Post-Run Foods & General Advice

Deev79

Hi there... looking for some wisdom from all of you more experienced runners. I've just started running again over the last 2 weeks after taking about a four year hiatus. I've been running 5 days per week, 2.5 miles first thing in the morning. I get up and go without eating or drinking anything beforehand, and when I get back, I feel like I should be eating something, but am not particularly hungry. I'm wondering what are the best post-run foods to maximize my calorie burn. And should I be replacing some of those calories right away, or just waiting till I'm hungry? I'm also trying to limit my carbs, so this seems to limit me more, in general.

Also, in your experience, what's the best routine for running...every day?..every other day? I've been taking Wednesdays and Sundays off and running my 2.5-mile route each other day. I've been doing this since October 1st and have seen NO success on the scale as of yet (although this morning I was able to shave 4 minutes off my usual time for this run, so I'd consider that a pretty good NSV!!) Really looking for some encouragement from the scale, though. Any thoughts/advice??

jerendeb

Mine may not be the best reply but I only take about 2 days off per month. I run & bike both 3-4 days a week and do either in greater quantity when I can. My average workout is 1 hour at a time for either.

As for the actual routine; I cannot get up and go until I get up & 'go'. I drink a pint of water and a pint of black coffee. Sometimes I'll have a small cup of orange juice or Hammer Gel Espresso flavor just as I go out the door. I cannot eat 30-60 minutes before a workout, I have what's called reactive hypoglycemia which means my body overproduces insulin and makes me feel like I have low blood sugar even though I am loaded with food, so I am a fasting runner.

When I return from my workout, I am a believer that the first 30 minutes afterward are essential to get some carbs into me for replenishment, so I usually have more orange juice and a banana, then shower, then have a good high carb breakfast of either high fiber cereal, oatmeal or pancakes or toast with peanut butter or something . I don't hold back on the carbs. I do hold back on the fats though. I am not a vegetarian but I'd be a good one because the least important food group for me is proteins. I usually like to have beans of some kind involved in my lunch & dinner whether it be in salads or the foods cooked. Rice & beans or pastas with chickpeas etc.

When I am working out & eating as I desire I don't overeat or gain weight. My cravings are for natural wholesome foods. When I was not working out and drinking or eating crappy I craved crappy. Where I now crave a plate of pancakes I used to crave eggs, home fries & bacon. I don't rule them out either but I just rarely crave them.

My snacks if I have them at night are air-popped corn with butter flavored Pam like spray (enough to make the salt stick) with some peanuts.

Those are my experiences.

timboom1

At 2.5 miles per run, I would not worry about specific food before or after. You are not stressing you glycogen stores on that distance and your normal nutrition will be enough to recover from the run before the next one. As you start into longer runs that advice may change, but for now there is no need to worry about it. I would guess that some of the lack of scale movement may be coming from eating back more than you are burning on your runs. It is easy to do, especially at lower mileage where the calories are probably only 200-300 per run. Tracking is critical as it is common issue (and why I use MFP myself, even though I run 50-60 miles/week)

In terms of number of days, that depends on what you can handle. If you are not feeling burnt out or odd aches and pains (basically you are recovering after each run) then 5 days is fine. Basically you just need to be sure you are giving your body the time to recovery and adapt to get the benefit of running. It sounds, based on your speed improvement, that you are.

I don't know about your time constraints, but instead of number of days running, you may consider mixing it up the types of runs a bit and over the next 3 or 4 weeks increasing the distance on a couple of days a week to 3.5-4 miles, and then taking one of the other short days and pushing the pace a little faster, and then taking the other two pretty easy.

Deev79

I don't know about your time constraints, but instead of number of days running, you may consider mixing it up the types of runs a bit and over the next 3 or 4 weeks increasing the distance on a couple of days a week to 3.5-4 miles, and then taking one of the other short days and pushing the pace a little faster, and then taking the other two pretty easy.

That is good advice...I will shake things up a bit now that I feel like my body is at least getting back into the routine. I am strapped for time in the mornings, as my husband and I both try to fit in a run before work, with one of us staying with the kids while the other heads out. I will try varying my runs and see how that goes.

As for diet while running... my hubs in on a strict carb-limited diet, trying to shed some fast pounds. ( I don't really feel this is the way to do it, but hey--can't tell the man anything!!) I have also been cutting out a lot of the carbs I would usually eat (white flour and such...) How many carbs would you suggest I take in per day? I know 2.5-3 miles per day is not a lot, so I'm not needing to eat like a marathon runner, but I'm not really sure where to start here!

timboom1

I am not huge fan of low carb diets, kind of a fad thing if you ask me, but that is just my opinion and I do love pasta. I also don't think that most runners need to worry about carbs unless they are really going into high mileage. Gun to the head, I would say 30-40% of your calories from carbs is good with the qualification that if you are feeling good with your running each day right now, without residual soreness from one day to the next, then your current intake is fine. Carbs or not, in the end it is still calories in, calories out...little things (like no carbs) may impact the equation a little bit but over time they are never enough to really matter (not that it is worth an argument, been there, done that...no payoff.)