Race Morning Food

G-Money

I'm not sure if this has already been covered on other threads but it's something I've been thinking about myself.

I like to go out for a run on weekend mornings but I often do so on an empty stomach. However when it comes to race mornings, I know I will need to eat something in the 2-3 hours before the race.

I was speaking to a running friend of mine today who say's he has porridge 3 hours before the run. The thing is, I hate porridge. I like oats and muesli, but I don't like it when it's made up as porridge.

So what could I have that will do the same job as a bowl of porridge on race morning? Should I just have a bowl of oats and muesli mixed with some yoghurt (my favourite cereal at the mo)? Or something else?

Thanks.

Fluorescence

2 pieces of soda bread + banana. Nom.

Ruu_Old

Toast or a bagel with some peanut butter.

911sc

grandmaster wrote: »

However when it comes to race mornings, I know I will need to eat something in the 2-3 hours before the race.
I was speaking to a running friend of mine today who say's he has porridge 3 hours before the run.

I would say it depends on the race, e.g 5k or 42km.
What distance do you race?

G-Money

911sc wrote: »

I would say it depends on the race, e.g 5k or 42km.
What distance do you race?

Currently registered for a 10K and Half and I'm thinking about registering for a 5K soon.

I know a 5K race is shorter but given that they don't normally tend to kick off until 11am at the earliest, I would still need to eat breakfast before going. My 5K training runs tend to be around 8 or 9am at times.

Cabaal

I go with what I'm used to which is porridge, don't want to chance something new on a day like that

RayCun

Any sort of slow-release carbs should be fine. I eat muesli myself.

Your best bet is to have a race rehearsal morning. If you're going to do an 11am race, then the weekend before go for a training run at 11am. Wear what you're going to wear, eat what you're going to eat. If you have problems on your training run you'll know what to change.

huskerdu

RayCun wrote: »

Any sort of slow-release carbs should be fine. I eat muesli myself.

Your best bet is to have a race rehearsal morning. If you're going to do an 11am race, then the weekend before go for a training run at 11am. Wear what you're going to wear, eat what you're going to eat. If you have problems on your training run you'll know what to change.

Great advice. Slow release carbs like muesli or porridge is perfect.

I like the idea of a rehearsal morning. I didn't do this for my first 10K race, decided to eat scrambled eggs on the morning of the race. I could feel them sitting in my stomach, and churning away as I was racing. Horrible feeling.

A big bowl of muesli 2 hours before the race is perfect for me.

A few people partook of the chocolate biscuits and coffee before the RNLI 10K on Sunday, seemed like a bad idea.

RoverHogan

Definitely trial this out before hand - don't eat anything new the morning of a race day that you haven’t tried before a training run. I find that bananas on toasted brown bread drizzled with honey work well for me. I once tried peanut butter on toast, but it repeated on me all through the run so won't be trying that again.

menoscemo

For a high intensity race (10k and under) that starts before midday I would generally eat nothing. There is more than enough Glycogen stored in your muscles for such a short distance so it is more important to get a good meal the night before. I much prefer a good lie in than getting up early to eat something. If I do eat something I would do it at least 3 hours before the gun or else it can repeat in my stomach during a high inensity race.

For a longer distance race I would eat my normal breakfast (eat more and closer to the guntime the longer the race) since intensity is never going to that high at the start of the race.

This is something I have learned for myself from doing various races over different distances and I know that everyone is different. The only way to find out what's best for you is through trail and error.

chinguetti

Whatever you normally eat for breakfast, you should do so on a race day so if you don't have a breakfast, stick with that.

How long before the race start you eat is something you have to do test runs on while training. The same use of training is required with the taking on of liquid/gels/food during a race.

ronnie085

chinguetti wrote: »

Whatever you normally eat for breakfast, you should do so on a race day so if you don't have a breakfast, stick with that.

How long before the race start you eat is something you have to do test runs on while training. The same use of training is required with the taking on of liquid/gels/food during a race.

