You've put in months of training - now it's time to bring it all together for race-day execution.
We want to avoid any radical changes at this time, so I'll leave your training taper plan to your coach and focus on several other practices to simply be your best - come race day.
RACE WEEK READY TAPER: THE TOP 4
1) Banking Sleep + Visualization
2) Recovery and Glycogen Replenishment
3) Gut/GI Health
4) Sleep Quality
1) Banking Sleep + Visualization.
Sleep delivers the most benefits for optimal recovery and race-day readiness. However, sleep quality the night before racing is always challenging, so plan to bank some quality sleep during the pre-race week. Adding some 'middle-of-the-day and before-bed visualization-relaxation techniques (try our KARMA video below) to help raise para-sympathetic nervous output will prepare for sleep and improve HRV (heart rate variability). Other methods include dabbing essential oils under the nose prior to heading to bed. More below on nutrition to aid quality sleep during race week.
2) Nutrition - Recovery and Glycogen Replenishment
We've long advocated for quality protein, Glutamine, and Exogenous Ketones to aid muscle recovery and replenish muscle glycogen. Being race-week we recommend high-quality proteins with low tax on the digestive system - the best options here are, whey protein isolate (SFuels Revival), fish, chicken, eggs. The more taxing proteins are the red meats - minimize those on race week. Adding a little more quality cooked (baked, steamed, boiled, etc.) starch (potato, rice, pumpkin, corn, etc.) with high-dose Glutamine (SFuels Revival) has been shown to further elevate Glycogen storage (muscle-liver) which is what you want going into a race. Don't over hydrate (an unfortunate popular practice) on race week in avoiding washing out electrolytes levels. Drink your normal intake of water.3) Nutrition - Gut/GI Health
Again, high-dose Glutamine and some MCT fatty acids (SFuels Revival) are specific nutrients that the Gut/GI membrane feeds on for both cellular energy and repair. I also recommend taking some quality (Whole Foods has multiple options) whole-milk-based natural yogurt (1-2 heaped tablespoons) before bed each night, which has been shown to aid sleep quality, besides providing probiotics for the gut.4) Nutrition - Sleep Quality
There's a good reason your mum gave you milk before bed. Tryptophan is an amino acid that has long been researched (1, 2) to support improved sleep quality, particularly when stress is impacting sleep. Tryptophan can be found very high in whey protein (SFuels Revival) lactalbumin. Mixing SFuels Revival with whole milk, or yogurt will provide higher doses of Tryptophan to support quality sleep. Tryptophan is also found in lamb and chicken food sources. Exogenous Ketones (25Gr doses) have also been shown to improve sleep quality and efficiency. If you're doing some short race-pace sessions during race week, SFuels, ZONE 4 will provide the highest-quality magnesium, while food sources include almonds, spinach, quinoa, and cashew nuts. Other best sleep practices include avoiding blue light (tablet/phone/PC) and high-intensity music pre-sleep and avoiding caffeine (Coffee, black tea, chocolate, etc.) and alcohol during race week.
SUMMARY: DOSAGE RACE-WEEK
1 Serve SFuels REVIVAL (Chocolate or Vanilla) each morning, post-workout.
or -
Muscle/Gut/Sleep Focus
1 Serve SFuels REVIVAL (Vanilla) 30-60minutes before bed each night
