Lightweight Eats

Weigh-ins don't really happen in the 24-hours before a weigh-in. Weigh-ins happen in the weeks and months that lead up to race day. As I've mentioned before, I believe that staying within a few pounds of goal weight is super important for a lot of reasons.

For this particular race, my goal weight was between 56.5 and 57 kg. (The exact weight is determined a few hours before weigh-in and depends on where we all are.) In the weeks approaching the race, my morning weight was sitting at around 57.5 kg.

In the days before the weigh-in, my morning weight was 57.3 kg—right on target.

12PM: Lunch. I eat bread with hummus, beets and cucumbers. I follow this up with some fruit. I also drink plenty of water with lunch, making sure I'm fully hydrated today, so I'm realistic about my weight tomorrow.

1PM: We hang out and relax as a group. As the afternoon wears on, we start talking more and more about all the foods we want to be eating post-weigh-in. Mostly, we're just excited to spend a week or two not thinking about what we're eating.

4PM: I'm starting to get a little bit hungry after lunch. As we get ready for our last practice before the race, I grab a quick bite: a small PB&J with some full fat soy milk.

5:30PM: Last training session. We go out for a short row--about 5000 meters of easy time in the boat. After the row, I weigh myself in at 57.9kg and then drink a full water bottle. We make the long drive home.

7:30PM: Dinner. I make myself a salad with cucumber, carrots, avocado, lettuce, hummus and eat a cob of corn. Previously, I've skipped dinner out of nerves and suffer from weakness the next day. This time, I force myself to eat dinner. (Sneak peak: Great choice, I was super happy about this the next day.)

8PM: I drink about a liter of water in the hours before bed. I pee several times in the next few hours.

10PM: Bed-time.


8AM: Wake-up time. I try to sleep in as much as possible. More sleeping means less eating. We all hop on the scale. I'm 56.9 kg, so I have a small breakfast: a Clif bar and some walnuts--foods that are light but calorie-dense. I also get dressed in some warmer clothes, so my body is warm and ready to sweat.

9AM: I spend some time packing both my clothes and my food for the day (and trying not to eat it yet!) I make sure to pack plenty of water and enough food for both right after weigh-in and after the race. I have another weigh-in later in the week, though, so I can't pack too much food.

10AM: We arrive at the course, and check our weights. Our average is about 57.5kg, or 1.1 pounds over the average. To make weight, we will sweat out some water weight. (Starting hydrated is super important for this.) We each spend about 20 minutes either running or erging in our long sleeve shirts and long pants and re-check weight.

I want to decrease the amount of time I spend sweating so I wear a bit more clothing than I'd normally wear. I still need to keep some mental tenacity for the race, though, so I stop at very mild discomfort.

11AM: We are about 0.1kg over the average. My body continues to sweat a bit in the heat of the day. I keep my longs on until I feel my sweat cease and I cool down. Otherwise, we just hang out in the shade waiting for go time.

12PM: Weigh-in. We all step on the practice scale one last time, spit once outside for good luck, remove any jewelry, hair ties, watches, socks, etc. and head to the scale. Success!

Once the weights have been confirmed, we re-fuel. I drink two bottles of water, one with electrolytes added, and eat: a Clif bar, a small cup of oatmeal, a banana, peanut butter on a tortilla and a pear. It's maybe a bit too much food, but not quite enough water. I make a mental note to improve this for the next weigh-in.

2PM: Race-time. I feel strong, hydrated and not overly full. Overall, I'm feeling like I'd be comfortable eating a bit more and sweating a bit more, but I was also very happy with the experience. I will make some mental notes of other things to try for my next weigh-in.

Things I liked: focusing on re-hydrating post weigh-in, eating oatmeal, staying fully hydrated the day before, eating dinner
Things I didn't like: eating quite that much food after the weigh-in, not sure I drank quite enough liquids between weigh-in and race, maybe could have eaten a bit more in the morning and/or sipped water, spent too much energy thinking about weight and not enough thinking about racing