Today Jill‘s question over at the Runner’s Lounge Take It and Run Thursday is “What do you eat before your long run?” It took me a long time to come up with an answer to this question. Not that it took me a long time to think about, but that I tried a whole bunch of different combinations when training for the marathon. My final answer: peanut butter and jelly on whole wheat bread.
I have a rather finicky stomach, especially in the morning. When I’m not running, I usually eat an egg mixed with vegetables and cottage cheese (basically a crustless quiche). This keeps me full and happy while I’m getting the kids to school and running errands, etc. However, I found that it didn’t have enough complex carbs for anything more than about a 4 mile run. So, I tried cereal with milk and added nuts, which works pretty well, but sometimes has a little too much fiber, IYKWIM… Finally, I tried eating a PB&J. For me, it seems to be the perfect combination of protein and carbs and doesn’t sit heavy in my stomach (nor does it send me into bathroom crisis a few miles in). Thankfully, it’s also really portable, so it’s easy to take with me to races or on trips.
Yesterday, my dad and I ran a nearly perfect tempo run. I did plenty of carb loading the night before (hello birthday cake and beer LOL), so my legs felt full of energy, despite the 8 miles the day before. We went out a little fast (8:57) and then got into an awesome groove (8:35, 8:34, 8:35), with a slow quarter mile cool down. The best part was that I usually psych myself out before tempos and this wasn’t a planned tempo, so it was really cool to hit what would normally be my tempo pace and enjoy it!
Stay tuned for a beer related giveaway when I get home to Virginia!
seems like a group consensus on the peanut butter variations!!!!
Mmm, I love me some good old fashioned PB&J. Sweet run!
Lacey's right, it does seem like PB works in various forms for people!Thanks for participating in my TiaRT topic!
I think most people do some kind of PB and bread combo; seems to work universally!
Very good to remember for my next race – I'm usually scrambling around to find a microwave for my oatmeal, but PB&J would be soooo much easier!
Peanut butter and banana on a bagel=the perfect pre-long-run meal. I can't do anything except carbs and PB b/f a long run!
Gluten Free toaster waffles and an egg or egg white for protein, final answer;)
nom, nom, nom pb&j! awesome job on the tempo run after the impromptu 8 miles!
PB and J is my choice too! Nice run with your papa. I think it is so cool you guys run together.
Peanut butter is the best thing, I usually mix it in my oatmeal for long runs.Great tempo run!
Its amazing on how many people 1) have tricky stomachs when it comes to the pre-run eating and 2) eat some form of peanut butter. A bunch of people seem to put peaunt butter into oatmeal … while I love both of them separately, I cant seem to fathom the idea of the combination of the two. I could be really missing out … look what happened when they put peanut butter & chocolate together. Yuuuummmm.
PB&J is totally my pre-run food too!
I love a whole wheat english muffin with PB or honey or a South Beach protein bar. I've found I can stomach those too pretty easily. Love your style of carb loading too! LOL! GREAT pace on your tempo run!!!