What to Eat the Week Before a Race
Trail Notes | Female Athlete Fuelling
for the 7 days that play a big role in how your body & mind work together on race day
What to Eat the
week before a race.
Race week fuelling is not where you build fitness. It is where you stop accidentally undoing the fitness you already have.
The week before a race is one of the most common places we see female athletes quietly undermine their race week. Not in training - in food.
Training drops, but appetite often drops faster. Nerves arrive. The body feels heavier and we eat less to compensate. Training drops, appetite often follows. Nerves make the stomach feel heavy so breakfast gets skipped. The body feels softer with more carbohydrate on board and it feels logical to pull back. Race morning arrives and the tank is not quite where it needs to be.
This is the guide we wish every woman we coached had in her hands seven days out. Not a strict plan. A clear framework. So your race day body has the energy your training has already earned.
Race week is not the week to eat less. It is the week to eat smarter.
Carbohydrates in. Hydration up. Familiar food. Trusted routines. Calm execution.
Trail Note · 01
What race-week fuelling is actually doing
Two things matter most in race week. First, your muscle and liver glycogen stores. These are your stored carbohydrate, your most efficient fuel for sustained, higher-intensity effort. Second, your hydration and electrolyte status. These influence blood volume, plasma volume, sweat response and gut comfort on the day.
During the taper, your training load goes down but your carbohydrate needs do not need to crash with it. The point is to arrive at the start line with full tanks. Not bloated, not stuffed, not heavy, but topped up.
Most women under-eat carbohydrate in race week, then wonder why their legs felt empty on race morning. Race-week fuelling solves that problem in advance.
Trail Note · 02
Carbohydrate is the headline
For endurance events, the international consensus is that carbohydrate-loading lifts intake to around 8 to 12 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight per day, for one to three days before a race lasting roughly 90 minutes or more. For most female trail runners, the practical window is the final two to three days.
In real food language, that means rice, pasta, bread, potatoes, oats, couscous, polenta, noodles, fruit, juice, smoothies and sports drinks. It does not mean cutting fat or protein down to nothing. It means raising carbohydrate up.
If your race is shorter, around an hour or less, you do not need a full load. You still want consistent fuel through the week and a normal carbohydrate-rich evening meal before the race.
Carbohydrate targets to aim toward
Most of race week: 5 to 7 g per kg body weight per day, in line with training.
Final 2 to 3 days before a long race: 8 to 12 g per kg body weight per day.
Race morning, 3 to 4 hours out: 1 to 4 g per kg body weight, in tested food.
Right before the start, if needed: small, easy carbohydrate of 20 to 40 g.
These are ranges, not rules. Body weight, training history, gut tolerance and race distance all shape what your number actually looks like. For individualised numbers, please work with a sports dietitian who knows female athletes.
Trail Note · 03
A day-by-day shape for race week
This is a framework, not a meal plan. Use it as a shape to drop your own familiar foods into.
7 to 5 days out
Eat at your usual training intake. Three full meals plus snacks. Keep protein steady, around 1.6 to 2.0 g per kg body weight per day, spread across the day. Hydrate consistently. This is not the week to test new foods, new supplements or new diets.
4 to 3 days out
Begin to lift carbohydrate intake. Bigger serves of rice, pasta, potato, bread or oats at meals. Add carbohydrate-rich snacks across the day, banana, toast, crackers, dried fruit, smoothies, sports drink in a long session. Protein stays steady. Fat does not need to spike.
2 days out
Sit at the higher end of your carbohydrate range. Lower very high fibre foods if they bother your gut, salads, raw veg, large amounts of legumes, very high bran cereals. Keep food familiar. Sip fluids consistently.
Day before
Carbohydrate-rich breakfast and lunch. Lighter, earlier dinner of mostly carbohydrate plus a small amount of lean protein and minimal fat. Avoid heavy sauces, deep fried food, anything new or anything that has ever caused gut issues. Hydrate steadily, add electrolytes if it is hot or you sweat heavily.
Race morning
Eat your tested pre-race breakfast 2 to 4 hours before the start. Familiar carbohydrate, small protein, low fibre, low fat. Sip fluids. Top up with a small, easy carbohydrate 15 to 30 minutes before the gun if you tolerate it.
Trail Note · 04
Hydration is half the story
Carbohydrate-loading needs water to do its job. Each gram of stored glycogen pulls roughly 3 grams of water into the muscle. If you load on carbohydrate without lifting fluids, you may feel heavy, dry and crampy on race day.
Aim for pale yellow urine across race week. Sip fluids steadily through the day. Add electrolytes if it is warm, if you sweat heavily, if you cramp, if you are travelling, or if your training schedule moved into more heat than usual. Sipping steadily through the day works better than large volumes at once, which can dilute sodium and leave you feeling worse.
Hydration is something you set up across days, not something you fix on the start line.
Race week is when you treat fluid and salt like part of your kit, not an afterthought.
Trail Note · 05
Fibre, fat and gut comfort
Fibre is wonderful for everyday health. It is less wonderful in the final 24 to 48 hours before a long race, when our goal is to leave the start line comfortable. In the last day or two, gently reduce very high fibre choices like raw salads, large legume servings, very high bran cereals, and very fibrous fruits and vegetables.
Fat slows digestion. A heavy, fatty meal the night before a race can sit uncomfortably for hours. Choose carbohydrate-led meals with light protein and moderate, familiar fat. Sauces you have used a hundred times. Oils your stomach knows.
