Free nutrition tool
Race Day Nutrition Planner
Under-fuelling is the classic way to unravel a race you trained hard for. Enter your sport, race length, weight and the weather, and get an hour-by-hour plan for carbs, fluid and sodium, plus how to load beforehand and recover after.
Your race
h:mm, or minutes.
Cold under 10°C, moderate 10-20°C, hot 20-30°C, very hot over 30°C.
Your hour-by-hour plan
First 15 minutes: just start sipping, no fuel needed. Then spread carbs evenly (a gel every 30-45 min or steady sips of carb drink), take 150-250 ml of fluid every 10-15 min, and carry your sodium in the drink.
| Hour | Carbs | Fluid | Sodium |
|---|
Turn it into products
Before the race: carb loading
After the race: recovery
Don't go it alone.
This plan is a strong start, but fuelling is one piece of a much bigger picture. Team TC puts a coaching team in your corner across training, strength and conditioning, nutrition and race-day strategy, so it all comes together on the day. Adam leads the nutrition and gut training, getting you to the start line fuelled and across the finish line strong.
Common questions
How many carbs per hour do I need?
It depends mostly on how long you're out there. Under about 75 minutes you need little or none; from there, roughly 30 g/h up to 2.5 hours, then 60-90 g/h for longer events. Anything above 60 g/h needs a glucose-fructose blend so your gut can absorb it.
What is bonking, and how do I avoid it?
Bonking is running out of stored carbohydrate (muscle and liver glycogen), which causes a sudden, brutal drop in output. You avoid it by fuelling from early, hitting your hourly carb target rather than playing catch-up, and carb-loading before long races.
How much should I drink?
Roughly 400-900 ml an hour depending on heat and your size. Sip little and often rather than gulping, and don't push much beyond a litre an hour, as over-drinking dilutes your sodium.
Gels, drink mix or real food?
Whatever your gut tolerates. Liquids and gels suit higher intensity; some solid food works for long, easy efforts. Once you're over 60 g/h you need multiple-transportable-carb products (a glucose-fructose blend).
Why does sodium matter?
Sodium is the main electrolyte you lose in sweat. Replacing it supports fluid balance and helps stave off cramping and, in long or hot races, hyponatraemia. Salty sweaters may need more than the estimate here.
Can I train my gut?
Yes, and you should. Practise your race-day intake in training and build it up over 6-8 weeks to raise your tolerance. Never trial a new fuelling strategy for the first time on race day.
Grounded in endurance-nutrition research (Jeukendrup 2014; Podlogar & Wallis 2022; Romijn 1993).
For information only, and not medical or dietetic advice. Individual needs vary with gut tolerance, sweat rate, altitude and conditions, so treat this as a starting estimate. Practise your plan in training and never trial a new fuelling strategy for the first time on race day. All calculations happen in your browser and your data is never sent anywhere.