Carbo Loading

For reasons not entirely clear to me at the moment, I decided to go with the old, outdated carbo-loading technique of 3 days of carb depletion, followed by 3 days of carb loading. I realize that most sane people have deemed this method unneccessary, but I really wanted to go old school with this one, so I figured I would see if I noticed any difference. My main assumption in trying this out, is that regardless of what I do on Monday-Wednesday of this week, with a solid carbohydrate loading from Thursday - Saturday, I should be no worse off than if I just went with my normal pre-race routine.

In doing some research on this, the main drawbacks that I've read is that the depletion stage is just kind of tough on your body. After 10 months of focusing on carbs, it's very difficult to just give them up cold turkey. Extremely difficult actually. First there is just the practical problem that I don't really no how to do the low-carb thing. I don't know how to shop low-carb, I don't know how to cook low-carb, and ultimately, I don't know how to eat low-carb. The second problem is more of a functional issue. My body wants carbs. Bad. On Monday, this whole depletion thing was fun. On Tuesday it started to become a chore. I was hungry all the time and wanted to eat everything in sight, but I couldn't. Today, is worse than yesterday. It doesn't matter what I eat, I'm still hungry. Of course, it's not like I'm eating all that much. I don't even know how.

So last night in a desperate attempt to trick my body into thinking I was eating pasta, I bought some spaghetti squash and prepared it just the way I would regular pasta. It was OK, but really it wasn't the same. It made me feel full for, oh about 30 minutes, but soon enough the stomach started growling. I spent the rest of the night gazing into the refrigerator and the cupboard looking for something else low-carb I could eat. I didn’t find it. Today is more of the same. The plan for tomorrow is to get in an easy 9 mile run in the morning and then tear into the carbs. I can't wait.

Now I realize some people are going to think I'm foolish for experimenting with my body so close to race day. I fully agree with you. At best, this stunt will allow for a few more calories of glycogen stored in the muscles on race day. At worst, I'll collapse tomorrow during my run and never be heard from again. The reality is probably that it will have zero effect, but at least I can say I tried it and it was or wasn't worth the headaches. I'll let you know. One more day...thank God.

The one advantage that I have noticed this week is that while I do feel hungry all the time, I don't feel sluggish and bloated like I usually do during the last week of the taper. I'm guessing it's because of the goofy diet. As an added bonus, the running, despite the depleted glycogen levels, has been surprisingly good this week. I've been trying to spend some time on each run at race pace and things feel comfortable. The money's in the bank. It's time to cash that check.

Well, actually, it's time to start obsessing about the weather, but that's another blog entry entirely.