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RunningCarb load meal plan: 3 days with gram targets
What to eat, in grams, for the three days before a half or full marathon. · 9 min read · Updated October 24, 2026
- For a race that will take you longer than about 90 minutes, the guideline is 10–12 g of carbohydrate per kg of body weight a day for the last 36–48 hours. For a 154 lb (70 kg) runner, that is 700–840 g a day.
- The studied load is the last two days. Our plan adds an optional lead-in day three days out at 8 g/kg (560 g for the same runner); skip it if you prefer.
- Half marathon: if you will finish in under about 90 minutes, skip the load and eat a carb-rich day. Slower than that, a one- or two-day load at 8–10 g/kg is a reasonable middle path (our suggestion).
- 700 g of carbs is about 2,800 calories before any protein or fat. In one diary study, recreational marathoners ate roughly 2,000–2,300 calories in total the day before the race. Plan on snacks and some drinks, not three big meals.
- Keep fiber and fat low on the last two days, expect the scale to rise (mostly water), and try nothing new.
How we made this guide: we built it from the research below and checked every number against it: ACSM, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics & Dietitians of Canada joint position stand (2016); Burke, nutrition strategies for the marathon (2007); Podlogar & Wallis, new horizons in carbohydrate research (2022); Jones et al., carbohydrate intake and muscle glycogen meta-analysis (2026); Sherman et al., exercise-diet manipulation (1981); Hawley et al., carbohydrate loading and performance (1997); Bussau et al., 1-day carbohydrate loading (2002); Pugh et al., marathon stomach symptoms and intake (2018); Mancin et al., fiber in sports nutrition (2025); USDA FoodData Central; and the other studies listed in Sources.
This guide is for runners training for a half marathon or marathon who want to know exactly what to eat in the three days before. It gives gram targets by body weight, a sample menu with carbs per item, and what changes for a half marathon, a small appetite or a dietary restriction. Our carb-loading guide walks through a single loading day, and our best-foods guide lists carbs per serving. This page lines the days up into a plan.
Glycogen is the carbohydrate your muscles and liver store as fuel. Carb loading means eating enough carbohydrate, for long enough, to fill those stores before a long race. g/kg means grams of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight; 1 kg is 2.2 lb.
How many grams of carbs do you need each day?
The joint position stand from the American College of Sports Medicine, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and Dietitians of Canada sets the loading target for events lasting more than 90 minutes: 36–48 hours of 10–12 g/kg per 24 hours. For shorter events it lists 7–12 g/kg for the day, as for daily fuel needs (Thomas et al., 2016). Multiply your weight in kg by the number:
| Body weight | 8 g/kg | 10 g/kg | 12 g/kg |
|---|---|---|---|
| 110 lb (50 kg) | 400 g | 500 g | 600 g |
| 130 lb (59 kg) | 470 g | 590 g | 710 g |
| 154 lb (70 kg) | 560 g | 700 g | 840 g |
| 170 lb (77 kg) | 620 g | 770 g | 920 g |
| 190 lb (86 kg) | 690 g | 860 g | 1,030 g |
| 210 lb (95 kg) | 760 g | 950 g | 1,140 g |
Carbs per day, calculated from the g/kg figures and rounded to the nearest 10 g.
The 8 g/kg column sits inside the stand’s range for shorter events. A 2026 review of 63 trials found that intakes above about 8 g/kg for 36–48 hours raised muscle glycogen, although the studies differed a lot from one another (Jones et al., 2026). So we treat 10–12 g/kg as the loading target and 8 g/kg as an easier day. If you are new to this, 10 g/kg is a sensible place to aim.
These are big numbers. At 4 calories per gram, 700 g of carbs is about 2,800 calories before any protein or fat. In a diary study of 96 recreational marathoners, the runners averaged 262 g of carbs the day before the race, about 3.4–3.8 g/kg, and roughly 2,000–2,300 calories in total (Pugh et al., 2018). Reaching 10 g/kg means eating differently: more snacks, and some of the carbs as drinks.
Do you need to carb load for a half marathon?
