Pre-race food

Sorry I've been slacking on posting! I promise I will start regularly blogging come Feb. 1, 2012. I will make an attempt to blog ever 2-3 days with my workouts. Pinky promise :) Anyway, so today, I would like to talk about what I eat before I run. I'll start this post out with a horror story:

When I ran the Disney Half-Marathon last year, I was running past the Grand Floridian. I believe this was around mile 7. At this point, the course turned to being 2 lanes. Here, you didn't want to get stuck behind someone slow and the rules of running (unwritten) came in to play. So, picture this, I was running and a SLOOOOW lady ran with all her might to get in front of me only to slow down once she got in front of me. I thought to myself, "Wow, that was a dick move." But then I caught a glimpse as to why she may have slowed down... she pooped herself... and I saw it. I was looking at her butt for whatever reason, and I saw her spandex pants fill up with poop. And then I smelled it. And then I ran on the grass to go past her because if not, I would have barfed.

You may ask yourself why I would share such a gross story. Well, the reason is, I find it important to be careful as to what you put in yourself because you don't know if your body will reject the food while exercising. Poor lady in front of me ended up pooping herself during mile 7 of 13. I don't know if she finished or not, but here's to a DNF.

I've run my share of races in the morning and evening. I don't particularly like evening races because I don't really know how to eat for a race starting at 10pm. Usually, before a race, I like to wake up, do my thing and eat half of a bagel with crunchy peanut butter as close to the start as possible. I drink about 8-16oz of water when eat that bad boy, too. Mainly so I don't choke because at that point, I will be fully hydrated. If I have one, then I eat a banana, but there will usually be some on the course and I'll eat one then. And to be honest, that's all I eat before morning runs.

During evening runs, I usually like to have some sort of pasta (about a cup) with another protein (beans will do) about 2-3 hours before I run. Then, I have a PB&J sandwich (or 2) and a banana about 30 minutes before running. Again, with 8-16oz of water so I don't choke. I've found that this combination has left me not hungry and with enough energy to run a long race and not want to die in the end.

I guess I could have written this post with just two words: Peanut butter. It keeps you full and will not give you the Grand Floridian Mile 7 effect. Oh, and before I go, be sure to check out my humorous yet true tips to eating before running.

Some advice: 

• DO NOT TRY SOMETHING NEW BEFORE YOU RUN. I'm sure you've all heard of the Chipotle effect. Well, little known fact, I love eating Chipotle before 10+ runs BUT NOT anything more than 20. At that point, my stomach rebels. If you're not used to the food before a run, avoid it. 
• DO NOT drink pedialyte before a race. I know it's important to stay hydrated, but only drink it if you plan on stopping ~4 times DURING your run to urinate. Or you could always go on yourself. I added an HOUR to a run because I had to keep stopping to use PortoLets. This also holds true if you CARBOTOOMUCHLOAD. If you have too many carbs, the old diarrhea machine might come after you. 
• With that being said, don't overhydrate. If you drink to much and don't pee, you swell up and that is ungood AND uncool. 
• Eat something before you run. It doesn't have to be a full on meal. In fact, don't eat a full meal before running, but eat enough to sustain your energy. If not, you'll probably feel terrible during the run. 
• Eating TOO MUCH fiber leads to too much gas. We're not jet powered... yet. 

Disclaimer: I'm not a dietician nor do I claim to be one. I just know what works and what doesn't work for me and am offering advice to those who want to read it.