Why do track runners eat a pasta dinner the night before the race?

Answer 1

Muscles use the sugar glucose as a major energy source. In the body, we store glucose as a polymer called glycogen, both in the muscle and in the liver. It is thought that eating a lot of starch, which is composed of glucose, will make the body store the maximal amount of glycogen ("carbohydrate loading"). Thus, when it comes time to run, the body will draw on a large glycogen reserve. This strategy is usually used by long distance runners, who need a large glycogen reserve. Eventually, the glycogen reserve becomes depleted, and the body switches from using glucose to using fatty acids from fat. This switchover can happen during a marathon race.

This strategy is very outdated. Although the idea is correct...it is achieved much more efficiently by eating whole wheat (whole bread, cereal, granola bar) the morning of the race you are about to partake in. Pasta the night before....doesn't really make sense...you digest it before the morning run and it always is accompanied by fat.