It depends on your finish time. The 90-minute line in the guideline works out to about 6:52 per mile (4:16 per km) over 13.1 miles.
| Race | What we suggest | At 154 lb (70 kg) |
|---|---|---|
| Half marathon, finishing in under about 90 minutes | No load. One carb-rich day before the race. | About 560 g (8 g/kg) the day before |
| Half marathon, finishing in over about 90 minutes | Optional short load, one or two days | 560–700 g a day (8–10 g/kg) |
| Marathon | The full plan below | 560 g, then 700–840 g a day |
The guideline gives the 90-minute threshold and the g/kg ranges. The two half-marathon rows are our suggestions built on them.
The research points the same way. In a trial of trained runners over 20.9 km, close to a half marathon, a carb load raised muscle glycogen but didn’t change finish times (Sherman et al., 1981). A 2022 review says loading isn’t currently recommended for events shorter than 90 minutes (Podlogar & Wallis, 2022). An older review found no benefit from higher starting glycogen at 60–90 minutes of moderate effort, and fatigue delayed by about 20% past 90 minutes (Hawley et al., 1997). More in why runners carb load. Evidence at half-marathon length is thin, so for runners finishing past 90 minutes we treat a short load as optional.
A short load is easy to try because glycogen can rise quickly. In a small study, eight trained men who stayed inactive and ate 10 g/kg of high-carb foods raised muscle glycogen from about 95 to 180 mmol per kg of wet muscle in one day, and it held there for two more days (Bussau et al., 2002). Those men rested, so a short load works best with an easy day before the race.
A marathon takes every runner well past 90 minutes, so the full rule applies: taper your training and eat 10–12 g/kg a day for the final 36–48 hours (Burke, 2007; Thomas et al., 2016).
What does a 3-day carb loading meal plan look like?
The research tests 36–48 hours, which is days 2 and 1 below, at 10 g/kg. Day 3 is optional and our addition, not part of the studied load: a lead-in day at 8 g/kg for runners who would rather build up than jump straight from a normal day. You don’t need it to fill your stores. In one study, glycogen rose within the first loading day (Bussau et al., 2002), and our race week timeline starts the load two days out. If you skip day 3, eat as you normally would for your training.
The menu is for a 154 lb (70 kg) runner. To scale it, divide your day’s target by 700 and multiply every portion by the result. A 130 lb (59 kg) runner aiming for 590 g multiplies by 0.84, so 3 cups of rice becomes 2½ cups. Carb counts are approximate and come from USDA FoodData Central; brands and portions vary, so check labels. If you want a different breakfast or base, our carb loading calculator builds a day around your weight.
Day 3 (optional), three days out: about 560 g (8 g/kg)
| When | What | Carbs |
|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | 1½ cups cooked oatmeal, 1 banana, 2 tbsp honey, 1 cup 1% milk | ~116 g |
| Mid-morning | 1 small box of raisins (1.5 oz), 1 oz pretzels, 1 cup apple juice | ~85 g |
| Lunch | 2 cups cooked white rice, 1 cup baked sweet potato | ~131 g |
| Afternoon | 2 slices white bread with 1 tbsp honey and 1 tbsp jam | ~60 g |
| Dinner | 2 cups cooked pasta, ½ cup marinara, 2 slices white bread | ~115 g |
| Evening | 1 cup unsweetened applesauce, 1 oz pretzels | ~50 g |
| Total | ~557 g |
Day 2, two days out: about 700 g (10 g/kg)
| When | What | Carbs |
|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | 1½ plain bagels, 2 tbsp jam, 1 cup orange juice, 1 cup 1% milk | ~149 g |
| Mid-morning | 2 cups corn flakes with 1 cup 1% milk and 1 tbsp honey | ~79 g |
| Lunch | 3 cups cooked white rice, 1 slice white bread, 1 cup apple juice | ~176 g |
| Afternoon | 2 slices white bread with 2 tbsp jam, 1 cup apple juice | ~84 g |
| Dinner | 3 cups cooked pasta, ½ cup marinara, 2 slices white bread | ~153 g |
| Evening | 1 banana, 1 cup 1% milk, 1 tbsp honey | ~57 g |
| Total | ~698 g |
Day 1, the day before: about 700 g (10 g/kg)
| When | What | Carbs |
|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | 2 plain bagels, 2 tbsp jam, 1 cup orange juice | ~163 g |
| Mid-morning | 2 cups corn flakes with 1 cup 1% milk and 1 tbsp maple syrup | ~75 g |
| Lunch | 3 cups cooked white rice, 2 slices white bread, 1 cup apple juice | ~190 g |
| Afternoon | 2 oz pretzels, 2 tbsp honey, 1 cup orange juice | ~106 g |
| Dinner (early, familiar) | 2 cups cooked pasta, ½ cup marinara, 2 slices white bread | ~115 g |
| Evening | 1 cup apple juice, 2 slices white bread | ~57 g |
| Total | ~706 g |
Add chicken, eggs, fish or tofu at lunch and dinner. They bring almost no carbs (firm tofu has about 3 g per 100 g), so the tables leave them out. Each day lands within about 1% of its target.
