# Nutrition for late evening rides **URL:** \ **Category:** Nutrition\ **Tags:** food\ **Created:** [January 29, 2020, 2:16pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/nutrition-for-late-evening-rides/28897 "2020-01-29T14:16:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![iLikeTofu88](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/iliketofu88/32/7721_2.png) [@iLikeTofu88](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/iLikeTofu88)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2020, 2:16pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/nutrition-for-late-evening-rides/28897/1 "2020-01-29T14:16:42Z")
First time posting here. What a community and so much information. Great job TR! I don’t know if someone asked this question before but any nutrition tips regarding late-night workouts? I put my kids to bed between 7:30-8PM and ride about an hour. What are you night owls eat before & after the workout? Recovery rides are easier to fuel but I especially find it hard to eat real food right after a threshold or VO2max workouts. I don’t wanna eat a big dinner and go to bed an hour later. Sometimes I drink a bottle of recovery mix sometimes a bowl of cereal and bananas with low-fat milk. When I wake up in the morning I’m super hungry and eat a big breakfast. Not sure this is how I approach fueling myself. Thanks for your feedback! ---
**Author:** ![martinheadon](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/martinheadon/32/7705_2.png) [@martinheadon](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/martinheadon)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2020, 2:28pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/nutrition-for-late-evening-rides/28897/2 "2020-01-29T14:28:14Z")
Could you eat dinner with your kids before putting them to bed? Having an earlier meal with some extra carbs could mean you were fuelled for a workout in the evening, and would just need a recovery drink and a snack afterwards before going to bed. Sometimes I’ve even eaten an early dinner at work, around 5:30 or 6 (we have a healthy takeaway restaurant nearby, or you could take something in) - so that when I get home I’m ready to workout by 8. (There’s another discussion to be had about getting to sleep after a hard workout - worth looking around for podcast or forum topics on that.) ---
**Author:** ![sebi1981](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/sebi1981/32/14327_2.png) [@sebi1981](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/sebi1981)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2020, 2:48pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/nutrition-for-late-evening-rides/28897/3 "2020-01-29T14:48:23Z")
Same here with me. You describe a typical workout week for me. Can´t train before 0800pm on weekdays. So here is what I do. Threshold / Vo2max workouts I fuel with carbs up to 90 min before I start. Most efficient for me is porridge (oatmeal) or a slice of bread with honey and curd cheese or simply a Banana. During a workout I use an endurance drink ( still try to figure out wich one is “tasty” on the long run, after a few weeks I´m really fed up of these). At the moment it is SIS endurance drink. Post workout depends on the time I´m finished. Mostly it is a recovery shake, sometimes some nuts or cookies (easy carbs). Don`t want to eat to much before I go to bed. For endurance ride I only use hydro drinks during / after the ride. I dont fuel them and try to go low carb on these rides. ---
**Author:** ![Berggeiss](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/berggeiss/32/19976_2.png) [@Berggeiss](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/Berggeiss)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2020, 2:51pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/nutrition-for-late-evening-rides/28897/4 "2020-01-29T14:51:14Z")
I have a similar routine at least 3, sometimes 4 times per week. - 5.30: wake up but try and hold off on breakfast until ca. 9.30 - 9.30: big bowl of porridge with banana, mollasses, seeds, wheat germ - 12.30: decent sized lunch with loads of carbs - 17.00: an apple and 0.5kg of baked sweet potatoes before a go home from work - 20.00: start training. I always take in minimum 50g of carbs/hr on the bike - 22.15: post training smoothie with banana, spinach, oats, soya joghurt, mollasses, sunflower seeds, oats - 22.30(if I’m efficient): shower, bed, sleep Repeat The carbs on the bike are key to stopping me from getting too hungry throughout the day, and if I don’t fuel on the bike I don’t get a proper nights sleep. ---
**Author:** ![Lufbramatt](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/lufbramatt/32/10413_2.png) [@Lufbramatt](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/Lufbramatt)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2020, 2:54pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/nutrition-for-late-evening-rides/28897/5 "2020-01-29T14:54:03Z")
I often end up doing workouts 8-9pm, for these I’ll eat a normal meal with the kids at 6pm or just after depending what time I get home from work. Kids asleep by 7:30, giving me half hour to get changed and sort drinks etc. During the ride I’ll just drink an electrolyte mix. No need for additional carbs imo. Post ride I’ll have a glass of milk and a bowl of cereal with fruit etc, nothing too heavy that late. Works fine. ---
