late night training/fueling

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bluestocking06
bluestocking06 Posts: 66 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm doing a night race coming up (it starts at 10 PM) and I've been doing my training runs at night and realized I have no idea how to recover/fuel them without staying up to like 4 in the morning. I've been burning like 1500ish calories on long runs, but can't bring myself to eat the calories back. I make sure to drink plenty of water before going to bed, but I know I'm usually ending the day with having only eaten like 200-400 net calories. Should I try to make it up the next day? I can't eat too much before I go or else my stomach gets really unhappy with me. Anyone have any input?

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  • ReyneDrop
    ReyneDrop Posts: 68 Member
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    YES. If you know you're going to run at night, adjust what you eat during the day. Another alternative is to run in the very early mornings (thus still simulating a night environment)... but otherwise, either eat more the day of your runs or eat more the day after. You could log a 9 PM Monday run as Tuesday's activity. Just find SOME WAY to eat the calories back throughout the week.
  • january179
    january179 Posts: 23 Member
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    If I know I am going to run that night I will up my calories throughout the day that way I am fueled for my runs. You can also drink a protein shake after too. That is how I get my extra calories if I hadn't eaten enough that day.
  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
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    Should I try to make it up the next day?

    Make it up the next day, or make it up during the day leading up to the run. Either way is fine.

    PS: There's no weight loss reason why you can't eat a solid meal after the run, by the way, though if it interferes with your sleep that's an excellent reason not to.
  • FL_SportsFan
    FL_SportsFan Posts: 9
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    I was wondering about this too. With work in the morning and school in the evening, the only time I have for exercise is at night
    I could get up earlier but that's probably not gonna happen haha. I usually finish the day with at least 500 calories left, but I'm not hungry.
  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
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    Due to my work schedule, I workout in the evenings Mon-Fri. I typically pre-log the approximate calories I know I'm going to burn that night based on what I'll be doing (run, intervals, etc) so I know what I should be eating throughout the day. (I usually estimate on the low end, just in case I have a lower burn that night, for whatever reason.)

    Then I eat my calories spread out through the day. I have a nice, big, breakfast to get me going, a mid-sized lunch and plenty of snacks through the day to keep me going. (all planned and brought with me to work, I don't keep an open drawer of snacks or depend on what can be bought/found at/around work) And then I have either a moderate or large dinner depending on the workout that night. But I make sure that I eat as soon as I get home from work, which gives me a couple of hours to be able to let my food settle before I head out to my workout. So I'm usually going out around 9 or 9:30, depending on motivation and when I finished eating.

    After the workout I'll have sometimes have something small, usually 50-100 calories, if I had a particularly heavy burn or if I'm hungry when I get home.

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