first 5K- suggestions to eat before?

teppum42 · Post by **teppum42** » Thu May 14, 2009 8:54 am

Hello!

I am running first Official Race- a 5K this Saturday (for those in the IL/IN area- http://www.junglerun5k.com/ at the Exotic Feline Rescue Center). I usually just sleep walk out the door in the mornings and get cardio done before breakfast. However, I'm going to be up for a few hours before the race, so will need to eat.

I was thinking of eating some eggs and vegetables about 6am, then an apple with some natural peanut butter about 9am, with the race to start at 10:30am. Should I add some granola at 9am? Or substitute the peanut butter? I don't want it to be too fatty and rolling around in there while I'm running.

Thanks for your help! I'm nearing "Wanting to increase performance, not just loose weight" phase (still have 10 pounds to go, but it's going slowly but surely), so eating before workouts is going to be something I start investigating (if I want to run in the afternoons and evenings). Just found a local jogging club I'm excited about- it may make jogging a little more fun for me...

Thanks again for your advice!
~Becky

Boss Man · Post by **Boss Man** » Thu May 14, 2009 2:56 pm

Not bad, although perhaps have something like a bowl of Cereal instead, as Fruit digests quite quickly. Cereal would almost certainly slow release more, giving more prolonged energy release.

Boopster · Post by **Boopster** » Fri May 15, 2009 10:19 am

Good luck with your race! I'm sure you'll do great. I agree with Boss Man. You need carbs for energy and a better choice would be cereal or oatmeal pre-race. Keep us posted on how you do

radioflyer1017 · Post by **radioflyer1017** » Sat May 16, 2009 4:54 am

I hope I'm getting suggestion in on time!

I would say oatmeal for sure. I've done the oatmeal thing and you'd be surprised at how quickly that "rolling" feeling goes away, but the oatmeal keeps you fueled your entire run.

I was up at 4am eating a turkey omelet this morning, and meeting a friend at 6am to run (followed by spin at 8am and body sculpting at 9am)...we'll see how well this omelet works, I'm afraid it may come back up during the run!

teppum42 · Post by **teppum42** » Sat May 16, 2009 5:46 pm

Awesome! I had a great time! I ate two egg whites, some veggies, and a cup of coffee at 6am, had some granola about 9am, and was too excited to eat anymore.

There were 350 registered for the race. I started and kept a good pace, but I didn't want to overextend myself and poop out (running up and down hills in gravel and off road in the mud, was a bit different then on the indoor tract).

But at mile 2, parents had driven down to suprise me, and I saw them waving and cheering. It totally kicked me into high gear for that last mile. It was muddy and rainy, but I finished at 22:54. And when they gave out the medals at the end, I had won first place in women's age group 25-29! What a great suprise and motivation to keep running!

Thank you for your ideas on food! I really appreciate all the support that is here on this forum!

radioflyer1017 · Post by **radioflyer1017** » Sat May 16, 2009 5:49 pm

That's an amazing time! Congratulations!

Boss Man · Post by **Boss Man** » Sat May 16, 2009 6:00 pm

WELL DONE. You should be very proud of coming first in your group, and we certainly like to hear of people like you doing well

.

radioflyer1017 · Post by **radioflyer1017** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 2:16 pm

Interesting side note...

I'm training for a half-marathon and the last two Saturdays before long runs I've eaten oatmeal and yogurt with almonds.

I love the oatmeal as fuel, but the yogurt is not working for me. I'll spare you the details, but I've had some SERIOUS stomach issues at the end of runs.

I don't know if that's just me or if anyone else has had this problem...

Boss Man · Post by **Boss Man** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 6:51 pm

Yoghurt is dairy, so the possible bloating issues might occur. Well I certainly couldn't rule it out.

The Almonds seem like a good choice because of the secondary energy from the Fats. You could possibly explore Cashews as well, for the additional Carbs.

They're about the only Nut with Carbs, but you might find crushing them up and adding them to the Oatmeal, might work out for you.