**Author:** ![iLikeTofu88](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/iliketofu88/32/7721_2.png) [@iLikeTofu88](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/iLikeTofu88)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2020, 2:54pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/nutrition-for-late-evening-rides/28897/6 "2020-01-29T14:54:34Z")
Thank you. Will add porridge to my nutrition lineup. Failed to mention I eat a PBJ sandwich on whole wheat toast maybe 90 mins before the workout. But a steel cut oatmeal with maple syrup should be more filling and cleaner. ---
**Author:** ![iLikeTofu88](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/iliketofu88/32/7721_2.png) [@iLikeTofu88](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/iLikeTofu88)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2020, 2:55pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/nutrition-for-late-evening-rides/28897/7 "2020-01-29T14:55:51Z")
Think I’ll try eating with kids and see how that goes. Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![iLikeTofu88](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/iliketofu88/32/7721_2.png) [@iLikeTofu88](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/iLikeTofu88)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2020, 2:59pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/nutrition-for-late-evening-rides/28897/8 "2020-01-29T14:59:10Z")
Dude you are a machine. Good ideas here too. Thanks for taking time to post the whole routine! ---
**Author:** ![kontrabass](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/kontrabass/32/12908_2.png) [@kontrabass](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/kontrabass)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2020, 3:49pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/nutrition-for-late-evening-rides/28897/9 "2020-01-29T15:49:17Z")
One possibility is to split your evening meals. I do it sometimes and everything seems to work. Eat half of dinner at about 6-7. Kid and wife go to sleep at 9-10 and then its training time for me. After that, I just eat the second half, have a shower and go to bed. ---
**Author:** ![admigo](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/admigo/32/45845_2.png) [@admigo](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/admigo)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 12:15am UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/nutrition-for-late-evening-rides/28897/11 "2020-01-30T00:15:48Z")
Was thinking the same thing! I cannot currently eat that late at all, I simply don’t sleep properly, unless I’m actually starving, then it’s protein. I’m envious of all of you doing the workouts at this time, kudos! ---
**Author:** ![Dylan\_van\_Green](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/dylan_van_green/32/88566_2.png) [@Dylan\_van\_Green](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/Dylan_van_Green)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 7:48am UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/nutrition-for-late-evening-rides/28897/12 "2020-01-30T07:48:53Z")
> [@Berggeiss](#): > > The carbs on the bike are key to stopping me from getting too hungry throughout the day, and if I don’t fuel on the bike I don’t get a proper nights sleep. Yes I think this is key, I have a similar routine except I don’t have to get up until 7 so I can train at 9.30pm, I eat with the family about 6.30pm and then do honey on toast/gels/cake/whatever’s around my kitchen that needs eating on the bike. I drink the SIS electrolyte tabs. Then a recovery shake afterwards, I like SIS Rego, have it mixed in the fridge and grab it to drink during cooldown, and shower and bed asap. I think all this food really helps being able to train indoors 3/4/5 times a week, week in week out, i.e. fuels the consistency. One other thing that seems key to the evening training approach; I used to aim for a 500ml bottle of electrolytes every hour indoors, I have now cut this in half so one bottle for a 2 hour ride, because I was having to get up in the middle of the night to go to the loo. Now, I aim to go to bed feeling a bit thirsty still, which usually means I sleep through and wake up just before the alarm 👍 ---
**Author:** ![iLikeTofu88](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/iliketofu88/32/7721_2.png) [@iLikeTofu88](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/iLikeTofu88)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 2:02pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/nutrition-for-late-evening-rides/28897/13 "2020-01-30T14:02:44Z")
> [@Dylan\_van\_Green](#): > > Yes I think this is key, I have a similar routine except I don’t have to get up until 7 so I can train at 9.30pm, I eat with the family about 6.30pm and then do honey on toast/gels/cake/whatever’s around my kitchen that needs eating on the bike. I drink the SIS electrolyte tabs. Then a recovery shake afterwards, I like SIS Rego, have it mixed in the fridge and grab it to drink during cooldown, and shower and bed asap. > > I think all this food really helps being able to train indoors 3/4/5 times a week, week in week out, i.e. fuels the consistency. > > One other thing that seems key to the evening training approach; I used to aim for a 500ml bottle of electrolytes every hour indoors, I have now cut this in half so one bottle for a 2 hour ride, because I was having to get up in the middle of the night to go to the loo. Now, I aim to go to bed feeling a bit thirsty still, which usually means I sleep through and wake up just before the alarm 👍 I like your routine 👌. Realized I should also get better at managing my liquid intake before I go to bed.