+1

Porridge and a bagel with nutella yum for me, 2-3 hours before a race. Try to do the same before my long runs, though sometimes when pushed for time could be only an hour before long run. Got in the habit of taking a gel just before the race starts, dont know if it makes much of a difference, starting to turn into a bit of a superstition at this stage

G-Money

Sometimes I can run ok in the mornings without eating anything, other times I can feel like I'm starting to run on empty and need something, it tends to vary. I do distinctly remember running 7K one Sunday morning and was getting very hungry from about 5K onwards and that was on an empty stomach.

I can see myself not sleeping very much the night before a race so there's a good chance I will be up early anyway.

I'm not really planning on anything drastic, just looking for ideas of stuff I can eat and interested to hear what others have. As I've mentioned before, I don't like porridge, but I do like oats and muesli and I usually mix them with a yoghurt and some nuts and that's a nice breakfast.

I'm aiming to go for a long-ish run this Sunday so I will test out having some food 2-3 hours beforehand and see what happens.

ecoli

grandmaster wrote: »

I can see myself not sleeping very much the night before a race so there's a good chance I will be up early anyway.

Believe it or not the most important sleep you will have is the one not the night before the race but the one before that. It is very important to get full night sleep that night as not getting enough sleep that night and it can inhibit delta waves which can have an impact on recovery attained through sleep

grandmaster wrote: »

I'm not really planning on anything drastic, just looking for ideas of stuff I can eat and interested to hear what others have. As I've mentioned before, I don't like porridge, but I do like oats and muesli and I usually mix them with a yoghurt and some nuts and that's a nice breakfast.

I'm aiming to go for a long-ish run this Sunday so I will test out having some food 2-3 hours beforehand and see what happens.

You are best off not tying anything new and it can be a very personal thing. For me i find that even though i eat porridge peanut butter with toast usually for breakfast i find that this doesnt fill me for long enough on race day as i usually eat 3-4 hours before a race. I always eat french toast as i find it fills me and gives me the energy i need for races but again that is just a personal thing

ThisRegard

I've only tried the porridge thing recently, I was always a Weetabix man but I found a bowl with some raspberry conserve stirred in for flavour kept me feeling full for longer last time I had it before a race.

anymore

My definite preference before long runs and a marathon is definitely porridge and on marathons I will also have a banana at least. Before Dublin marathon I had also had a bagel and Nutella and it worked very well. I eat two hours or a little less than two hours beore the run.
If I couldnt have porridge, then I would have a bowl of noddles - I usually use the Koka brand. My feeling though is the porridge is better than the noddles.

Antigrav

If you don't like porridge go for 'Oaty Pancakes'. These are my staple race day breakfast, and if you are in a rush you can even eat them in the car on the way to the race

2/3 cup porridge oats
2/3 cup milk
1 egg
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking pwder
25g butter - melted

Chuck it all in a bowl, and put a dob of butter on pan before frying each pancake. These turn out thick and are quite filling.

Nice with bacon, banana and maple syrup! I usually double this recipe as the kids love 'em too.

Try them a few times before running after giving them time to go down You'll be hooked. If you are in a hurry on the day you can make up batter the day before. Takes 5 mins to cook and eat a couple of these.

shels4ever

Antigrav wrote: »

If you don't like porridge go for 'Oaty Pancakes'. These are my staple race day breakfast, and if you are in a rush you can even eat them in the car on the way to the race

2/3 cup porridge oats
2/3 cup milk
1 egg
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking pwder
25g butter - melted

Chuck it all in a bowl, and put a dob of butter on pan before frying each pancake. These turn out thick and are quite filling.

Nice with bacon, banana and maple syrup! I usually double this recipe as the kids love 'em too.

Try them a few times before running after giving them time to go down You'll be hooked. If you are in a hurry on the day you can make up batter the day before. Takes 5 mins to cook and eat a couple of these.

Not thats some feed , not sure i'd handly that pre race at all, why wreck porridge oats with melted butter and then fry them .. but sounds nice..with Bacon on top

TFBubendorfer

anymore wrote: »

If I couldnt have porridge, then I would have a bowl of noddles - I usually use the Koka brand. My feeling though is the porridge is better than the noddles.

To avoid the situation where I can't have my usual big bowl of porridge before a marathon, I always bring some of my own with me for races, no matter where they are.

I felt strange to pack oat flakes into my suitcase for Boston, but on race day I was glad to have them with me.