Pre-Race Pasta Dinner Ideas

If you're new to racing you might be wondering what types of food to eat before the big day. Preparing your body for heavy activity is critical. It improves your chances of success, and keeps you healthy. Most athletes have their own favorite foods, and among them pasta features heavily. Pasta offers generous amounts of carbohydrates, which feed your muscles and slowly release energy as you need it most.

  1. Pasta Soup

    • Mix cooked pasta with vegetable bullion and some fresh vegetables. The liquid content of the soup helps with your hydration levels. The salt in the bullion helps your body retain water better. Losing just 1 percent of body fluids reduces your racing performance by 10 percent.

    Vegetarian Pasta Casserole

    • Begin with al dente whole wheat noodles. Mix them with a can of cream soup. Toss with peas and light spices and cook. You want about 55 percent carbohydrates in your diet before a race. This dish is fast, easy, and warms up readily if you have leftovers. For even more carb content, sprinkle buttered breadcrumbs on the top.

    Low-Protein Pasta Tosses

    • For the most part you want to avoid heavy proteins before a race. So when mixing your noodles into a recipe, combine them with things like thigh meat from chicken, with only 10 g of protein. Other options include one slice of crumbled bacon with 3 g protein, a hard-boiled egg with 6 g of protein, and a sprinkling of mozzarella cheese with 6 g of protein.

    High-Energy Recipes

    • Buy vegetable-based noodles, or mix your favorite pasta with high-energy foods. Good pre-race choices include spinach, asparagus, broccoli and sprouts. Alternatively, make some macaroni and toss cooked lentils into it with a little soy sauce and other favorite seasonings for energy support that's rich in potassium.