I'm not what you'd call an "athlete" in the traditional sense of the word... or even the most liberal sense of the word. Track days are about the most physically demanding thing I do, so I was wondering what you guys eat before and during a track day to keep from pitting out when there's still a few minutes left in the sessions on 90 degree days. I'm talking more stuff I can get at the grocery store since I don't feel like messing with supplements and all that. From what I've been able to glean from the interweb, it's good to start hydrating and carbo loading 2 or 3 days before the track day. Yes? At the track I generally drink water if I'm not sweating much or Gatorade if I'm sweating buckets. I generally snack on Cliff bars and granola and the like throughout the day instead of having a meal at lunch. Is this the right track? Any dietary staples that make a big difference?
Bananas for potassium to keep from cramping up. Definitely water and some sort of sports drink that has electrolytes/sodium in it. When it's really hot out like the past couple weeks I tend to not eat a big meal at lunch and stick with more snacks. Granola bars, apple, maybe a protein shake (muscle-milk) as well. Lunch I might eat some chicken or turkey along with pretzels and hummus. Nothing extravagant by any means. I do keep some energy gels with me typically (GU Energy Chews from Amazaon) as they have some calories and electrolytes in them. At the end of the day, I love a nice cold chocolate milk! One of the best things you can do is to make sure you start hydrating a few days ahead of time. Don't wait until the day of the event to drink a ton of water and gatorade. I'm sure others will chime in with what works for them.
In lieu of bananas I've brought Spicy Hot Low Sodium V8 juice... One of those little 8oz cans has as much potassium as 2 bananas and the cans travel a little better in a cooler. ("low sodium" means they add potassium chloride instead) Pre-hydrating is something I'm definitely going to add to the routine.
110% hydrate days before … if you do day of its too late... im just like pauly… bananas or a v8 .. I like to eat light day of granola , salty snacks , Gatorade and the likes... pickles are a must have in my day.. I love em its water and salt... you need the salt intake to help "absorb" the water into your system.
I always start hydrating a couple days before. wife buys hydration tabs at Meijer they seem to help and reduce cramping. super hot day cold watermelon is a nice snack
Pedialyte. It's the number one hydrator I've come across. Number two would be coconut water but I don't care for the taste. Also cures hangovers quicker than anything. Now they sell it in little packs that you add to water bottles, too.
My personal experience at Putnam this July further supports the "pre-hydration" approach. Last year it was so hot at the July Putnam event that I (and frankly all the members of my group) were really hurting afterwards -- had bad leg cramps for days, etc. This year I made a concerted effort to start hydrating before the weekend. It was a huge improvement - I rode all the sessions, no concentration errors and no leg cramps. I've also been spending a little more time on my bicycle this year -- which I think helps a lot -- I don't fade in those last few laps of the hot afternoon sessions.
Drink a lot of gatorade. You'll get very dehydrated all geared up at a sunny track day. Bananas are good. I like a nice seafood salad, but that's a personal choice.
little trick drink a regular v8 on friday and make sure you get clear water (no additives) and repeat sat and sun.