How do you eat this much without feeling bloated?
- Pick lower-fiber carbs on days 2 and 1. That means white rice, white bread, bagels, plain pasta and juice. By USDA values, the day 2 and day 1 menus carry about 23–24 g of fiber, against about 34 g on day 3 (our math). The marathoners in the diary study ate 21–22 g of fiber the day before the race on far fewer carbs. That makes our menus lower in fiber than day 3, not a strict low-fiber diet, which is under about 10 g a day; our carb load snacks guide covers that version.
- Know how firm the evidence is. A review co-written by Burke calls a low-fiber load a common recommendation based on clinical experience and athlete reports, with a sample 10 g/kg menu at about 19 g of fiber (Mancin et al., 2025). A 2024 systematic review found only a few eligible studies and suggested that cutting fiber and dairy may help prevent stomach symptoms (Montero-Carrasco et al., 2024). We treat low fiber as a comfort tool. Try it before a long training run first.
- Drink some of it. A cup of orange juice has about 26 g of carbs and a cup of 1% milk about 13 g, with little bulk.
- Eat on a clock. Six eating times, about two to three hours apart, is easier than three big plates (our suggestion).
- Keep fat and extras small. A 700 g day leaves little room for them.
What should you eat in the final 24 hours?
Follow the day 1 menu, with the biggest meals earlier in the day. Make dinner a familiar, normal-sized, low-fat meal and finish it early, then keep the evening snack small. The stand lists low-fat, low-fiber, low-to-moderate-protein foods as the preferred choice before an event because they are less likely to cause stomach trouble, and it pairs the high-carb days with a taper in training over 48 hours (Thomas et al., 2016). Keep the day before easy.
On race morning, the stand’s target is 1–4 g/kg of carbs, one to four hours before exercise lasting more than an hour: 70–280 g for a 70 kg runner. Our race morning breakfast guide has options, and our race week timeline covers the days before and the race itself.
Expect the scale to climb. Glycogen is stored with roughly three to four parts water (Kreitzman et al., 1992), so extra weight on race morning mostly reflects stored fuel and water. Don’t cut carbs because of it.
What if your appetite is low?
Appetite often drops during a taper and with pre-race nerves. What helps:
- Drink part of the load. The stand notes that liquid meals suit athletes who get pre-event nerves before a race; the same idea works on loading days (our suggestion). Juice and milk carry carbs with little bulk.
- Choose dense carbs over bulky ones. A tablespoon of honey has about 17 g of carbs, a cup of cooked rice about 45 g. Pretzels, bagels and white bread with jam are compact too.
- Split big meals into snacks. In a small study, eight trained triathletes ate 10 g/kg over 24 hours after hard exercise, as four large meals or as hourly snacks, and stored similar glycogen (Burke et al., 1996). If big plates put you off, small frequent snacks look like a fair substitute.
- Don’t eat less overall to fit the carbs in. In a small study of six women, muscle glycogen rose on a high-carb diet only when total calories rose too (Tarnopolsky et al., 2001).
- Settle for 8 g/kg if 10 is out of reach. Even 8 g/kg is more than double what the marathoners in the diary study ate the day before.
What about vegetarian, vegan or gluten-free eating?
