Last year I ran a lot of races, and suffered from a lost of post-race GI issues. I’ve tried different approaches to pre-race eating, race day fuel, and post-race food, and finally am figuring out what works–thank goodness, because I was on the verge of giving up racing!
Race-Day: My go-to race day breakfast has become a Kashi® waffle drizzled with syrup and topped with sliced banana.
If I’m feeling hungry or need to leave the house early, I will bring a crunchy peanut butter granola bar to eat closer to race time.
Post-Race: When I am afraid of post-race GI issues, the last thing I want to do is eat, but I have found that if I eat the right thing soon after I finish, my stomach is more settled the rest of the day. It also seems that eating small snacks every few hours helps keep my stomach from revolting.
My favorite thing to have right after a race is a soft, chewy bagel.
(My GW Parkway Classic bagel–I couldn’t wait!)
At this year’s GW Parkway Classic, they had bagels and bananas, and also gave out these:
The label says that the foods provide the right balance of nutrients to aid recovery.
I didn’t investigate the box until after I had eaten the rest of my bagel in an open-faced egg and cheese sandwich, so you will understand why I tried the square of Belgian dark chocolate first. 🙂
A few hours later I snacked on the cheese and crackers–they really hit the spot. Once I was confident that my stomach was not going to revolt, I had another snack.
By then I knew I was in the clear, and could enjoy a normal dinner.
Do you have set foods that you eat before a race?
Is your stomach finicky on race day?
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My go-to pre-race is PB and bananan on a plain brown rice cake. It works. I won't change it LOL.
I would always consume a slice of bread with 1 tbsp. peanut butter before any race. Never had problems.
I used to be extremely ritual about what I eat before racing.. I've gotten sloppy, sometimes I have problems, sometimes I don't. You'd think by now I'd be more concerned!
I ate a bagel with pb and banana before I ran my half last Spring – worked well.
I'm glad that my post was helpful. I haven't ever had GI issues with a race, I'm so thankful for that.
I’ve never seen a block of cheese in a runner recovery box before. I haven’t found anything yet that hasn’t really worked for me. I’m still experimenting though!
I haven’t really had stomach issues from food during a race but some of the fake sugars in some drinks and bars really bother me. Anything with “sugar alcohols” I stay away from.
I usually go for a piece of toast with peanut butter and banana slices before races and long runs. Definitely want to try a waffle instead of toast next time! Your kashi waffle looked really tasty 🙂
My stomach is usually pretty good except for in the last half marathon I ran… I couldn’t get much down for breakfast before the race and during the run I was SO hungry. I had “espresso love” and “vanilla bean” GUs for during the race and neither sat very well in my stomach :s Not sure why my stomach went crazy that race!