When I polled my Instagram followers on what they wanted me to blog about, there were quite a few requests for nutrition and running. I think sometimes people over-think their nutrition, stress about eating clean 100% of the time, following a certain diet that may not be conducive to running, underfuel, or are just not sure how to balancing taking in fuel while running.
We all know we need food to fuel our running, and I like to think ‘quality fuel = quality performance.’ With that though, you would be doing a disservice to your body if you tried to have a perfect diet, restrict certain foods, and/or underfuel. Running places a lot of stress on our bodies already, so we don’t need to add more stress with our food choices.
It is also important to remember your stomach is a muscle and it, too, must be trained just like your leg muscles to perform well on race day. We practice a lot for race day: we practice the paces to run, what to wear, and we also need to practice the foods we will take in on race day.
In this blog post, I’m going to focus on giving you some pre-run and post-run ideas of foods you can eat to help fuel your running, keep your energy levels stable during your workout, and give your body the calories and fuel it needs to perform well and avoid injury.
Before I proceed, let it be known I am not a registered dietitian. I do have a health education major, but you should always consult a registered dietitian (not a nutritionist) for specifics on your diet.
Pre-run fueling tips:
– aim to eat 100-200+ calories within 30-60 minutes of running
– make sure most of the calories are coming from carbohydrates
– avoid high fat, high protein foods
– eat a larger meal (300-400 calories) for runs lasting 90+ minutes
Pre-run food ideas:
– energy gel
– energy chews
– dates with nut butter
– gummy bears
– Ucan drink mix
– toast with a nut butter
– banana with nut butter
– oatmeal
– cereal with milk
Foods that are typically avoided:
– smoothie (too much liquid)
– nuts only (no carbohydrates)
– protein bar with no carbs
– apple (contains a lot of fiber)
Post-run fueling tips:
– consume a snack within 30 minutes
– consume a meal within 1-2 hours
– make sure the snack and meal contain carbs and proteins with a ratio of 3:1 or 4:1 of carbs:protein
– eat something even if you don’t feel hungry
Post-run foods:
– smoothie
– chocolate milk
– Ucan post-workout drink mix
– toast with nut butter
– pancakes (especially ones like Kodaik Cakes)
– eggs with toast
– protein bar + smoothie
Most of all, experiment with what works for you! I am personally not a fan of oatmeal as it feels kind of heavy to me, but I know a lot of people who swear by it. Finally, practice, practice, practice before the big day! Don’t do anything new on race day!
