What do you eat in preparation for training and on the day ?

derv

I have recently started training again after an 8 year break :-)
I have not run since I was in school 8 years ago, and doing my first 5k in April.

Looking for a bit of advice on foods.....

What do you eat and drink before/during training?
What do you eat and drink before/during the race on the day?

Any what is your the timing for this ? how long before etc?

Thanks

RayCun

Ideally, the same thing in training and on the day.
On Saturdays I have a bowl of my usual muesli and a glass of water 60-90 minutes before I run. On race days I'll do more or less the same thing.
That's not possible for my midweek runs, but they're usually an easier pace or shorter distance.

Ruu_Old

A bagel or a few pieces of whole wheat toast with some peanut butter and a cup of tea. As above, no less than an hour before the race or training.

ronnie085

+1 on raycun and ruu or my favorite porridge and banana plus pint of water. For 5k training and racing I wouldn't bother with eating or drinking during a session. I normal bring some water when I out for more than an hour and a half and a couple of gels for sessions longer than 2 hours although when I was starting off training and less fit I found I needed to bring water with me for sessions around an hour. Was more of a "crutch" than anything as you should be hydrated enough from the start of your run anyway.

Pauleta

Im no expert but i think a Banana is a must. I went for a run last night and there were no banana's in the house. It felt so much harder without eating one.

opus

I'd have the same breakfast on a race day as normal except would ease back on fruit just in case of stomach issues so porridge, tea, two slices of wholemeal bread & a yoghurt. I'm far from an experienced runner but I've run 10m & half-marathons with no extra food along the way and have found from training that it's only when I get to 18m or so that I need to take something on board along the way.

But guess everyone is different on this so you'll need to experiment a bit in training to see what works for you.

liamo123

Pauleta wrote: »

Im no expert but i think a Banana is a must. I went for a run last night and there were no banana's in the house. It felt so much harder without eating one.

+1 on that...Banana before, during long runs and after are a necessity for me too...

brownian

I find getting a good drink down me immediately prior to running is good. So five to ten minutes before heading out I'll mix up a pint of my favourite sugary water and horse it down. Well worth it, IMHO.

ocnoc

Diet is a personal thing.
I could say I neck 10 coffees and a breakfast roll topped up with 500ml of barely diluted glucose... It may work for me, but it would cripple someone else.

Eat what you always eat, don't change it to get an extra kick.
If you do intend to change your diet, do it over time.

tHE vAGGABOND

I could say I neck 10 coffees and a breakfast roll topped up with 500ml of barely diluted glucose... It may work for me, but it would cripple someone else.

I would love to see what time you did after eating that tho

rainbow kirby

My general pre-long run breakfast would be porridge with dried fruit and honey, a bagel with jam and a big mug of rocket fuel strength coffee. That said, before Barcelona I couldn't get much of this at all and ended up eating some Catalan sugary bread with sunflower seeds. Nothing new on raceday? Meh. :pac:

menoscemo

tHE vAGGABOND wrote: »

I would love to see what time you did after eating that tho

I normally have a full fry up (sausage, bacon eggs and a few slices of toast) before all my long runs/ half marathon + distance races and it has never slowed me down.
In fact I find it keeps me going the whole run without getting hungry and/or bonking. I wouldn't try it on a short race though or speed session though as the intensity would be too high to keep all that food down.

Would i recommend this to anyone else? Not necessarily, but it works for me...

ocnoc

tHE vAGGABOND wrote: »

I would love to see what time you did after eating that tho

http://www.imra.ie/events/view/id/760/

donothoponpop

ocnoc wrote: »

http://www.imra.ie/events/view/id/760/

LOL now it makes sense! 10 cups of coffee?!? You were wired to the moon that day:D

huskerdu

menoscemo wrote: »

I normally have a full fry up (sausage, bacon eggs and a few slices of toast) before all my long runs/ half marathon + distance races and it has never slowed me down.
In fact I find it keeps me going the whole run without getting hungry and/or bonking. I wouldn't try it on a short race though or speed session though as the intensity would be too high to keep all that food down.

Would i recommend this to anyone else? Not necessarily, but it works for me...

In contrast, if I so much as smell a piece of meat 2 hours before a run, I am nauseous for the whole run.

Muesli, wholemeal bread, banana is my favourite.