Nutrition Tweaks to Propel Your Race Day Performance

Ever had a race that felt like it fell apart… and deep down, you knew it wasn’t your fitness? I’ve been there. So have plenty of my athletes. More often than not, the culprit isn’t your training plan—it’s your nutrition plan.

Race day nutrition doesn’t have to be perfect to be powerful. Small, smart adjustments can make all the difference—especially if you're dealing with stomach issues, bonking mid-bike, or fading on the run. The goal here isn’t to give you a brand-new fueling strategy. It’s to offer a few key nutrition tweaks you can implement right away—ones that actually move the needle on your performance.

Start with the Gut: Training it is Non-Negotiable

Most triathletes think nutrition is about products. In reality? It’s about practice.

Your gut needs to be trained just like your legs and lungs. If you’re saving your full fueling strategy for race day—big breakfast, mid-race gels, electrolyte-heavy fluids—you’re asking your body to perform under conditions it hasn’t rehearsed. That’s risky.

What works best? Mimic race fueling in key training sessions. Practice your pre-race breakfast (down to the brand of oats or toast), your gel timing, and your fluid intake. Train your gut to absorb and process calories at race intensity, not just on your long easy days.

Pro Tip: Start fueling early. If you’re not eating until 45 minutes into the bike leg, you’re already behind.

Carb Loading: Less Pasta, More Precision

We’ve all seen the classic pre-race pasta dinner. But real carb-loading starts earlier—and is way more nuanced than just eating spaghetti the night before.

Carb-loading isn’t about stuffing yourself with starch. It’s about increasing glycogen stores while keeping digestion smooth. I often suggest ramping up carbohydrate intake 2–3 days before your race, but with familiar foods. Focus on easily digestible carbs—rice, oats, bananas, white potatoes—rather than rich sauces or heavy bread.

Watch your fiber, too. Too much can lead to GI distress on race morning. That’s one of the tweaks that helped a recent athlete of mine go from constant race-day stomach issues to a clean, confident half Ironman finish.

Related reading: Hydration Strategies for Early Season Races

Dial in Breakfast Timing and Composition

Your race-day breakfast sets the tone—but timing is everything. I usually recommend eating 2.5 to 3 hours before your start time. That gives your body time to digest, stabilize blood sugar, and avoid that heavy, sluggish feeling at the start line.

What’s on the plate? Aim for 1-2g of carbs per kg of bodyweight, moderate protein, and low fat/fiber. Think: toast with peanut butter, a banana, and a sports drink. Or a bowl of oatmeal with honey and a hard-boiled egg on the side.

The key here is repetition. Practice this breakfast on big training days until it feels automatic. Race morning should feel familiar—not experimental.

Hydration Isn’t Just About Water

This one’s huge—and often overlooked. Many triathletes drink plenty of water leading into race day, but forget to manage electrolytes. That’s a problem, especially in longer races or warmer temps.

Sodium plays a critical role in fluid retention and muscle function. Without enough, you risk cramping or GI issues. I’ve had athletes make one simple change—adding sodium tabs or a pre-race electrolyte drink—and report night-and-day performance boosts.

The other piece? Avoid overhydrating. If you’re peeing every 30 minutes the morning of your race, you might be overdoing it. Hydration is about balance, not volume.

Check your sweat rate and replace accordingly. Precision Hydration and Gatorade Sports Science offer great calculators and tools to help here.

Race Fuel Timing: Don’t Wing It

You’d be surprised how many athletes “listen to their body” on race day—until that body starts bonking. Your fueling strategy should be based on time and effort, not just hunger cues.

As a general rule, I recommend 60–90g of carbs per hour for long-course racing, with steady intake every 15–20 minutes. Shorter races require less, but the timing principle still applies: feed early, feed often.

And don’t forget the run. Athletes often do well on the bike, then forget to fuel during the run because it’s harder to stomach. Gels, chews, and electrolyte fluids in smaller, more frequent doses can help.

Also read: The Final Countdown: Last-Minute Prep for Your First Spring Race

Use Race Day to Refine, Not Redesign

A key mistake I see? Athletes treating race day as a testing lab. It’s not. Try new things in training, not in the heat of competition.

That said, early season races can be a good place to practice elements of your fueling strategy in real-time. Use shorter races to test gel flavors, breakfast timing, or different sports drinks. But only change one thing at a time. That’s the only way you’ll know what worked.

After every race, debrief your nutrition: What did you take in? When? How did it feel? Write it down. The better you track your nutrition, the easier it becomes to personalize your plan for every race moving forward.

You don’t need a complete nutrition overhaul to see a major difference on race day. Sometimes, it’s the small, overlooked tweaks—hydrating smarter, practicing breakfast, fine-tuning your carb timing—that elevate your performance more than any extra training block ever could.

If your last race left you wondering, “What went wrong?”—it might be time to look at your fueling strategy, not your fitness. And if you’re looking to get it dialed in? Start now. Practice in training, plan ahead, and trust the process. The fastest athletes aren’t just the fittest. They’re the best fueled.

Want a quick reference? Download our Race Day Nutrition Cheat Sheet.