Kelsey HigginsonSports Nutrition Coach and Founder at Clutch Day Coaching

Track meet day nutrition

21 May 2026 · 1 min

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1:06

In this instructional monologue, a coach outlines a detailed nutrition and hydration plan for a track athlete who recently set a meet record with a 51.95 time. The protocol is organized by time before the race: four hours prior the athlete consumes a full meal of rice, chicken, and fruit to provide balanced carbohydrates and protein; two hours prior a high‑carb snack of an apple and a granola bar tops off energy stores; one hour prior the focus shifts to sipping electrolytes while maintaining fluid intake throughout the day to ensure proper hydration. For athletes competing in multiple events, the coach introduces a "1:1 rule"—the athlete must ingest one gram of carbohydrate for each minute between races (e.g., 60 g for a 60‑minute gap, roughly half a bagel plus a banana). The overall message emphasizes strategic timing of macronutrients and electrolytes to optimize performance on race day.

Chapters

My track athlete just ran a 51:95 and broke the meet record, and this is the nutrition protocol I have him following on his race days. This nutrition plan starts 4 hours before his race. If his race is in the evening, then obviously you gotta fuel in the morning and stuff too, but we're focusing in 4 hours before race time, not warm-up time, race time. So 4 hours before his race, he's gonna have a full meal. This is gonna look like rice, some chicken on the side, and some fruit to give him some extra carbohydrates. 2 hours before, he's going to top off his energy stores for the high-carb snacks. So for him, this would look like an apple with a granola bar. And then 1 hour before, this is when we want him to start sipping on the electrolytes. He's going to be drinking fluids all day long, but we want to make sure that we intentionally drink electrolytes before our meet, before our race, so that they stay adequately hydrated and they can actually use the water that's going into their body. Now, if he has multiple events that day and has something after the 400, then we have him following the 1:1 rule. This means that for every minute in between his race, he has to have 1 gram of carbs. So let's say that there's 60 minutes in between his race 1 and his race 2. That means he needs about 60 grams of carbohydrates, which would be the equivalent of half a bagel and a banana. Go crush it on your next meat day.