I am not a dietician, but I’m interested in food and nutrition and how food affects our ability to move and feel good. So my first half marathon this year, as is suggested by many people, I laid off salty, greasy, cheesy food and had carbs and protein for lunch the day before and a light dinner the night before. I ate half a bagel with peanut better the morning of the race because I knew I wouldn’t be able to wait until 9:30 to eat breakfast. By mile ten my gut was pretty unhappy with me.
A couple weeks later I met some runners for a 12-mile practice run. The day before I’d eaten almost everything the Big-E has to offer including a bacon-cheese-burger on a donut. I thought I was in it for it, but I felt fine.
The night before my most recent half marathon, I’d planned to eat a light dinner, but I didn’t get home from work until 8pm I was starving and had called home to ask Matt to have pizza waiting for me. In a fit of starvation I downed way too much pizza, immediately regretting my choice. On the day of the run my stomach felt fine. My body was really sore, but intestinally speaking, I was a happy girl.
So I guess all I’m saying is I’m confused. I don’t know if I lucked out or if my body needs different things. I just don’t understand. But if pizza and burgers work before a race, I’m happy to stick with them.
