Diet and Half Marathon - what to eat?

innerfashionista

Any help is appreciated!

I walk in my first half marathon this Saturday, and I need some help diet wise. I'm starting my carbo loading and electrolyte loading on Wednesday night (per the advice of the marathon runner at my local running store), but I'm not sure how the rest of my diet should look. Should I go heavy on proteins too? Take in extra salt to make up for the salt I'll be losing that day?

innerfashionista

I guess I should have elaborated more before it hit "submit".

- What carbs seem to work best for you?
- Are there any I should stay away from?
- Are there any drinks I should stay away from? I have a balck tea every morning and water the rest of the day, with the occasional chocolate milk, protein shake, or powerade zero.
- What should I have the morning of for breakfast?
- What should I eat AFTER the race?

I get between 1500 and 1800 calories a day, and I zig zag. My workout calories are factored into the zigzag formula.

BeautyFromPain

bump

runlaugheatpie

I guess I should have elaborated more before it hit "submit".

- What carbs seem to work best for you?
- Are there any I should stay away from?
- Are there any drinks I should stay away from? I have a balck tea every morning and water the rest of the day, with the occasional chocolate milk, protein shake, or powerade zero.
- What should I have the morning of for breakfast?
- What should I eat AFTER the race?

I get between 1500 and 1800 calories a day, and I zig zag. My workout calories are factored into the zigzag formula.

I can only give you my personal experience with running races and food prepping.

I definitely carb-load but with complex carbs like whole-wheat pastas and breads. I don't use it as an excuse to eat anything carb-related.

Pre-hydrate - I hope I'm saying that the right way; what I mean is, drink extra water the few days before your race.

If you do sports drinks now, then take one with you for during your race. Also if you do protein/power bars and you are used to them, take something with you so you don't get super hungry. (I did not have food with me at my Half and this was a huge mistake on my part...)

I don't think you should eat or drink anything you are not already used to on the morning of your Half, regardless of running or walking it. My race mornings are usually steel-cut oats with a TBSP of peanut butter and banana. I drink coffee and am used to it for sure, but I do not drink more than 1 mug before a race. I would definitely do a good complex carb/ protein combo for your breakfast though.

Afterwards just be sure to re-hydrate with a sports drink. Or a beer ;-) I *always* have beer! And french fries!!

jo_marnes

I ran my first half yesterday!

I read that you shouldn't eat anything that you don't normally eat! So I didn't carb load, over eat or have shakes/ supplements (these are never part of my diet anyway). And it is a half marathon.... yes it's an effort but your body has enough fuel to keep you going that long without needing extras.

I ran mine with a bowl full of porridge and a decaf coffee in my tummy! I sipped water throughout. The run was great and felt brilliant, sprint finished for a finish time of 2 hours. Afterwards I went home and had soup and a roll.... and a nap ;-)

Good luck with your run!

Gerkenstein

Bump!