Race week is about arriving at the start line rested, fully fueled and well hydrated, not about trying anything new. Follow this day-by-day checklist to get your nutrition right for any event lasting 90 minutes or more.
Caffeine is one of the few supplements with strong evidence for improving endurance performance. A dose of about 3–6 mg per kg of body weight, taken around 60 minutes before exercise, can make hard efforts feel easier and help you sustain pace for longer.
Good recovery comes down to three Rs: rehydrate, refuel and repair. After a hard or long session, replace about 125–150% of the fluid you lost, take in carbohydrate to restore glycogen, and eat 20–40 g of protein to support muscle repair.
The best fuel format is the one you can carry, stomach and take on reliably at race pace. Most athletes do best with a mix: drinks for fluid and electrolytes, gels or chews for concentrated carbs, and real food for longer, slower efforts.
There's no single cause of exercise-associated muscle cramps. The evidence points to two main theories, neuromuscular fatigue and fluid-electrolyte imbalance, and for many athletes both probably play a part.
Heat is one of the biggest performance killers in endurance sport, but your body can adapt. About 10–14 days of training in hot conditions, combined with a smart hydration plan, can significantly improve how you perform when temperatures soar.
Your gut is trainable, just like your legs and lungs. By gradually increasing how much carbohydrate and fluid you take in during training, you can improve absorption and cut the risk of stomach problems on race day.
Exercise-associated hyponatremia happens when blood sodium falls below normal (under 135 mmol/L), most often because an athlete drinks far more fluid than they sweat out. It's rare, but it can be serious, and it's largely preventable.
Starting a race well hydrated is one of the easiest performance gains available. Drinking a stronger electrolyte drink in the hours before you start helps your body absorb and hold onto more fluid than plain water does.
Sodium is the main electrolyte you lose in sweat, and the amount varies more than tenfold between athletes, from around 200 mg to over 2,000 mg per litre. Knowing where you sit on that spectrum...
For most endurance events, aim for 30–60 g of carbohydrate per hour for efforts of 1–2.5 hours, and 60–90 g per hour for anything longer. Some well-trained athletes now push to 100–120 g per hour, but only after deliberate gut training.
There is no single right amount. Most endurance athletes lose between 0.5 and 2 litres of sweat per hour, and the best plan is one built around your own sweat rate, not a generic "drink 500 ml an hour" rule.