A 10k carb load is very different than a marathon carb loading (which I totally just realized I never posted! I will do that this week. Silly me). You don't need as much as it's a much shorter race.however it is still important to carb load to tap out your glycogen stores.
I've never really carbloaded before a 10k before so I thought I would see how it would work. And boy did it work-I PRed the race!
All week I made sure to eat semi-clean (my jack in the box meal not counting but it was an insane craving I had!) and make sure I had a good amount of protein and fruit as well as stretching and relaxing.
Personally, I have been focusing on how to correctly carbload as in the olden days, I would just eat a lot of pasta the night before, which caused me to feel a bit sluggish the next morning.
After consulting Mark's Daily Apple and Runner's World, All you need for carb loading is an extra serving or two of carbs at each meals for 3-4 days before the event. I also learned in the Tinkerbell Race Guide that carbs eaten need to be consumed about 12 hours before race start time.
Carb loading can take any form: vegetables, root vegetables, potatoes, rice, quinoa, couscous, bread, pasta, tortillas, etc.
FRIDAY
Breakfast-Ralph and I went out for breakfast at Portos and it was great. We both got the breakfast special with an omelet with pepper jack cheese, potatoes and peppers, black beans and amazing pico. I also had a horchata coffee.
Lunch-I was pretty full from breakfast but wanted to eat before leaving. I had leftover gluten free pasta (so good!). On the drive over I had vanilla yogurt and a banana.
Snack-all the ones they gave us in the goody bag. A kind bar, amazing chips, dole mango pieces and dole strawberries. And some goldfish I brought. I also had 5 cups of tea! So good (don't worry-it was decaffinated).
Dinner- fried mozzarella sticks, bread and gluten free pasta in alla vodka sauce. And a nice glass of wine to get me sleepy :)
SATURDAY
pre race- piece of bread with peanut butter and a banana and English breakfast tea.
After party- so much! Burrito, chips, so many things of fresh juice, coffee, pasteries, lemonade, oranges, banana, etc
Lunch- leftover pasta, more oranges and fruit, a glass of wine, avocado yogurt dip and chips,
Dinner- frisée, fennel and crockpot chicken tikka masala
Sunday-Disneyland celebration! Ice cream sandwich, meatloaf with veggies, and mashed potatoes, and popcorn!
How do you carb load for a 10k?