food - General running - Runner's World

sean rodgers

03/08/2002 at 19:38

please could someone give me tips on different things to eat for breakfast dinner tea etc plus what to snack on many thanks

Jeremy Tapp

03/08/2002 at 20:12

Have you read all the articles in the nutrition section Sean?

Symond

04/08/2002 at 12:30

Cherry bakewells work well for me :)

Im norm too nervous to eat much b4 a race except 2 of them.

I seem to do OK :)

04/08/2002 at 17:58

Hi Sean...

Here's a selection of some of my menu's that I use. It is 1380-1500 calories a day - but I AM dieting so you may need more.

Breakfast
Branflakes & chopped Banana with 125ml skimmed milk OR
2 pieces toast (no butter or margarine) with chopped banana

Lunch
Lettuce,
tomato,
cucumber,
baked chicken
wholemeal bread roll (2)
OR swap the chicken for lean ham
and I either make sandwiches or a salad. Yoghurt and tangerine.

Dinner
25g Brown rice or 25g brown pasta
Chicken breast pieces (steamed),
chinese five spice seasoning,
stir fry with water &
onion, mushrooms, green beans & carrots OR
lean mince with
chilli powder,
tomatoes,
green beans,
red pepper.
Tangerine.

Also drink 3 litres of water a day and a pre run smoothie (banana & peach).

Velociraptor

04/08/2002 at 20:30

Depends on lots of things, Sean, including how tall and heavy you are, how much you run, how much other exercise you do, whether you have an active or sedentary job, whether you want to lose, gain or maintain weight, what sort of stuff you like to eat, whether you can train with a full belly, and that great unknown, biological variation.

There is, as Jeremy says, some brilliant general advice in the nutrition section. There are also several good books on sports nutrition - Liz Applegate's "Eat Smart, Play Hard" is very readable but the menus are far too American for me (bagels! blueberries! dried egg white powder! defatted soy flour!). Anita Bean's books are more relevant to an athlete on a British diet.

When it comes down to deciding what to eat, one size doesn't fit all and if you don't have a personal trainer dictating what can go on your plate you have to work it out yourself based on trial and error.

One tip from personal experience. No matter how much stilton cheese you eat before a run, it will not put glycogen in your muscles.

Cheers, V-rap.

Cheers, V-rap.

My Knees Suck

04/08/2002 at 21:32

Here are some of my faves. Hope you find them helpful!
Breakfast: Tripe
Lunch: Crab sticks
Tea: More tripe

If I'm going to refuel on a long run I find taking a frying pan with me and knocking up some scrambled eggs works well.

MartinH

05/08/2002 at 06:59

Sean

I am a bit suspicious of most food recommendations as a) the recommendations seem to change frequently; and b) like anything else if eating doesn't give you pleasure then you probably won't do it!

I try to follow a balanced-ish diet but for me that means keeping it simple e.g.

1. Breakfast: Generally cereal and two pieces of toast (miss breakfast yt your peril). I personnally favour marmite or jam on toast but always have butter as well.
2. Mid morning snack: generally a banana, apple etc or a cereal bar. Usually also have some sweets (liqorice allsorts my fave).
3. Lunch and / or dinner: try and have a high carb dish three / four times a week e.g. a pasta based dish or baked potato. I personnally steer clear of red meat as I find it difficult to digest.

I don't conciously reduce fat but then I don't really like fatty foods anyway (except for cheese) plus I will always have a fry up at the weekend (but not before my long run!!).

Everything in moderation as the man said.

Neal.

05/08/2002 at 08:23

This is how I took 12 mins of a half marathon pb in a year:

BF: 2 pieces toast / butter
10.30 banana
12.15 lettuce, tom, cuc, cheese, egg, lean ham with low fat salad cream. Apple.
19.00 Either: Pasta+ lightly fried chicken OR another salad OR 6* Ryvita cheese tomato

Snacks: Olives, nectarines, few hula hoops, Mars Bar (if racing that night).

Pretty boring all in all, but I have done it for a year and hey, I am an accountant!

------ps:
Friday night: 10 pints and a curry in Bracknell! (The Highlight!)

Yorkshire Pud

05/08/2002 at 08:42

Banana
Plenty of water
Another banana
Perhaps a glass of water
And a few digestive biscuits.

It may not be the best, but it works for me.

