We’ve all heard that “breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” But for endurance athletes, it’s even more crucial. When your race lasts for hours and your energy demands are insanely high, starting the race properly fueled can make all the difference.
But that leads to the question, what should you eat for your race-day breakfast? We break it down here, including the science of why breakfast matters, timing breakfast before a race, and 14 race-day breakfast ideas for performance.
Why Breakfast Matters for Endurance Performance
Endurance performance relies heavily on glycogen—the stored form of carbohydrates in the body. Assuming that you’ve done proper carb loading before the race, your muscle glycogen should be full.
However, there’s a problem: Your liver glycogen will be depleted when you wake up.
During sleep, your body burns liver glycogen to maintain blood sugar levels. If you don’t refill these stores, your race performance could take a hit.
There’s a lot of research backing this up. For example, a review published in the Nutrients journal found that eating breakfast consistently enhanced endurance performance in morning exercise sessions lasting over 60 minutes, regardless of the intensity. Breakfast also showed positive effects on afternoon and evening aerobic time trial performance.
Confused about glycogen? Read our detailed Guide to Carbohydrates.
What Makes a Good Race-Day Breakfast?
Your race-day breakfast should give you energy but without causing unwanted side effects like stomach pain or nausea. For this to happen, your breakfast should have these features:
1. High in Glucose (Fast Carbohydrates)
Glucose is the body’s preferred source of fuel because it’s rapidly absorbed and converted into energy. Because of this, foods rich in glucose are often called "fast" carbohydrates. By contrast, "slow" carbohydrates take longer to break down and won’t give you the immediate energy you need for race day.
Fast carbohydrates are also important for fueling during the race. Read more in our Fueling Guide.
Good Sources: White bread, white rice, potatoes (without the skins), sugary foods, candy, honey
2. Contain Some Fructose
There is a limit to how much glucose the body can absorb at once. If you try to consume a huge amount of glucose-rich foods for breakfast, you risk stomach discomfort during the race.
However, fructose (another simple carbohydrate) uses a different transport system in the gut. By adding a source of fructose to your race-day breakfast, you’ll be able to absorb more carbohydrates without causing gut distress.
Dr. Tim Podlogar’s research backs this up: Adding fructose to a carbohydrate-rich breakfast improved cycling endurance in trained cyclists.
Good Sources: Fruit syrups, jam, fruit juice, fructose powder
3. Low in Fiber
While it’s important for overall health, fiber is a bad idea before a race. It adds bulk to the digestion tract, slows digestion, and can cause bloating or an urgent need for the bathroom—not exactly what you want mid-race!
Avoid: Whole grains, legumes, high-fiber fruits and vegetables
4. Low in Fat
Fat slows gastric emptying and digestion, which means your breakfast stays in your stomach longer. This can cause a heavy feeling or even make you nauseous during the race.
Avoid: Fried foods, full-fat dairy, nut butters
Oats Are NOT a Good Race-Day Breakfast!
Oatmeal is often mentioned as a race-day breakfast, but it’s actually a bad choice for endurance athletes. Oats are very high in fiber, which can lead to GI distress.
Yes, some athletes and coaches still swear by oatmeal. But, considering that upwards of 90% of endurance athletes experience GI symptoms during exercise, it’s best to avoid oatmeal.
Should Your Race-Day Breakfast Have Protein?
Generally, you should not have protein in your race-day breakfast. Like fat and fiber, protein slows digestion. A high-protein breakfast can delay carbohydrate absorption and cause GI discomfort—which is why most endurance athletes avoid protein before a race.
However, there’s an exception:
Dr. Tim Podlogar says that adding some protein to your breakfast is desirable if you have a late start time (e.g., noon or later). The protein can help preserve muscle mass and prevent excessive muscle breakdown. However, you’ll want to stick to proteins which are easy to digest.
Examples: Egg whites, whey isolate, lean turkey, peanut butter.
