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Energy Boost Food (Read 257 times)


Encouragement welcome

    I ran a 5k Saturday morning, and before I had finished the first quarter mile, I was dead tired.  It was like I hadn't had any food at all.  I'd had water, a cup of coffee, a bowl of oatmeal (3 hours before race time) and a protein bar 2 hours before race time.  Oh, and a package of  Clif Shot Bloks about 15 minutes before the race.  Any suggestions for pre-run food that will definitely make me feel the energy?  What I had didn't work at all.  I felt like my entire body was made of lead, and I had a very strong desire to just quit where I was and sit on the sidewalk.  I wound up with an average pace of 14.5 min/mile.

    Pace Goal : 14 mm

    5k Goal: 40 minutes

     

    10k, half, and marathon someday....

     

    (Hey, I'm just getting started!)

      I always try to drink a Shamrock shake on the way to the race....

       

      But , seriously, what had you eaten for the two or three days before the race? The stuff you eat the morning of the race isn't going to undo any calorie deficit you incurred for days leading up to the race. 

       

      Oh, and don't take this the wrong way, but if your log is accurate, I'm not sure what you'd expect since it doesn't appear that you're training. Nog a dig, just an observation. And, it doesn't appear that you did any warmup before the race. If you didn't warm up, the first 1/4 mile is going to feel bad. 

        I try to eat decent most of the time with the occasional pizza or triple burger thrown in the mix, but I truly start a really good eating pattern beginning the week of my race.  I make sure to get plenty of good carbs and protein in me throughout the day, not just dinner.  For snacks during the day, I like to get fruits and raw veggies to make sure I'm getting my vitamin C and other vital nutrients.  Not only is eating right all week essential, but you need to make sure you're getting plenty of water too.  Hydrate those muscles throughout the week.

        Runslowalksalot


          For a 5K, what one eats the morning of, is far less important than what one eats the previous day.   There are some staples like bagels with peanut butter or steel cut oats (I like mine with eggs mixed in for anything that will take more than an hour).   But the fact is that people are so different, you must experiment.   taking in simple sugars 10-15 minutes prior is a great idea if your stomach can tolerate it, but a good warmup is more important.   It takes 15-20 minutes of an elevated heartrate for the capillaries in working muscles to fully dialate and the "second wind" to kick in.

           

          Hope this helps.


          Encouragement welcome

            I don't log warmups, but what I did do wasn't enough.  I had to take some time off due to a bronchial infection.  I thought I was well, but in the second half of the race, I started with a hacking cough that kept me from maintaining a jog.  I had plenty of carbs the week prior and protein too, I ate very well, actually, without overeating.  But on any day when I start my cardio, I'm dog tired.  I never get a second wind, and I didn't get any post-race endorphin rush.  Smile. I'd like to have felt the glow the other women with me were floating around with.

             

            I don't log every single workout and rep that I do on this site -- I haven't learned an efficient way to put weight training, for exampe, in the log.  I don't like that I get no calorie count showing for my work on the elliptical. But I couldn't come back from two weeks in bed with bronchitis in beast mode.  Smile. I was warned to start back cautiously, and not at full intensity.

             

            my weight is part of the problem, but still, I'd just like to know some suggestions to my original question. Smile please? Just some good pre-workout energy foods.  (Because I can't lose weight if I'm too tired to move.)

             

            thanks for the suggestion about the bagels & pb.  I know I have to experiment, so I'm trying to find some new things to try.  I'd been eating oats, fruit, veggies, and lean protein faience I got sick.  Last week was the week I revamped my sleep completely and got seven hours each night.  This week starts the food experimentation, with more gym time.

            Pace Goal : 14 mm

            5k Goal: 40 minutes

             

            10k, half, and marathon someday....

             

            (Hey, I'm just getting started!)

            FSBD


               

              my weight is or problem, but still, I'd like to know is some suggestions to my original question, not the other issues.  Smile please? Just some good per-workout energy foods.

               

              Try some eggs or a bagel with peanut butter.  But honestly the protein bar alone should be enough for a 5K.

              I would guess that the bronchial infection and the lack of running are a much bigger factor than what you ate that morning.

              We are the music makers,

                  And we are the dreamers of dreams,

              Wandering by lone sea-breakers,

                  And sitting by desolate streams; 

              World-losers and world-forsakers,

                  On whom the pale moon gleams:

              Yet we are the movers and shakers

                  Of the world for ever, it seems.

              dallison


              registered pw

                Did you go out too fast? A lot of people do that.

                2017 goals:

                sub 1:30 half 

                 

                  I don't really think 5k is long enough for fuelling to make much of a difference, unless you were already severely glycogen depleted at the outset.


                  #artbydmcbride

                    Double espresso

                     

                    Runners run


                    Hoodoo Guru

                      Do you usually run/workout in the mornings?  If not, you might want to practice morning runs if that is when you are going to race.  And their is no real magic food for energy boost, other than caffeine or similar drinks.

                      The tangents are moot.

