Training Tuesday: What I Ate The Day Before A Marathon

Happy Tuesday! It’s funny how when you go back to school, you’re immediately thinking (or well… at least I am) ‘ HOW did I ever find the time to do all this and somehow have a social life?!?’ Ha. My classes this summer are shortened, so they are REALLY intense (for the most part), so it seems normal to be a bit well - shocked - , but then I just remind myself that I only have 6 more weeks to go of them ; ) It’s all about perspective right?!

I’ve been wanting to do this post for A WHILE now, but honestly just haven’t had the time ((or internet!)). Eugene feels like a million years ago, but in reality - it was only 3 weeks ago? Crazy how fast time flies ( especially when you move!). So, here we go:

-Went out for a shakeout run

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Came back to have a mini bagel, honey, and a banana (I knew it would be at least another hour or more before we were able to get breakfast).

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We went to Panera for breakfast (it’s always so hard to know what works for your stomach before a race & I think that Panera is still an OK thing ((even though I had some major GI distress during the second half of the race)).

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I grabbed a cinnamon sugar bagel with butter from there as well to have as a snack on the drive to Eugene from Portland

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Snacked on pretzels throughout the day!

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Chipotle for lunch after visiting the expo. I think this is where my GI distress may have come from. I didn’t get anything with cheese, but it was just heavy. I also think that -generally- I had too many carbs (I don’t normally eat THIS much carb-centered foods), but honestly nutrition is still such a foreign thing to me!

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Some pasta with butter for dinner (we ate relatively early - before 6pm - to hopefully let our food settle. Spoiler: mine did not ha. ).

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Still got through the marathon and managed even splits and a 1 minute PR. You can find my full race recap here!

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-Anyone else go back to school to get a degree. Tips?!?

-Favorite things to eat before a marathon?! I”M SO CONFUSED ON CARBO-LOADING still. HELP!

Training Tuesday: What I Ate In A Day

Happy Tuesday! How’s your week going? I’m so excited that we’re finally almost into February! January is definitely my least favorite month.

I wanted to share with you what my typical food looks like when training and working a 9-hour day. I documented what I ate last week when I had 30 minutes of strength training & 9 miles on the treadmill (with middle 6 at goal marathon effort- 8:20).

I woke up at 4:15am and had two slices of sourdough bread with almond butter and a drizzle of honey.

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Also- a cup of coffee ( a must ).

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I replenished & fueled my run with a gel (~40 minutes in) and electrolytes (~every 5-10 minutes while running and then I make sure to drink the remaining after I finish while stretching).

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My first ‘real breakfast’ or second breakfast (however you want to look at it) happened at work shortly after 8am with the Can’t Beet Me Oatmeal II from this cookbook (I make a few servings of it at the beginning of the week so I can just pop it in my bag before I leave in the mornings), another cup of coffee that I brought from home (with one scoop of these collagens), and a banana.

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I try to snack every 2-3 hours, so I had orange slices and a few handfuls of trail mix (from Natural Grocers) around 11am.

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I had lunch around 1pm. This week, I made a big batch of the GImme Veggies Fried Rice (from this cookbook) and added a few slices of cooked chicken (also prepared on Sunday). Also with the remaining half of Kombucha and carrots/hummus.

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Around 3:30pm (right before I leave to go teach skating at the rink), I had this almond butter bar (so tasty!). Normally I love something like PB & apple slices, almonds, or small thing of popcorn for my snacks- today I was craving something a bit chocolatey.

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I got home shortly after 5:30pm and arranged our salads for dinner. I had already pre-diced the veggies on Sunday and cooked/sliced the chicken breast (on Sunday as well), so getting them together was super easy. I topped mine with a bit of ranch and Frank’s Red Hot for dressing.

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I’m all about an after-dinner snack, so I had a bowl of popcorn and two of Justin’s Dark Chocolate Mini PB cups. Along with a cup of Throat Coat Hot Tea with two tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar and a drizzle of Honey (it doesn’t taste the greatest, but I swear that adding Apple Cider Vinegar has helped stave away any colds or sinus infections this year thus far- I’m normally always sick through winter and I haven’t had one niggle since November).

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Sometimes I’ll eat more than this or sometimes less, I just really try to listen to my body and go with what it is craving (to an extent). If I’m extra hungry after a run, I’ll grab a Breakfast Sandwich at Starbucks. I almost always try to eat every few hours to keep myself from bonking or making a bad decision later on. I also never cut-out certain food groups because I truly believe that everything in moderation is the healthiest way to live. HOWEVER, I do know that my body feels its best (and mentally I feel my best) when I eat generally well so I keep that in mind as well when reaching for ample sour candy.

I also always drink at least 96 fl ounces of water, plus more if I’m running longer than 6-7 miles.

Here’s a daily cuteness for you. This was taken directly before he turned very naughty.

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What are your favorite snacks throughout the day?

Favorite way to unwind after a long workday?


Feature Friday- What I Ate In A Day

Happy FRIYAY! I hope you have something fun planned this weekend! I've got 2 x 8 mile runs on my schedule and am teaching skiing both Saturday & Sunday, so most of my weekend is already planned, but hopefully I'll get to fit in something fun one of those days. I wanted to share with you what I eat on a typical training day because nutrition is important! I've never been one to count calories, but I try to eat smaller meals (especially when training for a big race) every 2-3 hours and never limit myself to no sugary items or alcohol (but I'm not too into that stuff most of the time anyways). 

This is what I ate on Wednesday when I had a double workout (9 miles w/ 6 tempo miles in the AM & a Pilates Jumpboard Reformer class at my lunch break). I like to do my strength training days on my hard workout days to really fatigue my legs and keep my easy run days as a great recovery day. If I'm not working out hard (less than 70 minutes), I typically will only eat a banana before running in the morning (with my coffee & an 8 oz glass of water).

**I also consumed 4 * 32 ounces of water (plus maybe a little extra- not including my Nuun tablet & Natural Calm cup of hot water**

Before AM work-out: Coffee with a bit of Hazelnut Creamer/ Collagen Peptides (I LOVE this stuff) & Toast/Honey Almond Butter/ Half of a Banana & Caffeine-infused Active Nuun Mango Orange Tablet (I do this before my hard workout days)

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After AM work-out: Starbucks Bacon, Cheddar, & Egg Sandwich & Beet/Spinach/Blackberry/Plain Greek Yogurt/Quarter of a Banana/ Cinnamon/ Vanilla Whey Protein Powder (I made a big batch of smoothies and then split them up throughout the whole week)

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AM Snack Before Pilates Reformer: Run Fast Eat Slow Sweet Potato Breakfast Cookies (I made these a few weeks ago and froze the ones I didn't eat right away) & Banana

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Lunch: Chicken Sandwich (Canned Ground Chicken/ Light Mayo/ Sprouted Bread), Baby Carrots, Spinach w/ Balsamic Vinaigrette, & Almond Sea Salt Crackers PLUS a cute little beggar

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PM Snack After Lunch: Luna Greek Yogurt Protein Berry Bar

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Dinner: Brinner! Totally not pretty, but it was pretty tasty! 2 Eggs, Ketchup, 2 pieces of toast (butter/ 4 berry no-sugar-added jam), and 2 pieces of Bueler's Breakfast Sausage & Natural Calm Raspberry Lemon Hot Water

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After-Dinner Snack: Chocolate Cashew Milk!