The night before matters more than breakfast
A long hike draws on glycogen stored in your muscles and liver, and that tank is filled over 24 to 48 hours, not in one meal. The night before, eat a normal dinner with a solid portion of rice, pasta or potatoes plus some protein.
Do not try a new restaurant or a huge meal. A 900-calorie dinner you are used to beats a 1,500-calorie feast that keeps you up at 2 a.m. An unfamiliar heavy dinner before a 30-kilometer day tends to show up on the first climb.
Breakfast: 60 to 90 minutes out
Eat something you have eaten before a workout. Oatmeal with peanut butter, two eggs on toast, or a bagel with cream cheese all work. Aim for roughly 400 to 600 calories and 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate.
If you cannot eat solids early, a smoothie or a bowl of yogurt with granola is fine. The point is to arrive at the trailhead with fuel in the tank rather than running on coffee.
The 30-minute snack
Right before you start walking, eat 100 to 200 calories of easy carbohydrate. A banana, half a granola bar, or a handful of dried fruit is enough. This tops off blood sugar without sitting heavy.
Skip the heavy protein shake at this point. Protein is slow to digest, and a full stomach on the first climb is uncomfortable.
Caffeine and water
One cup of coffee is fine and can help with the early climb. Three cups plus a pre-workout drink is not, especially if you are already anxious about the route. Caffeine also has a mild diuretic effect, so drink water alongside it.
Start the day hydrated but do not overdrink. Two glasses of water with breakfast and a full bottle at the trailhead is a reasonable target. Drinking a liter right before you start just makes you stop at the first bush.
What to avoid
Avoid heavy fried food, very high fat meals, and anything with a lot of fiber right before a hard climb. They sit in your stomach and pull blood away from your legs. A greasy breakfast burrito is a great idea until the second switchback.
Also skip alcohol the night before. It interrupts sleep and dehydrates you, and the effect on a long climb is noticeable.
- Fried food and heavy cream sauces
- Very spicy food if you are not used to it
- More than 2 cups of coffee
- Alcohol the night before
- A brand-new energy product on the trail
A worked example
For an 8-hour, 18-kilometer hike with 900 meters of gain, a common plan is 500 calories at breakfast, 150 before the start, and then 250 to 300 calories every 90 minutes on the trail. That lands somewhere between 2,000 and 3,000 calories across the day. Actual burn depends on body size, pack weight and pace, so treat the range as a starting point and adjust.
Write the plan on your phone the night before. Deciding what to eat when you are tired and halfway up a ridge is a decision you will make badly.
