Justification of the meal plan…
It is vital that the client Carbohydrate loads to ensure there are sufficient glycogen stores. As this event is a marathon, it’s important to ‘fuel’ 48 hours prior to the event (Webber Nutrition, n.d.). This allows the athlete to run at an optimal pace for a lengthier duration before tiring (Burke, 2007). This meal plan consists of a meal the day before the race, however it is important the client increases their carbohydrate stores gradually, in the week leading up to this meal, to gain the full advantages. It’s imperative to decrease training levels whilst gradually increasing carbohydrate consumption, thus fuelling muscle glycogen capacity ready for the race (Burke, 2007). Glycogen diminution and reduced blood glucose are associated with fatigue during endurance events (Jeukendrup, 2004); therefore, it is crucial that one consumes large amounts of carbohydrate to avoid this. There have been assertions that female athletes don’t benefit from carbohydrate loading, but research has proved this to be a sufficient method in increasing glycogen stores and performance levels (Burke, 2007), thus this method is incorporated into this meal plan.
Research suggests athletes should consume 4g of carbohydrates for each pound of body weight (Ryan, 2012). For this client, this is roughly 500g. This is why the final meal equates to around this figure, so the client is consuming efficient amounts of carbohydrates to provide fuel for the race the next day. Kasparek, (2018) explains that carbohydrate rich foods are essential the day before a race, but heavy foods like pasta should be avoided as it takes long to digest. Instead, foods like rice, pancakes, sweet potatoes and sports drinks are suitable as they are rich in carbohydrates, digesting quickly. All the food listed previously are incorporated into this meal plan. Additionally, it is recommended that one consumes vegetables as they are a good source of carbohydrates, but not too much as they are fibrous (Kasparek, 2018). Therefore, this meal plan has used tomatoes at breakfast, peppers and onions at lunch and broccoli at dinner, ensuring they are getting sufficient carbohydrates but not too much. Fat content should be 20-25% of daily calories (Podium Runner, 2017), therefore this meal plan consists of 24.6% fat, meeting the guidelines. Guidelines state that a marathon runner should consume 0.8 grams of protein per pound of body weight, which for this client is 101.6g; this meal plan consists of 102g of protein, closely in line with the guidance (Gardner, 2019).
The day before a marathon, calorie intake should be 19-24 calories per each pound of body weight (Runrocknroll, 2016). For this client, that is a range of 2414kcal to 3048kcal, therefore this meal plan specifically contains 2769kcal, in line with the guidance.
