What to Eat the Week Before a Marathon

It’s 10 days to the NYC Marathon. Your training is essentially done, with just one run of 8-10 miles at a moderate pace, plus a handful of shorter runs, left. The inactivity is making you anxious. You wish there was something that you could do to improve your chances of running your best on November 6.

There is one thing.

You can plan your diet for the next ten days. 

When you’re about to drive your car on a long trip, you probably visit Jiffy Lube to make sure all the critical fluids are “topped off.” In that same vein, you have to figure out what you can eat in the next ten days to make sure that your body goes to the starting line with full stores of all essential vitamins and minerals, and with muscles that are ready to fire when asked.

How can you do this?

• For the next three days, you can more or less eat your normal diet, presuming that your normal diet is generally healthy, with a good mix of carbs, proteins, fruits and vegetables. If you don’t have these on hand in your home, go food shopping today. If you eat most of your meals out, only visit places where you eat smartly. Tell your favorite fast food joint goodbye until after the race.
• Then, starting on Monday, it’s time to take down the carbs – that’s right, take down the carbs – a few notches for three days, to 60% of calories on Monday, 50% on Tuesday, and 40% on Wednesday. This prepares your body to “carbo load.”
• Finally, from Thursday through Saturday, it’s time to carbo-load with low glycemic carbs, and, particularly on Friday and Saturday, max out on fruits and veggies, with a decent amount of protein as well. NOT ALL CARBS ARE EQUAL. Low-glycemic carbs (whole wheat pasta, vermicelli, vegetables, fruits, Sweet Potatoes) are much better than high-glycemic carbs (white potatoes, white pasta, white bread) because they help you release a slow, steady stream of energy, rather than a short, rapid burst.

To make following this regimen easier, our friends at SevenBar and Grill and Mustang Harry’s (next to each other on 7^th Ave between 29^th & 30^th) and Mustang Sally’s (on 7^th Ave between 28^th & 29^th) are offering prix fixe lunches and dinners that incorporate a terrific mix of all these foods on Thursday, Friday and Saturday before the NYC Marathon. Lunch will be just $13.10 and Dinner will be $26.20. Call for reservations today.

On Saturday, make sure to avoid spicy meals that may upset your stomach the next day. Also avoid red meat or anything else that you think may impact your gastrointestinal system during the race. When you wake up on Sunday morning, eat the same foods you’ve eaten before all of your long runs – this is not a time to try something new. A muffin, a roll, scrambled eggs, cereal, yogurt, some fruit are all good choices. Now is the time to focus on potassium – orange juice or bananas are handy sources that likely won’t sit too heavily in your stomach. Continue to hydrate – without overdoing it, as this can be more dangerous than under-hydrating – right until race time. If you ate light foods during your long runs, consider doing so during the race; again, pretzels or other snacks in small bites can stave off hunger and provide much-needed energy.

Sources:

Running Planet

U.S. Department of Agriculture: The Role of Carbohydrates inExercise.