Whether you’re hiking to the summit of Mount Whitney, kicking up some dirt in a 24-hour mountain bike relay race, conquering mile after mile in an ultra-marathon or combining several disciplines over several hundred miles of an adventure race course, reaching the peak with respect to performance requires careful nutrition planning. In this article, I offer you a “nutrition essentials timeline” as you prepare for your next big adventure.

Three Days and Counting… 

Gearing up for events involving serious endurance requires months and months of training, which means muscle glycogen stores are partially depleted as you enter the taper stage of your training program. If you compare it to the gas in your car’s tank, the gauge would fall in the 50-75 percent full range depending on training volume and overall adequacy of training nutrition. The purpose of a training taper, in coordination with a three-day carbohydrate-loading protocol, is to allow for glycogen or carbohydrate fuel tanks to become saturated before embarking on an adventure. 

In order to saturate glycogen stores and protect against performance decline associated with “hitting the wall” or depletion of glycogen stores, you should aim at consuming 4-5 grams of carbohydrate per pound of lean body weight (about 80 percent of total calories) in the 24-72 hours prior to embarking on your trip.

For reference, outside of “warrior” training days where carbohydrate intake may be very similar to carbo-loading protocols, athletes will typically eat 55-60 percent of their calories in the form of carbohydrate so loading represents a 20-25 percent increase in dietary carbohydrate load. This can be facilitated by including such foods as fruit smoothies, granola, yogurt, oatmeal, bananas, pasta with tomato sauce, quinoa, sweet potato, pretzels, beans, bagels and energy bars.   

Two Hours and Counting…

Upon an early wake-up call, liver glycogen stores will be partially or fully depleted (a.k.a. the “bonk”) triggering such symptoms as fatigue, headaches and dizziness — hardly a recipe for peak performance. To bring blood sugars to peak, aim at consuming a 400-900 calorie carbohydrate-focused meal 2-3 hours prior to starting.

A small amount of protein in this meal will help protect blood sugars from crashing prematurely. Aim at about one gram of protein for every 4-7 grams of carbohydrate with no more than three grams of fat for every 100 calories consumed. In addition, consuming a little bit of salt (300-600 milligrams) along with a liter of fluid in the 1-2 hours prior to starting will help stave off muscle cramps.