I've read in a few threads the mention of eating pasta the night before the DL Half Marathon. This is going to be my first running event and I'd assumed that eating heavy foods before a long run would be bad. My plan was to have a salad for dinner and then go to bed early. Should I change my plan and have pasta the night before the Half Marathon? Wont the carbohydrates in the pasta give me energy and in turn keep me awake when I'll need to get some sleep?

Thanks.
Animalia

My daughter's varsity swim team has pasta parties the night before a meet. They go to someone's house and have spaghetti, lasagna, noodles, etc. It seems to work for them.

I've read in a few threads the mention of eating pasta the night before the DL Half Marathon. This is going to be my first running event and I'd assumed that eating heavy foods before a long run would be bad. My plan was to have a salad for dinner and then go to bed early. Should I change my plan and have pasta the night before the Half Marathon? Wont the carbohydrates in the pasta give me energy and in turn keep me awake when I'll need to get some sleep?

Thanks.
Animalia

You don't want pasta with heavy sauce or lots of meatballs. THAT will make things bad for you. But what you will want for a race this long is a good store of carbohydrates, so you'll need the pasta. I've heard that the "proper" way to carbo load is really to have no carbs for 5 days, then load up for 2 days right before the race too, but unless you're an elite athlete, I think the day before will be fine.

The general wisdom is that you need your best sleep two nights before the race, not necessarily the night before. So, you'd want your best sleep on Friday night. I remember getting only 3 hours of sleep or so before my Ironman, mostly due to nerves. I still finished that race. You'll be fine. Just get some caffeine Sunday morning before the race (but try to abstain from caffeine during the week)

Anyone up for a MP carbo load meet the night before?

In high school, we had large pasta lunches on game days. Lunch at noon, game at 7:00. The key is to eat a bunch of carbs for your last major meal before the event, but long enough before that it is mostly out of your stomach at the start of the event.

Thanks for the words of wisdom. I underestimated the need to carbo load for an event like this. It looks like I'll be having spaghetti at Redd Rockets which is great because it's a lot more fun to eat than a salad. I'll just tell the CM to go light on the sauce and hold the meatballs. I'll also be sure to eat earlier than usual for dinner so that it's not sitting on my stomach too long. I'm also glad to hear that the best time for sleep will be Friday night. I'll be home in my own bed that night. I'll still try to hit the hay early Saturday but I'll be in a hotel bed and probably way to excited about the run the next morning to get a good nights sleep.

Thanks again for the advise.