Friday, February 18, 2011

Eat, Run, Drink ... Fuel Yourself

  How do you fuel yourself before, during, and after runs?  For me, it depends on when I run and the type of run--race versus training.   For my weekday training regimen, I typically run at dusk. For this, I typically eat a bowl of cheerios with banana, and a yogurt with water for breakfast around 6AM.  Then I eat my mid-morning snack of banana/clementine or fruit bar with coffee around 9AM.  For lunch I typically eat a hearty salad with protein and a low fat yogurt or a 6 inch turkey sub with honey oat bread around 12:30PM.  This provides me with the right balance of fuel to start my work out and keeps my calorie count down.  I usually run between 5-10 miles during my training runs.  During the run, I always bring a bottle of water, but never eat.  Post training, I usually eat a flat bread turkey sandwich within 15 minutes of my run followed up by a soup for dinner or light wholewheat pasta, Frank Perdue grilled chicken on salad or whatever else I can conjure up.  On the weekend, I usually train mid-morning.  I never really carb it up the night before UNLESS ITs BEER TIME, but always try to eat what I call a Fruit Frapishay (sliced up fruit, covered with Yogurt and Grapenuts) 1 hour prior to workout.  15 minutes after workout, I will eat a light lunch (sandwich with soup).  This seems to keep my calorie count down and get me on the mend quicker.
  Prior to races, the night before, I'll carb up. I will eat whole wheat pasta with a light ground beef with sauce and will drink at least 64 ounces of water.  For morning races, I need my Fruit Frapishay which keeps my stomach settled for those pre race nerves.  I also like to drink coffee before races to rev myself up. During run, I'm not a big fan of food, but if necessary, on longer runs, I'll stick with banana's or whatever they hand out.   Post run fuel, I typically have bananas, granola bars and drink Gatorade and water 15 minutes post run to avoid cramping.  Water is my main beverage pre, during, and post.  This has worked pretty well for me except for 20+ miles....STILL NEED TO FIGURE OUT THAT ONE!!!!  What works for you?

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