Half Marathon Nutrition

Half Marathon Nutrition:
Fueling the Big Event!

You have been training for months now – and the big event is just a few days away. Hopefully, you have been fueling your body with whole grain carbohydrates, fruits, vegetables, lean proteins and heart healthy fats along the way. Now the actual race is right around the corner, and it’s time to make some decisions about what to eat before, during and AFTER the run. Try these ideas:

The DAY BEFORE the race:

On the day before the race, it’s important to eat for quality even more than quantity. Go for 3 meals and 2 snacks – choosing high quality, whole grains, fruits and vegetables, lean protein, and low fat options. Eat breakfast within an hour or so of getting up, a mid morning snack about 3 hours later (if lunch will be longer than 4 hours away), a balanced lunch, an afternoon snack of lean protein and carbohydrates, and a higher carbohydrate dinner meal. This is the time to avoid high fat foods, anything fried, and even higher fiber foods. And REMEMBER TO HYDATE! Drink water throughout the entire day!

Some good examples of meals for the “night before”:
1. Can’t beat spaghetti with marinara sauce, Italian bread (hold off on the garlic butter!) and side of green beans.
2. Grilled chicken breast with baked potato (or sweet potato), whole wheat roll, and side of fresh fruit or steamed veggies. (carrots, green beans, squash, mushrooms, tomatoes are some of the least “gas producing” veggies and should be tolerated well!)
3. Hearty whole grain bread for making a turkey sandwich, with lettuce/ tomato, side of pretzels, orange or other fresh fruit of choice.

The MORNING OF the race:

If you have an 8 am race, eating about 250-300 calories around 2 hours before the race would be ideal. Most popular choices include:
1. Whole wheat bagel with small amount of peanut butter, banana
2. Cup of cooked oatmeal, with brown sugar, almonds or walnuts, banana
3. Peanut butter and jelly sandwich on whole wheat, orange slices
4. Cup of low fat yogurt, with a banana
With your meal, drink 2 cups of water several hours before, followed by ½ cup or so within 30-45 minutes before the first step.

Not a breakfast eater? Want to eat a little something right before the race? Go for simple, easy to digest carbohydrates about 20-30 minutes before – like a banana, or graham cracker rectangle, or cereal bar like Nutrigrain.

Coffee? By all means, if you are a coffee drinker, don’t change anything right now! Simply have your coffee with your 6 am breakfast meal, or at least an hour before to allow yourself time to use the restroom prior to the start. If you are NOT a coffee drinker, NOT the time to start!

NOTE: This is NOT the time to try something new! Know your body and what you can tolerate.

DURING the race:

The first hour does not require carbohydrate fuel if you have fueled that morning and ate well the day before; it does require water breaks. After the first hour, it’s time to give your body some carbohydrate fuel in the form of a sports drink or a gel pack (or shot block/jelly bean version) or a combination of both. The goal: 25 – 60 grams of carbohydrates per HOUR. This translates into 1 gel pack or 16 ounces Gatorade for 25 grams; or combination of the two for closer to 60 grams. ALWAYS drink 8 ounces of water with a gel pack to prevent stomach upset.

NOTE, again: This is NOT the time to try something new! If you have not trained with gel packs, stay with sports drinks. Or vice versa.

AFTER the race:

Post race recovery nutrition is vital for your muscles to be able to adequately replace the fuel that has been used over the course of the race. Ideally, go for fuel source that provides a ratio of 3-4 parts carbohydrates to 1 part protein. This would be something like 8 grams protein to 24-32 grams carbohydrate (found in a lot of energy/protein bars), or 16 ounces of low fat chocolate milk. If you do not have access to protein, make sure you re-fuel with good carbohydrates like what you will find after the race: banana (25 grams), bagel (40-50 grams), cereal bars (about 30-35 grams), etc. Cheese pizza is usually offered, and is not a bad choice overall since cheese provides protein and crust/tomato sauce provides carbohydrates. Might not sound too good at 10 am or so, but it is up to you! And of course, drink water/ sports drinks combination to replace your fluids. Try to get in at least 2 cups of fluids after the race.

Several hours into recovery, feel free to eat again! Do not go longer than 3-4 hours without having a balanced meal of carbohydrates, lean protein, low fat fuel – your muscles will thank you – and you’ll notice the difference in how you feel when you get back on the road to begin training again!

If you have specific questions, feel free to email me at tammy@revitupfitness.com. Best of luck, and see you on the road!