Lately, a few people have told me that they don't really understand "carb-loading." I think one misconception is that you're supposed eat a lot MORE food during days leading up to races. That's not true...rather, it's a replacement of what you would normally eat with more breads, pastas, etc. For instance, the night before a race or any long run, I would have a big plate of spaghetti with marinara sauce and maybe a garlic breadstick versus any other meal that is heavy on the meat, veggies or dairy. It's more of a switch in the percentage of carbs that you should eat, so rather than the standard 55-60% of the daily diet that should be carbohydrates, I probably bump it up to more around 80-85%. I found this website which has an exercise/nutrition plan for the 7 days prior to a competition. I haven't had time to see whether or not this is all scientifcally based, but it's interesting! (It also assumes that you don't have a JOB.) http://www.liftedathletics.com/tag/7-day-carbohydrate-loading/
I had my last Saturday training run this past weekend: a 6 mile which re-confirmed that I don't think I'm set up to beat my old time of 1:57. I started the run at around an 8:40 pace, then about halfway in, my body said no, and I had to slow it down even beyond my standard 9 min/mile. Apparently a 9-min pace is where I'm stuck. And I think that's ok with me. There's nothing magical about a 1:56 half-marathon time as opposed to 1:57. After your time is under 2 hours, the next real milestone, in my opinion is 1:45--and realistically, that's not something I could ever do. Oh, and race day temperature is supposed to be a high of 84. Awesome. My plan is just do enjoy this beautiful scenery:
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