NUTRITION

Eating before Orienteering Events

Gillian Woodward

THE pre-event meal is the final opportunity to top-up energy and fluid levels before your run. It is important to choose the right food, but the ‘last meal’ should also make you feel comfortable throughout the event and be based on your own needs and likes. Experimenting in training is important to find out what works best for you. What suits one athlete will not necessarily be right for another, so it is well worth taking the trouble to work out what gives you lasting energy without weighing you down too much. And of course it needs to be easily prepared wherever you happen to be staying before the event.

What to eat?

• High carbohydrate foods – for optimal energy stores • Low/Moderate GI carbohydrates – for slow release of energy • Foods low in fat & low in fibre – to limit gastric discomfort • Drink plenty of fluids – for optimal hydration, especially in warm weather

When to eat?

• 3-4 hours prior to event – a bigger meal • 1-2 hours prior to event – a light snack • < 1 hour prior to event – a liquid meal supplement or sports drink or snack bar

Examples of pre-event foods & snacks –Foods suitable 3-4 hours before exercise:

• Breakfast cereal + light milk + fruit juice • Canned Fruit + low-fat fruit yoghurt + muesli bar • Sandwich with salad/meat filling + fruit juice • Fruit toast + ricotta cheese + low-fat smoothie or fruit juice • Muffins or crumpets + honey or jam • Banana & honey sandwich • Pasta with low-fat sauce (e.g. tomato, vegetables & lean meat)

Foods suitable 1-2 hours before exercise:

• Fruit smoothie or milkshake (preferably low fat) • Sports bars or muesli bars • Breakfast cereal with milk • Fruit & yoghurt • Honey or jam sandwich

Foods suitable less than 1 hour before exercise:

• Sports drink, cordial or fruit juice • Sports bars, muesli bars or jelly lollies

A few words of warning!

1. Be careful what cereal you choose. Whereas in your normal/training diet you might be having a high fibre cereal like muesli or a bran-rich type, don’t have this on the morning of a competition run. Go for a lower fibre type – flaky cereal or wheat biscuit without all the fruit and nuts that might normally be in your cereal bowl. The last thing you want is to have a sudden stimulation of your bowel half way around the course! 2. Try out some different sports drinks and go with the one that you most like the taste of – you are sure to drink more of it and hydrate better if this is the case. Practise using a sports drink before and after a training run to see how you feel. 3. Use low fat milk products like light milk or light yoghurts. These are easier to digest before a run. Fat stays in your stomach longer and restricts the release of carbohydrate into your blood stream, so it is best avoided before events. 4. Multigrain breads are lower GI than white or wholemeal, so may give you more lasting energy for your run. Multigrain is not as high in fibre as wholemeal, so shouldn’t create a problem for the bowel, but if it does, there are some new white breads that are also low GI. These may be a good alternative. 5. Remember that what you eat the night before may also influence how you feel and perform the next day. The important thing is to include plenty of carbohydrate foods. The easiest way to do this is to have either a rice or pasta based meal or simply have extra potatoes and maybe sweet corn with your main meal. If you are eating out, add bread to the menu or have a fruity dessert or some ice-cream to further increase the carbohydrates. Fruit juices and soft drinks contain plenty of carbohydrate too. Don’t go for the deep fried dishes or lots of chips as they will fill you up with fat before you have had enough carbohydrate. So all in all, it is important to keep those carbohydrates adequate to fuel your muscles for the run, not to mention feeding the brain enough glucose to help you navigate the course. Try to plan ahead what you need to take when travelling away to events. Don’t leave your eating arrangements to chance. Road-side eateries are not well known for their ability to adequately fuel hungry athletes with appropriate food choices!

Gillian Woodward is a Practising Dietician and has been providing advice in the field for over 25 years. She has been an orienteer since 1984.