runners | (no subject)

After a good run, I like to do a protein smoothie. I use GNC's Lean Shake as a meal replacement for dinner. I do the vanilla powder with unsweetened almond milk as a base, and I usually use frozen organic strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries (while I prefer fresh, let's face it that frozen keeps longer and is always in season!). Sometimes, I add a strawberry or peach yoghurt into the mix.

Someone suggested adding peanutbutter when not using fruit, and it was like a revelation. I love peanutbutter like nobody's business, so I'm going to try that next week.

If not a shake right after I get home, I'll have a Cliff Builder's bar, and I usually have a thinkThin bar sometime in the middle of the day. I'm...kinda a big fan of protein bars in general because there's a texture thing there that I like, but these two are my favorites.

But I definitely feel a difference in my performance when running and my recovery afterwards when I'm not doing the bars and shakes. About the time I started running again, I also stopped eating meat (and while I eat fish, I do not actively eat a lot of it).

So...shakes, bars, cereal, giant steaks...what do you eat or drink to fuel up, refuel, recharge, or just fill yourself up?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I roll out of bed at 6.15am and hit the road ten minutes later, so all I do to fuel up is drink plenty of water before I fall asleep and have a couple of mouthfuls before I go out. In terms of refueling, I'm a big fan of an apple and a couple of scrambled eggs. And coffee! That's probably really bad, but it seems to work.

I'm enjoying running so early because it means I don't have to worry about when I eat and drink. My stomach doesn't cope at all well with middle-of-the-day running!

I'm definitely a night runner. The only time I can remember running early and enjoying it was when I was in high school and I would run to morning drill team practices. There was just something about the cool humidity of a Louisiana morning that was perfect for my body on a run, and I'm not sure if that's something I'll ever replicate.

I can eat a good half day before I run, so I definitely chose night so I can just grab something after then have a soak before bed!

Let me begin with I HATE ENERGY BARS. They taste too much like zinc, for my tastes. I'm not a picky eater in general, but there's something about the mineral supplements in most bars that makes them simply horrid to me.

For a post-run munchie, I tend to want a bottle of Gatorade (yeah, I know. It's only slightly better than the Pepsi I'd RATHER have) and a Clif Kid Organic Z-Bar. Chocolate chip and Chocolate Brownie are the flavors I'm fondest of, but they're all pretty decent.

I often make smoothies, but it's not a post-run food for me. Frozen Mango is a nice addition, as is frozen banana.

Lol! It might be that zinc texture that I like so much! I'm not overly picky about the taste as long as it's tolerable, but if the texture gets me...I'm there.

Gatorade...*shudder* I drank it for nine months straight because it was one of the few things that I could keep down while pregnant. In general, though, I'd always pick water over any sort of sports drink for taste reasons.

So far I haven't run distances long enough (10K is my longest distance)/taken running seriously enough to think about fuelling/refuelling - I'm mainly concerned with remembering to drink enough water afterwards that I don't get a headache later in the day.

It's very possible that if I ever do go for the fabled ½-marathon I'll be shocked I can't run(/walk) a whole race without drinking something, including energy drinks O_o

There's nothing like a good, long drink of cold water after a run. It's something that I actually really look forward to!

I like iced coffee, with plenty of milk and sugar. I do try to time my runs so that I have a regular meal (either breakfast or lunch) afterward, so I don't really eat or drink anything special.

I always run before a meal, too.