Dustin

05/08/2002 at 09:01

Don't miss breakfast:muesli or toast or both!
Limit fatty foods , but we all need a fry up sometimes...
Snack on fruit or fruit/cereal bars
Eat plenty of fresh vegetables.
Eat pasta - bland as f**k but necessary unfortunately.
drink enough fluids
limit alcohol

I don't pay much attention to calorie intake and tend to eat what I like (within reason) when I like.
It comes down to what you're trying to achieve.The past 12 months have seen me maintain around 30-40 miles per week,my weight fall from 13st12 to between 12st12-13st0lb (where its been since April)and pbs at 10k,10m,halfM and marathon.

There is so much advice it is really suck it and see.

Velociraptor

05/08/2002 at 10:05

What I can't understand is that on the one hand the "experts" advise us that runners need loads of calories, more protein than non-athletes, and a decent amount of fat, and on the other hand "they" advise us to eat low-fat this and sugar-free that and avoid sugary sweets but wrap our gullets regularly around "energy" gels and "sports" drinks which are just sugar solutions.

I can cope with those recommendations just now while I'm carrying a few kilos extra anyway, but at a BMI of 20 (which is quite scrawny enough for me) and 30-40 miles a week I would die of fibre overload if I didn't make up a chunk of my daily 3,500 calories with puddings and sweets and cheese.

One of the joys of running should be that it lets us eat well and plentifully rather than picking at green salads and pasta-alla-napolitana-and-hold-the-parmesan, and one of the best things about runners is that most are not self-obsessed about diet. After all, what we eat is far less important than how much we train.

Cheers, V-rap.

MartinH

05/08/2002 at 13:43

V-rap

I just had a cheese and salami pizza for lunch, he he he

Velociraptor

05/08/2002 at 15:33

I had a flying-saucer sized wholemeal roll with hot chicken tikka, tomatoes, and onion mayo. That'll make sure nobody is tempted to linger too long in my consulting room this evening.

Cheers, V-rap.

efc-col

22/09/2002 at 20:49

i looked at plenty of running diets,i even read in one magasine to eat plenty of cakes because there full of carbs is this wise the week before a half marathon?what should
i eat the week before?

Edski

22/09/2002 at 21:29

What you like, of course. I'm just stuffing my face with choccy biccies and I don't give a fig roll about it. I'll burn it off so who cares? V-rap commented on energy gels - well I bought some - it was simply glucose syrup with some flavouring. At £1.35 I'm a right twit. Will bring some sugar cubes with, next time.

SY3

Velociraptor

22/09/2002 at 23:15

The usual advice is to increase the proportion of carbohydrate in your diet to about 70% (think malt loaf rather than cream doughnuts) but drop your calorie intake by 100 for every mile you reduce your training by during the taper period to avoid gaining those oh-so-slowing few ounces of weight. That's fine for those who count. Personally, I plan to spend the week before the GNR eating sweets and puddings and jam butties, and avoiding the scales. The sensible runner would load up with pasta and rice and spuds, low-fat sauces, fruit, and a bit of lean meat.

Who put my nickname in the same sentence as "energy gel"? I'll sue them! Must confess to having once bought a Powerbar, but I've never been tempted to repeat the experiment.

efc-col

23/09/2002 at 20:54

thanks for the info,doing the GNR myself.its bin about 6 years since my last half marathon,lost touch a bit.
looks like jam butty's and cakes for me,c.p.

Fluffa

24/09/2002 at 07:23

i have never had an energy gel in my life....if i'm running more than 20 miles i find the best strategy is to have about 4000 cal the day before (mostly in the form of bagels and malt loaf), rest the day before (and poss the day before that) and take vast quantities of salty orange squash on my run (about 2 litres) ... and maybe a mars bar (my dispensation from veganism ;) for the last couple of miles....not usually needed, so i just eat it later... i don't know whether i've taught my body to store loads of energy or something, but i don't seem to run out at 20 miles in a marathon...
not sure i'd get on with energy gels either...i seem to get heartburn from sports drinks, unless they're really really diluted, and can't eat anything like jelly beans either....it either has to be complex carbs like bread, or some chocolate....maybe the fat in the choc stops the heartburn.....no idea!
also, my body doesn't seem to like the 100 cal a mile thing....i seem to need loads more....is it repair energy, or just a fast metabolism?
definitely go along with the jam butties and cakes...i've got a marathon on the 13th, and it'll be choc chip bagels, banana malt loaf (has anyone tried that stuff? ...sooo nice!) and peanut butter and jam toasties...good luck everyone!
xxxxa

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