                       

                       

                       


                      No Talent Drips

                        All I know is my own experience...I am not a sports nutritionist and I don't do a lot of reading on the subject of prerace fueling. When I read your original post, I feel compelled to confess that it seems to me that one potential problem could be too much food; your pre 5k routine sounds very (VERY) much like my pre-marathon routine. I really (truly) do not mean to sound snarky--I just wonder if there is some physiological explanation (blood diverted to digestion?) that could account for a drop in energy.


                        Let's assume an 8am start. My pre-5k routine (to the extent I have one) would be something like:

                        -6am- brew lots of black coffee. enough to last me until right before the race

                        -6:30am- toast with peanut butter

                        -6:45- hop in car with coffee (topped off), water with a salt tablet (nuun Kola is my choice), and maybe a larabar or someting similar.

                        -7:00- at race, well hydrated, well caffinated, not at all full--but with some fuel in the system. Run around, register, pee.

                        -7:15- at least a two mile w/u with the first mile easy followed by surges/strides during the second mile

                        -7:50- one last swig of coffee...sip of water...probably some chewing gum...probably put on a trucker's cap...get ready to suffer.

                        -race- this isn't as bad as I thought. Ok, this is challenging but i'm tough; I can do this. Feck. Oh god. Am I about to cry? Dig. Done. Simple!

                         

                        A lot fewer calories than what you describe...but plenty to get me through the 350-400 (??I really have no idea) i'd likely burn.

                         

                        Keep it up...keep experimenting...and good for you for not quiting when the voices in your head were telling you to. We have all been there (or I have, anyway).

                         

                        MTA: a "to / too" error. WTF? Low blood sugar.

                         Dei Gratia

                         

                          ...probably put on a trucker's cap...

                           

                          Well obviously.

                          Runners run

                            All I know is my own experience...I am not a sports nutritionist and I don't do a lot of reading on the subject of prerace fueling. When I read your original post, I feel compelled to confess that it seems to me that one potential problem could be too much food; your pre 5k routine sounds very (VERY) much like my pre-marathon routine. I really (truly) do not mean to sound snarky--I just wonder if there is some physiological explanation (blood diverted to digestion?) that could account for a drop in energy.


                            Let's assume an 8am start. My pre-5k routine (to the extent I have one) would be something like:

                            -6am- brew lots of black coffee. enough to last me until right before the race

                            -6:30am- toast with peanut butter

                            -6:45- hop in car with coffee (topped off), water with a salt tablet (nuun Kola is my choice), and maybe a larabar or someting similar.

                            -7:00- at race, well hydrated, well caffinated, not at all full--but with some fuel in the system. Run around, register, pee.

                            -7:15- at least a two mile w/u with the first mile easy followed by surges/strides during the second mile

                            -7:50- one last swig of coffee...sip of water...probably some chewing gum...probably put on a trucker's cap...get ready to suffer.

                            -race- this isn't as bad as I thought. Ok, this is challenging but i'm tough; I can do this. Feck. Oh god. Am I about to cry? Dig. Done. Simple!

                             

                            A lot fewer calories than what you describe...but plenty to get me through the 350-400 (??I really have no idea) i'd likely burn.

                             

                            Keep it up...keep experimenting...and good for you for not quiting when the voices in your head were telling you to. We have all been there (or I have, anyway).

                             

                            MTA: a "to / too" error. WTF? Low blood sugar.

                            Nice.

                             

                            And yeah, I would say that you "sank" yourself a little with all that food. Hey, at least you know you're probably better than your performance on that day and that there are plenty more 5k races to choose from.

                            "If you have the fire, run..." -John Climacus


                            Feeling the growl again

                              If anything, you ate way more than I ever would before a race of <1hr in length.  For races that length the risk of a cramp from too much food is higher than the risk of coming in a little hungry.  Your body has plenty of energy stored to get you through a 5K.

                               

                              Before my last 5K, I had a half cup of coffee and a single pop tart two hours before the gun.

                               

                              Do you have experience doing hard efforts at that time of day?  If you are not used to it, putting out a hard effort early in the morning can be rough.

                              "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                               

                              I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                               


                              Wandering Wally

                                What were your workouts like in the week leading up to the race?  Sounds like you've been pretty ill.  Feeling weak after being that sick is normal and will just take time to overcome.

                                 

                                I don't eat anything the morning of a 5K.  I just get up and go do it.  Breakfast comes after.  I have plenty of glycogen stored on me to run 3.1 miles without eating first.  The morning a trail half marathon or longer I might have a protein bar or some peanut butter toast an hour or so before the start and then snack along the way as needed.

                                 

                                In my experience there is no magic bullet food that fills you with energy prior to a workout.  If your diet is heavy in refined carbs and sugars you may want to look at reducing those while increasing lean proteins.  That will help even out your energy levels all day long.

                                 

                                5K's hurt.  They just do.  I think pretty much anyone has wondered why they were doing that at some point or another.  Good for you for not quitting.

                                Run!  Just Run!

                                 

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