Tips For Pre-Race Meal Planning

A good bit of my long distance races take place out of town, which means we have to be a little creative in our meal planning with travel.

One tip my running coach gave us was never eat something "new" the night before a race. I agree with her completely, but when you're visiting a new place, how is that possible?

There's a couple of areas you can (almost) never go wrong with in my opinion, and that's pizza and pasta. Notice I said almost...

For me, I mostly stick with pizza as a pre-race meal. I know that most of the time, it's going to be delicious, it doesn't upset my stomach, and it's a crowd pleaser, so I know those in my travel party will like it too!

When visiting Walt Disney World, we've had dinner the night before the Princess Half at Via Napoli and it was amazing!

No, we didn't consume this GIANT pizza ourselves - we ate here with friends! I also don't recommend over-stuffing yourself the night before a race, especially with something like pizza. Another tip our running coach gave us was to watch for trigger foods (like too much cheese) that might cause  a runner to get stuck in the "K-John" aka port-a-potties immediately before a race. Now, it's ok to have to potty before a race, but you definitely don't want to be stuck in there forever, especially if the race is about to start!

Another pre-race favorite at Walt Disney World is the Port Orleans Riverside food court! They have an awesome pasta selection that works great for pre-race carb loading!

While doing research for this blog post, I discovered that pizza is indeed my true pre-race meal. Take New Orleans for example. Every time we run Rock n Roll New Orleans, we stop by this awesome little hole in the wall pizza restaurant and enjoy a delicious pizza.

This place has changed names over the years (I believe it's called Outlaw pizza now), but the taste hasn't changed one bit! It's still delicious and still does the trick as a great pre-race meal!

If you're visiting a new town for a race weekend, I highly recommend finding a restaurant and calling ahead for reservations. In our experience, when thousands and thousands of runners flood a town like New Orleans, all of the restaurants end up with 2 hour long waits by dinner time. We've had very good luck calling ahead of time and booking a reservation which means we've eaten dinner and are in bed at a decent time the night before a race. With a place like Disney World, if you're looking for an Italian type restaurant, I suggest that you're on the computer or phone at 180 days out from your trip, booking your reservations right then and there. Once race weekend approaches, you won't be able to find any sit-down pasta/pizza restaurants at all (this happened to us for Marathon Weekend this past year). If you do run into this instance, the pasta selection in the food court at Riverside or an in-room pizza delivery at your resort would work out perfect for you! (Or you could always have pizza delivered from off-property...but that would mean breaking the "Disney bubble"...and that's no fun!)

So to recap:

• never eat something "new" the night before a race
•  don't over-stuff yourself the night before a race
•  watch for trigger foods that cause stomach upset - you don't want to spend the entire morning of your race in a port-a-pottie
• if a restaurant needs reservations, book early - especially if it's a race weekend where thousands of runners are coming to town

It's the Tuesdays On The Run Linkup with Erika, Marcia and Patty. 

DNS vs DNF

Good morning and happy Tuesday! It's almost a long weekend and I am so looking forward to a little extra time with my family!

As mentioned last week, my next planned race for the Spring is a 5K at the end of April. I am really looking forward to this one as it's going to be held at my high school and it will be fun to see everyone! Fun fact - I graduated with a class of 19! We attended a small private school where everyone knew everyone!

I also briefly mentioned that my knee has been giving me a few issues here lately. My physical therapist says my entire body is out of alignment and with some of the maneuvers she has me attempting to do, it's creating issues in other areas. So, it's back to the old faithful squats and lunges I know so well!

Speaking of physical therapy and injuries, today's Tuesdays on the Run topic is all about DNS vs DNF. This topic brought back a flood of memories from 2012 and my very first running injury.

The plan was to run the Houston Full Marathon with my running buddies. This also happened to be the race where the Olympic Trials were held the day before. Watching ladies such as Kara and Shalane and Deena complete the full the day before made my heart hurt so much. I knew I could do it but I knew it wasn't the wise choice. Instead, I made the decision to bump myself down to the half marathon and although I still ran as much as I could during the race, I still finished almost 45 minutes slower than my usual due to the the crazy knee pain.