Vegetarian or vegan. Nearly every food in the menu is vegetarian already. Use eggs, plain Greek yogurt (a 170 g nonfat container has about 6 g of carbs) or tofu for protein. Beans and lentils are carb-dense but heavy in fiber: a cup of cooked lentils has about 40 g of carbs and 16 g of fiber, so we would skip them on days 2 and 1. If you eat vegan, swap maple syrup for honey (about 13 g of carbs per tablespoon, against 17 g) and check the label on any plant milk, since carbs vary by product. For lactose, use lactose-free milk or juice.
Gluten-free. Rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, bananas, juice, honey, jam, maple syrup and applesauce are naturally gluten-free. Replace the bagels, bread, pasta and corn flakes with more rice and potato, oatmeal labeled gluten-free, corn tortillas (about 11 g of carbs each; check the label) and gluten-free bread or pasta, where carbs vary by brand. If you avoid gluten for celiac disease, check every package and ask a dietitian. A 2024 review found no studies supporting a gluten-free diet to prevent stomach symptoms in endurance athletes (Montero-Carrasco et al., 2024), so we would only go gluten-free if you need to.
What mistakes do runners make when carb loading?
- Loading for a short race. Under about 90 minutes, loading hasn’t been shown to improve performance.
- Counting on one big dinner. The guideline asks for 36–48 hours of high intake, not one meal.
- Starting with a low-carb “depletion” phase. A 2007 review found no evidence that it helps before a load (Burke, 2007).
- Training hard during the load. The studies pair high carbs with rest or a taper.
- Adding carbs on top of your usual food. Swap fat and extras for carbs, or the day gets too big to finish.
- Trying new foods. Use what you have eaten before a long run.
- Reacting to the scale. A higher number on race morning is mostly water, not fat.
How do you track a carb load without weighing every bite?
You don’t need a food scale. A rough record is enough: the carb total for each loading day, what you ate before your last good long run, and how your stomach felt. In My Track Record, a meal is one spoken sentence and we estimate the carbs as a range. Set a daily carbs goal in grams to see each day’s total against it, and treat the totals as close estimates.
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By Andrew, founder of My Track Record. Andrew has been active all of his life across a variety of sports and continues to stay active through climbing, swimming, weight training, golfing, snowboarding, and more. He built My Track Record so logging food and training takes one spoken sentence and can support any activity. He puts these guides together from published sports science research cited on each page. About AndrewSources
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- Jones RO, Areta JL, Fortis HO, Pugh J, Louis JB. Dietary carbohydrate intake and skeletal muscle glycogen: a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine optimal carbohydrate loading strategies. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2026;36(10):e70379. Source
- Sherman WM, Costill DL, Fink WJ, Miller JM. Effect of exercise-diet manipulation on muscle glycogen and its subsequent utilization during performance. Int J Sports Med. 1981;2(2):114–118. Source
- Hawley JA, Schabort EJ, Noakes TD, Dennis SC. Carbohydrate-loading and exercise performance: an update. Sports Med. 1997;24(2):73–81. Source
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- Pugh JN, Kirk B, Fearn R, Morton JP, Close GL. Prevalence, severity and potential nutritional causes of gastrointestinal symptoms during a marathon in recreational runners. Nutrients. 2018;10(7):811. Source
- Mancin L, Burke LM, Rollo I. Fibre: the forgotten carbohydrate in sports nutrition recommendations. Sports Med. 2025;55(5):1067–1083. Source
- Montero-Carrasco K, Arias-Tellez MJ, Soto-Sánchez J. Use of carbohydrate (CHO), gluten-free, and FODMAP-free diets to prevent gastrointestinal symptoms in endurance athletes: a systematic review. Nutrients. 2024;16(22):3852. Source
- Burke LM, Collier GR, Davis PG, Fricker PA, Sanigorski AJ, Hargreaves M. Muscle glycogen storage after prolonged exercise: effect of the frequency of carbohydrate feedings. Am J Clin Nutr. 1996;64(1):115–119. Source
- Tarnopolsky MA, Zawada C, Richmond LB, et al. Gender differences in carbohydrate loading are related to energy intake. J Appl Physiol. 2001;91(1):225–230. Source
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- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central (food composition database). Source
General information for healthy adult runners, not medical advice. If you have a medical condition (including celiac disease or diabetes), are pregnant, or have a history of disordered eating, talk to a doctor or registered dietitian before changing how you eat.