For awhile I was drinking Almond milk with Ovaltine, but it doesn't have the protein which is part of the benefit of cow's milk.

Basically anything that replaces some of your electrolytes and carbs - Gatorade G2 - and some protein for muscle growth. Peanut butter on toast with water would be fine. But that's more for running over an hour.

Or, if you eat normally (3 + meals a day), drinking water after exercise and eating your regular meals is all you really need as a beginning runner. Just make sure you're getting protein and not low-carbing it.

I like to take a water bottle with me full of Poweraid Zero... I know it has fake sugar in it but I like the 0 calories and it tastes sweet after being in the hot sun....we only drink it after working out, fishing or mowing the yard to help recover. Plus about 4 glasses of water. I run at night and it is hot in Indiana right now so while i cool down and watch some tv I down the water.

I always run in the morning before breakfast so I drink water while I run and then usually come in and have a couple of cups of coffee! Not ideal but the thought of the coffee sometimes gets me through my run

I usually drink just water. My problem is that I run in the evenings (usually - not this week with super high temps!) and then have to pee like crazy in the middle of the night! All that water at night waits until I'm fast asleep to decide it's ready to come out again.

Water. That is pretty much the only thing I will drink after a run. And at least an 8 oz base, and go up from there depending on how much weight I lost through sweat and how much time I spend running.

Normally I just drink water.. Sometimes I will have a sobe with coconut water. And if I had a realy good calorie burn I will have a drink some protein powder mixed in water

I am trying a couple of different recovery drink mixes now - Scivation Xtend and Fluid Recovery. Both have Glutamine which is supposed to aid in muscle recovery. The Fluid brand has some protein while the other does not. Xtend has more aminos and some other stuff that helps with ATP synthesis and lactate response. So far I prefer Xtend although it bothers my stomach a little at full strength. I need to water it down a bit to handle it. I really do feel like it helps me recover from running and mountain biking. It's pricey so I will only buy it again if I can get another good discount.

I actually drank some Pedialyte (the kids refuse it, so I give them G2 when they're sick) before and after my last run. It's nasty, but it was really effective.

I tried Coconut Water and it was worse than Pedialyte.