An athlete dropped her 5K time from 18:05 to 17:30 in one season by overhauling nutrition. The plan: 3-4 meals plus 2-3 snacks daily, plus a race-day routine of a full meal 4 hours before, high-carb snack and beetroot juice 2 hours out, and 500mg sodium with run-gum 1 hour before.
My athlete's 5K went from an 18:05 to a 17:30 in one season, and here's how we did it. Obviously, we were dialing in her nutrition. She was having 3 to 4 meals a day, 2 to 3 snacks a day, eating before training, eating after training, making sure that her body was fueled. And on race day, we did what was called our 4-2-1-0 routine, where 4 hours before, she was eating a full meal. 2 hours before, she was eating a high-carb snack and taking a beetroot juice shot. 1 hour before, she was having 16 ounces of fluids with 500 milligrams of sodium and starting to take her run gum. And then 30 minutes before, She took 2 more run gums to then go race.
