TRACKDAY NUTRITION – FUEL FOR THE MIND AND BODY
Y ou wouldn’t throw diesel into your pride and j oy would you? N o? Well don’t fill yourself with rubbish then!
O kay, just so we’re clear… I’m not a super craz y nutritionist and I have no qualifications or training in sports nutrition – but this works for me, and will for most of you lot so give it a little go. I should point out that I’m writing this for trackday enthusiasts who want to feel fresh and full of energy on the day, so use this as a guide and adjust to suit your own diet and taste buds…
■ The night before: G ive yourself a head start by laying off the beer for just one evening, save it for the following night when you can tell everyone down the pub how fast you were. Eat a high carb meal like pasta with Bolognese or chicken (ditch the garlic bread) and drink plenty of water, it’s good to start the next day almost hydrated. D on’t feel bad for eating loads of carbs the night before, riding on track is very physical and most of us will put in 100% effort for all seven of the 2 0 minute sessions.
■ Breakfast: No doubt you’ll get up at 4am and have a two-hour drive ahead, with maybe a Starbucks stop to pick you up, but still keep going with the water – even more so if you’re a coffee drinker. Breakfast is probably the easiest of the meals to source though, either at a motorway service station or from the circuit café when you arrive. So many of the UK tracks offer good quality meals now, so choose from porridge with dried fruit and or honey, maybe some muesli followed by fresh fruit, or if you really have to go for the fry up, scrap the toast and limit it to bacon, eggs, tomatoes and mushrooms. That combo should take the edge off your craving.
■ SnacksG: r az ing on good quality snacks will prevent fatigue and stop you from feeling ravenous at lunch time. Mars, Snickers, Skittles, H aribo… these are not healthy snacks, just have some willpower and avoid these addictive sweets for a few more hours. Almost all service stations have a healthy food section, so go for the P aleo snack option, and if it wasn’t available to a caveman, don’t eat it. Stock up on dried fruit, nuts and seeds, push the boat out and grab a few granola bars and definitely include fresh fruit for your day at the track, try to mix it up as well, eating six bars of the same granola and a bunch of bananas can’t be good for the digestive system and will probably make your stomach a bit dodgy…
■ Lunch: By now you should’ve had four 2 0 minute track sessions and that’s a lot of riding, mental effort and decision making – not to mention the fact you’ve been awake a few hours more than normal. So there’s every chance you will just want the biggest meal deal available, but a large stodgy meal just leads to you feeling full and very tired. D o your best to follow the above advice and you should only want a light snack when lunchtime comes around. Ideally you should prepare your own healthy lunch, but if the circuit café is offering cooked chicken with chips, then swap the chips for salad or even steamed veg, just avoid bread, pastry and too much pasta. Avoid the food coma!
■ Fluids: K eep sipping water and rehydration fluids throughout the day, as you should drink between three and five litres depending on the temperature. If you don’t start drinking early in the day, you’ll become dehydrated and that has a big effect on your concentration, vision and ultimately your ability to control a bike at speed. There’s some nice rehydration drinks on the market now, I’ve used SIS and SG UT which has been developed for MX racers and they work wonders.
And go have fun! Even if you can improve on one aspect of nutrition at a time like drinking more water, every little bit will add up to helping you go quicker. And don’t forget, once you’ve finished and gone faster, then you can reward yourself!