Timing Your Race-Day Breakfast
The best time to eat your race-day breakfast is 2-4 hours before the start time.
This gives your body plenty of time to digest the food, replenish glycogen, and stabilize blood sugar without feeling too full. Complete digestion is particularly important before high-impact sports like running since you don’t want any solids bouncing around inside your stomach and causing discomfort.
Breakfast and Early Start Times
A 2-4 hour timeline isn’t really feasible when you’ve got an early start time. No, there’s no need to wake yourself up insanely early to eat breakfast. Instead, follow this guideline:
Consume 1 g of fast carbohydrates per kg of body weight per hour before the race.
Example: If you weigh 65 kg and only have 1 hour before the race, eat 65 g of fast carbs. If you have 2 hours, eat 130 g split over 2 hours.
Race-Day Breakfast Ideas
Need ideas? Here are 14 race-day breakfast ideas which are easy but effective for endurance performance.
Classic Race-Day Breakfast Options
1. White Bread & Jam – Any type of white bread works (bagels, baguettes, challah, focaccia). Remember to choose jams that don’t have fiber!
2. White Rice with Fructose – This is Dr. Tim Podlogar’s go-to breakfast for race days. He sprinkles a bit of fructose powder on top of the cooked rice, but you could also add fruit syrup or jam instead.
3. Low-Fiber Cereal with Apple Juice – Breakfast cereals like Cornflakes are rich in fast carbohydrates but still low in fat and fiber. Eating them with clear apple or grape juice instead of milk, as this will give you a source of fructose. If you really want to eat your cereal with milk, opt for low-fat, lactose-free milk as this is least likely to cause digestion issues.
4. Semolina Porridge – Semolina is low-fiber so is a great alternative to oatmeal. Add fructose powder or jam on top.
5. Pancakes with Jam – Just we careful about restaurant pancakes. They are sometimes loaded with fat. It’s better to make your own with low-fat milk and minimal oil.
Portable Options for Breakfast at the Start Line
6. Energy Gel or Sports Drink – These are great for when you don’t have time for a real meal. A lot of athletes will also have a gel or drink right before the race starts so the energy hits them at the start. Nduranz Nrgy Gels 45 contain 45 g of glucose and fructose in a 1:0.8 ratio for optimal absorption.
7. Waffles with Jam – You can find waffles in the freezer section of many supermarkets, making them a very easy breakfast to bring with you to the race.
8. Jelly Donut – Yes, really. Donuts are high in sugar and the jelly provides a source of fructose. The ones you find in supermarkets are usually lower in fat than artisanal ones because they don’t contain as much egg or buttermilk.
9. Fruit Pop-Tarts – These are packed with fast carbohydrates and fructose. They also have the benefit of being available almost everywhere.
10. Wafer Cookies – Think Obleas in Spain, Cialde in Italy, or Eiswaffeln in Germany. Just make sure you avoid wafer cookies which have lots of butter (like many Stroopwafels) because the fat can cause GI discomfort during your race.
Salty Race-Day Breakfasts
*Don’t forget you’ll still want some fructose with these salty options, so drink a cup of clear fruit juice with them.
11. Soft Pretzels – Pretzels are packed with fast carbohydrates and also contain lots of salt, which is important for race hydration.
12. Plain Crackers (e.g., saltines) – While not very exciting, these are low-fiber and fast-digesting. They are also great for settling your stomach if you are feeling nervous before your race.
13. Skinless Potatoes – Potatoes are packed with glucose and contain almost no fiber (when skins are removed). For an easy breakfast at the start line, pick up some instant mashed potatoes. No cooking is required: just add hot water and salt. It’s boring but effective.
14. Low-fat Broth with Toast – If you prefer a liquid breakfast, broth provides sodium and pre-race hydration while the toast gives you the carbohydrates you need for topping off glycogen stores.
Want to learn more? Read our Guide to Fueling. Or watch our podcast episode with Dr. Tim Podlogar about the Ultimate Cycling Breakfast.