Food for runners

“With all the running you guys do, do you have to eat special diets?”

Matt: I used to think that because I ran a lot, it didn’t really matter what I ate. And on the outside, this appeared to work — I didn’t get fat or anything. But when I switched to a vegetarian diet, I realized that what I ate did matter. All of the sudden I started making big gains with my training like I had never seen before, even when I was just starting out as a runner.

So I’ve stuck with the vegetarian diet — I truly believe that for my body, that’s what works best. I’m not a vegan, but I do limit the dairy products I consume because I’ve noticed that I have more energy when I stay away from milk, cheese, and yogurt. I choose whole foods over processed as often as possible, including lots of raw fruits and vegetables.

One of the best pieces of diet advice for runners I’ve heard recently is “Eat like a poor person.”  So I eat a lot of lentils and beans, brown rice, whole wheat pastas, and nuts, but I spend a good amount of time cooking so that it doesn’t get boring! Since I started eating this way, I’ve discovered so many delicious Indian and Asian dishes that are naturally vegetarian, not simply meatless versions of dishes that are meant to have meat in them.

I definitely allow myself a lot of flexibility though. I eat when I’m hungry and never count calories, because for me that takes away the fun of eating. I love to cook too, so every once in a while I’ll make a dish as true to the original as possible, with white-flour pasta, lots of cheese, and a gorgonzola cream sauce, for example.

When I’m putting in a lot of mileage or have a race coming up, I tend to eat a few more servings of whole grains than otherwise. One of my very favorite training foods is Grape Nuts cereal with almond milk because of the density of carbohydrates in a single bowl. You can see more of what I eat for training in post I wrote on my blog about eating before a marathon.

Megan: My nutrition philosophy is pretty flexible – I don’t follow a specific diet plan or count calories. I aim to eat mostly whole grains, fruit, vegetables, beans, nuts, and organic dairy, but I do enjoy treats daily. I’m lucky in that I actually enjoy the taste of healthy food – I get really excited about buying my lunch from the office salad bar! But I also like to indulge in less healthy fare – like cupcakes with thick buttercream icing or crispy salted french fries with a good beer. I think that life is too short to deny ourselves the things that we enjoy most!

If you read The Runner’s Kitchen, you can get an idea of what I eat on a typical day, so I won’t overload you with the details here. I would say that I’m 98% vegetarian – I didn’t eat meat for the whole month of September and I didn’t miss it at all. However, I’m hesitant to give my self the label “vegetarian” because I am a foodie at heart and sometimes I just can’t turn down a juicy (preferably organic) burger. I recently decided not to purchase meat to prepare at home – if I do indulge in meat it will be on a special occasion such as a holiday or a fancy restaurant dinner.

When I’m in high mileage training (35+ miles per week), I try to focus on consuming quality calories. As I increase mileage, I’ll add extra servings of peanut butter, beans, olive oil, and healthy-ish desserts (whole wheat banana bread!) to give me energy.  One of my favorite meals to eat before a race or long run is a toasted bagel with 2Tbs peanut butter, sliced banana, and a drizzle of honey. I’ll eat this about 2-3 hours before the start and the carbs, protein, and healthy fats keep me fueled to the finish.

I am also a big coffee drinker, I am now at the point where a small cup of coffee on race morning is a standard part of my routine. At first I was worried about its effects on my stomach, but after many trial runs, I’ve found that my body tolerates coffee pretty well before running. The trick is to try this out before an easy run or training workout – don’t do anything new on race morning!

My general credo about running and eating is not to stress about it too much. Try to choose whole foods that are minimally processed (or like Michael Pollan says: “Eat real food. Not too much. Mostly plants”), but allow yourself some wiggle room. And remember: one meal, or dessert, or day of eating will not effect your running all that much. It’s what you do day-in and day-out over the long run (hah, pun intended) that will determine how healthy you are. Happy running!