Breakfast of Champions
Running has altered my diet, and I am eating food that is better for me in general. But I have to admit I do experience a noticeable sugar burst if I eat badly before running in the morning.
Normally I’ll have a bagel and peanut butter or Kashi cinnamon shredded wheat, with my usual large cup of Kona coffee and two raw sugars. But I was bad on my birthday and had two Homer Simpson-style donuts for breakfast. I mean chocolate frosting and multi-colored sprinkles and all. I then went out and ran my fastest six miles of the year.
The best race of my life, mile for mile, was the 1:41 half-marathon I ran one week after I had fainted about a half-hour after a 20-miler (low blood sugar). It scared me so much I loaded up on sugar and caffeine before the race and I was totally wired on the starting line. I ran what was at the time a five-mile PR over the last five miles of the race and made Roadrunner “mbeep-beep” noises as I passed people.
I’ve never been able to re-create that feeling, though I also never again mainlined simple sugars like I did that day. I’m not planning to switch to a junk food diet, but now I’m wondering if my distance running would improve with a sensible combination of complex carbs and simple sugars just before I race.
I’m going to experiment with this. I don’t want to undermine your good eating habits, but I’ll let you know how it turns out, either way.
Stuffing My Face for Fitness
First published November 2, 2007
My peak performance training program at Canyon Ranch concluded with meetings with nutritionist Hana Feeney. I described my diet to her in great detail, from typical off-season meals to what I eat before, during and after long runs and speedwork.
I stay away from junk food, rarely drink alcohol, and pasta addiction is in my DNA. I always eat before a run, always use PowerBar Gels during long runs, and always have a Naked Juice fruit smoothie when I’m done, followed by a full breakfast. I’ve never had stomach problems while running and I thought my diet was the least of my problems.
But, as usual, I was wrong.
While my diet was perfectly adequate for a healthy middle-aged male, it was far short of what was necessary to fuel the number of miles I was running. Hana computed my average daily intake at 2,300 calories. My proportions were good, with carbohydrates making up about two-thirds of my diet. But for a training schedule with a lot of hour-long runs, plus several multi-hour runs, Hana figured I needed about 3,000 calories – an increase of about 30 percent.
I doubt there are very many people who hear the words “you need to eat more” from their nutritionist. I was licking my chops at my unexpected good luck. But, of course, there was a catch.
This wasn’t an invitation to load up on ice cream and cheeseburgers. The list of foods included apples, bananas, berries, low fat yogurt, natural peanut butter, almonds, brown rice, sweet potatoes, beans, and a huge raft of whole grain foods – including some dense, but tasty, breakfast cereals.
Hana also instructed me to reduce the time between gels during long runs, drink the Naked Juice Protein Zone for muscle repair, and added recommendations for vitamin supplements. I now take daily an antioxidant packet of Vitamins C and E, natural beta-carotene, CoEnzyme Q10, and glutathione, along with an omega-3 fatty acid supplement.
It was a lot to swallow, so to speak, but your engine won’t run well on beer and hot dogs. Food is more than fuel, but let’s face it: we’ll try almost anything to improve our running, but a revolutionary change in diet is probably the last thing we’ll consider.
So, with a folder full of papers, charts, graphs, and the hearty best wishes of the good folks at Canyon Ranch who examined every aspect of my physical well-being, I headed for home. Injuries kept me from reaping the full benefit of the program, but the lessons learned will serve me well for the rest of my running life.