If you have a sensitive gut, run a familiar low residue strategy for the last 24 hours, white rice, white pasta, white bread, peeled fruit, cooked vegetables, lean protein, low fat. This is not your everyday diet. It is your pre-race comfort strategy.
Trail Note · 06
The body shape conversation
During a carbohydrate load, the body holds more water in the muscle. You may notice a 1 to 2 kilogram shift on the scales. You may feel softer in the belly. You may feel heavier in the legs. This is not fat gain. It is fuel storage, and it is exactly what you want.
For many female athletes, this is the most uncomfortable part of race week. The body changes shape, the mirror feels different, and old food rules try to come back in. Do not let them. The version of you on race morning who is full of glycogen and well hydrated will run circles around the version who tried to be smaller.
Trust the process. Loaded muscles win races.
Her Trails coaching cue
Feeling fuller is not feeling worse. It is the body of an athlete preparing to do something hard.
Trail Note · 07
Caffeine, alcohol and the small inputs
If caffeine is part of your normal routine, keep it. Do not suddenly cut it out in race week, or suddenly increase it. Most athletes who use caffeine on race day benefit from being in their usual range across the week and timing their pre-race dose to their tested protocol.
Alcohol in the final few days before a race is worth thinking about. It affects hydration, sleep quality, glycogen storage, and how your body recovers from your last training sessions. Most female athletes feel better with very little, or none, in the last 3 to 4 days.
Race week is also not the week to begin a new supplement, new collagen protocol, new pre-workout, or new electrolyte mix. Run what you have trained with. Save the experiments for after the race.
Trail Note · 08
Travel and unfamiliar food
If you are travelling for the race, take some of your trusted food with you. Familiar breakfast items, race morning carbohydrate, a few of your tested gels or bars, a known electrolyte, your usual coffee if that is part of your morning. Do not assume the host city, the airport or the race expo will give you the right options at the right times.
Pre-book or research where you will eat your final two dinners. Pick safer, familiar foods. Avoid trying the local specialty for the first time the night before a race. The trip is the race day window, not the food adventure window.
If your travel makes hydration tricky, top up at the airport, on the plane, and as soon as you land. Dehydration on travel days can quietly steal your race the next morning.
Trail Note · 09
Race morning, simply done
Eat your tested breakfast 2 to 4 hours before the start. Familiar carbohydrate forms the base, oats, toast, rice porridge, a bagel, a banana, a smoothie, whatever you have rehearsed. Add a small amount of protein. Keep fibre, fat and dairy low if those have ever bothered you. Sip fluid.
In the final 30 minutes, you may benefit from a small, easy carbohydrate top-up if you tolerate it. A gel, a banana, a sports drink, a small handful of dried fruit. Then begin fuelling on the run early, from minute 30 to 45, in line with your trained race fuelling strategy.
If nerves are killing your appetite, prioritise carbohydrate fluid, sports drink, juice diluted with water, a smoothie. Liquid carbohydrate is still carbohydrate. Anything is better than starting hungry.
Trail Note · 10
A quick race-week checklist
Before the week begins
Confirm your race morning breakfast. Have it on hand.
Confirm your in-race fuel. Have the brand and flavour you have trained with.
Confirm your electrolyte and your bottle setup.
Stock the kitchen with rice, pasta, bread, oats, fruit and snacks you trust.
Across the week
Eat three meals plus snacks. Eat consistently.
Lift carbohydrate as the race gets closer.
Keep protein steady, around 1.6 to 2.0 g per kg body weight per day.
Hydrate steadily. Add electrolytes if heat, sweat or travel ask for it.
Avoid new foods, new supplements and new diets.
The day before
Bigger breakfast and lunch, lighter, earlier dinner.
Lower very high fibre and very high fat foods.
Sip fluids and use electrolytes through the day.
Lay out your race kit, fuel and breakfast before bed.
Race morning
Eat your tested breakfast 2 to 4 hours out.
Sip fluids steadily. Add a small electrolyte if it suits you.
Optional small carbohydrate top-up 15 to 30 minutes before the start.
Begin in-race fuelling early - hunger is a late signal, not the cue to start.
Trail Note · 11
A note on female physiology
For a lot of female athletes, race week sits inside a broader pattern of eating less than training actually needs. Low energy availability, low carbohydrate intake and inadequate protein over time affect hormonal health, bone health, immune function, recovery and performance. Race-week fuelling is only as effective as the months of fuelling that came before it.
If your race day fuelling feels stressful, restrictive, fearful, or tied up in body-shape thoughts, please reach out to a sports dietitian who works with female athletes. Race week is not the time to do that work alone. Long term, fuelling well is one of the most powerful performance moves you can make.
Specialist in your corner
Tamara Madden, Accredited Sports Dietitian
Tamara Madden is the sports dietitian who supports the Her Trails community on female athlete nutrition. For individualised fuelling, carbohydrate targets, gut training, race nutrition plans and questions specific to your hormonal health, please work with Tamara or another qualified sports dietitian directly. This article is general guidance, not personalised advice.
Trail Note · 12
The invitation
If race week has historically been the week you eat less, restrict more, and arrive on the start line low on energy and confidence, let this race be different.
Eat consistently. Lift the carbohydrate in. Sip the fluid steadily. Trust the familiar. Hold the body shape thoughts at arms length, and back the version of you who is preparing to do something brave.
The well-fuelled woman on race morning is the one your training has been waiting for.
fuel her well, and let her race
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