Since no two people are truly alike, their diets before a run can be just as diverse. Some people may need a little more food others and even more may need a different combination of foods. Some folks may find eating right before their run to be ideal; others may find the need for a few hours in between. It’s really more trial and error to uncover exactly what sorts of foods really work best for you. When you finally realize when and what you need to eat, it’ll show in your run.
Instructions
1. Hydrate. This is probably one of the most important things you can do for both yourself and your sport. Try keeping yourself well hydrated at least a day, if not two, before your run. Daily runners will most likely already be on this sort of schedule.
2. Quit the booze. If you’ve already been hydrating yourself, cracking a cold one only serves to impair your performance in more ways than just one. Not only are you gambling with your performance, but you’re also dehydrating your body of all the fluids you’ve been working to replenish these past couple of days.
3. Up the carbs. A diet rich in high carbohydrate foods can be extremely valuable for a runner, especially during training periods. More often than not, a person’s ability to store carbohydrates is far exceeded by the amount needed for an actual run. Increasing your intake of these sorts of foods can essentially build up your body’s storage capacity. A good rule of thumb is a balanced diet of 60 percent carbs, 30 percent protein and 10 percent fat.
4. Keep it small. The ideal meal before a run ought to come in somewhere between 100 and 300 calories. But these calories shouldn’t be just any old calories; they should consist of foods low in protein, low in fat and low in fiber. If you don’t abide by this, you could end up weighing down your run. Foods high in protein, fat and fiber have a tendency to just sit in your stomach.
5. Maintain. Whatever you normally eat before a run, simply keep eating it. Consistency is always best, namely when you’ve done while you've been training. If you always eat a banana and half a bagel before you hit the pavement, that’s what you should eat. Don’t throw your body for a loop just because you may be in a race that day. It’s wise to stick with what works.
Tags: your body, protein fiber, sorts foods, your performance