School me on carb-loading

[andygates]

Next Sunday is the marathon run.  I hear that one carb-loads for such things, and that carb-loading isn't just a big bowl of pasta the night before.  Edumacate me!

(psst: www.justgiving.com/andygates)

Comments

[ravenbait.livejournal.com]

Cripes.

Don't understand the thinking behind depleting what's there and filing up with fresh. The liver isn't a NiCad battery! And surely there's only so much you can take on board and store?

[skean.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the science behind the depleting is not something I've gone into. I actually put it it into the same bucket as always showering and shaving before events - there might not be a good physical reason for it, but it makes me feel better. I feel sort of cleansed and pure..er...well, as pure as I can be..and can focus on only one thing. Bit woo perhaps.

The onboarding, yeah, totally - but I think it's a lot more than we usually think. Before the Ironman, I got to radiating heat like a blast furnace, which I figure means I was well loaded. But that's the only time I've managed it, and that was doing more or less the above.

[andygates.livejournal.com]

The fridge has a lovely chicky-bok for roasting, and a ton of pasta and rice in the cupboard.

I'm going to take the batteries out of my scale. :o

Why no lactose? Clear breathing pipes, or something else?

[skean.livejournal.com]

Clear pipes and less chance of stomach upsets. Arabis has been on at me to find out about the theory behind this recommendation, and I still haven't.

[carldem.livejournal.com]

I'm only guessing here, but as a dairy type farming person I think it would have to do with digestive process. Lactose is pretty slow release and takes some rather specific enzymes to digest. Also the lactose is often accompanied by milk fats, or some other crap.

[andygates.livejournal.com]

http://ow.ly/xG2Z

The boffins at Mayo Clinic go with depleting too. They also suggest that carb-loading isn't as effective for women - it's a grey area.