tapering. The taper itself is what makes it work: when you're training less, your muscles soak up and store the extra carbohydrate instead of burning it.

So glycogen loading is two things together, more carbs and less training. One without the other doesn't do much.

Who actually needs to load

Loading matters for events lasting beyond about 90 minutes, where you'll genuinely deplete your stores. A marathon, a long road race, a half or full Ironman, a long fell run. For a parkrun or a short, sharp event, you do not need to load. You just need to be well-fed and rested. Don't carb load for a 5k and then wonder why you feel heavy.

The numbers

For events over 90 minutes, the evidence supports around 10-12g of carbohydrate per kg of body weight per day for the 36-48 hours before the race, on top of your taper.

For a 70kg athlete that's roughly 700-840g of carbs a day, which is genuinely a lot, more than most people realise. A gentler, very practical approach is to ramp: around 7g/kg three days out to start lifting your stores without gut stress, then push to 10g/kg for the final day or two.

Days outCarb targetTrainingRace week startNormal-ish, slightly upTaper begins3 days out~7g/kgLight, short1-2 days out~10g/kgVery light or restRace morningTop-up breakfastRace

Drop the fibre as you get close

This is the unglamorous trick that saves a lot of race-day toilet stops. In the last day or two, shift towards low-fibre, easy-to-digest carbs: white rice, white pasta with simple sauces, white bread, bagels, bananas, honey, sports drinks. Ease off the big salads, wholegrains, beans and high-fibre fruit and veg. You want fuel sitting ready, not a gut full of roughage to process at the start line.

Hydration, not water-loading

Drink to thirst and a bit beyond in the days before, aiming for pale-straw urine. Add a little extra sodium with your meals if it's hot or you're a salty sweater, because sodium helps you hold onto fluid. What you must not do is chug litres of plain water in panic, which only flushes out electrolytes and sends you to the toilet all night. Steady and sensible beats heroic.

The expensive mistakes

Race week is where good athletes lose races on nutrition.

• Trying something new. A new gel, a new pre-race meal, a supplement someone swore by. Race week is for the things you've already tested. Nothing new, ever.

• Confusing extra carbs with extra everything. Loading carbs does not mean a giant fatty, fibrous feast. It means more carbohydrate, kept clean and digestible. The fat and fibre are what wreck your stomach.

• Mistaking glycogen weight for fat. You will gain a kilo or two loading carbs, because glycogen holds water. That's the point. It is not fat and you have not blown it. Don't crash diet in response.

• Under-eating from nerves. Plenty of athletes lose their appetite and arrive under-fuelled. If solids feel hard, lean on liquid carbs and easy snacks.

FAQ

Do I really need to gain weight to load properly? A small gain of one to two kilos is normal and expected, it's stored glycogen and water. If you don't see any change, you may not have loaded enough.

What about the race-morning breakfast? A familiar, high-carb, low-fibre, low-fat meal two to four hours before. Porridge with honey, toast and jam, a bagel, a banana. Top up the tank; don't sit down to a fry-up.

Can I just eat normally and be fine? For short events, yes. For anything over 90 minutes you'll perform better with a proper top-up, and you'll feel the difference in the back half.

In MOVE we adjust your carb targets through the taper so you're loading the right amount for your event, not guessing. The week before a race should feel calm and well-fed. Do the simple things right and let the training you've already banked do the work.