Was it wise for me to run at all? Probably not. However, I'd already completed a few weeks of physical therapy due to my injury and my physical therapists encouraged me to run the half. Had I not sought the advice of professionals, I don't think I would have run any of the Houston races at all. Was I glad I ran a race anyway? (With their go ahead, of course.) Absolutely.

With that said, I'm an incredibly stubborn person and after finishing the half, I was so mad that I cried. I WANTED to run the full, that's what I'd been training for the entire season. For once, logic won out with stubbornness and I made the right decision to forgo the Houston Full Marathon that year.

You see, back when I played softball, we had a tendency to "ignore" injuries. It was easy to just tape up that thumb, finger, joint, whatever until it was so tight you couldn't feel it anymore and "shake it off" until the pain went away... Once you got home, you would ice the injury and be fine the following day. If you've read my blog for any length of time, you know I'm 100% Cajun and stubborn and so my daddy's child. I once broke my foot during a softball game (didn't know it was broken) and finished out the game anyway. I wondered why I couldn't "shake off" the pain...gee...no wonder. 

Stubbornness and dealing with injuries never go hand in hand, especially with me. It took a LOT of pep-talk on my part to reassure myself it would be ok to run the Houston half instead of the full. As I mentioned before, although I wasn't ok with it, I knew that I made the right choice.

Although I still cringe every time I see that Houston Half Marathon medal (yes, still), I know that I did my best and I am proud of the accomplishment, no matter the circumstance.

Have you ever experienced a DNS or DNF?

Please note: I am not giving out medical advice here. Although I am a healthcare professional, I am not a physical therapist and do not believe it is "ok" to run on an injury unless you are seeing medical advice and are given the go ahead. I was seeking professional help during the time of my injury and was given the go ahead to run. Please see the help of a licensed professional if you are experiencing an injury and are unsure what to do. 
 

It's the Tuesdays On The Run Linkup with Erika, Marcia and Patty.  

What I Love/Hate About Summer Running

Summer running - it sounds dreadful but oddly refreshing at the same time. I have a love/hate relationship with running during the summer months as I refuse to use a treadmill unless absolutely necessary. As I began to make a list of my loves/hates with summer running, I honestly thought my list of dislikes would be longer than my list of likes, but it appears that isn't so!

LOVE

-Endurance built up from running when it's difficult to breathe - I mean really...when cool fall weather hits, I feel like I can run super fast! Ok, maybe not but you know what I mean.

-Sweating - You know sometimes you just need to run and work up a good sweat? It feels oddly cleansing!

-Summer storm showers that make afternoon runs a little cooler - Ah yes, so refreshing. Getting caught in a shower during a hot run is fun, too (unless you have a baby with you...whoops).

-Running through sprinklers or jumping in a swimming pool after a nice, hot run - It's so very refreshing!

-That feeling of accomplishment....like you just did something really hard core by going for a run in "feels like" temperatures of 100+ degrees. No, I don't recommend this.

-Longer daylight hours for late evening running.

HATE

-Heat. Yuck.

-Humidity. Double Yuck. Welcome to the south!

-Mosquitos - the official state bird of Louisiana (no, not really...it just seems like it around here)

-That feeling after a hard run that you might unload all of your stomach contents on the side of the road - Yeah, gross.

As I mentioned before, I'm surprised that my dislike list isn't longer than it is! Maybe I really DO enjoy running in the summer? Maybe.

Today's Tuesdays on the Run topic was hosted by Patty, Erika, & Marcia!

Tuesday's on the Run - Taper Quirks & Dreams

It's my first time to join in on a Tuesday's on the Run post and I couldn't be more excited!

This week's topic is all about the taper - your quirks, cravings, or rituals...

My running coach has often refers to the "taper crazies" - the anxiety and nervousness runners feel during the time leading up to their race. It's also a time when weekly distance drops and carb loading begins. 


The hardest taper I ever endured was in the week leading up to Goofy's Challenge. I remember having crazy dreams about missing the start line, my alarm not going off, sprinting to make it to the start, etc. It's usually the dreams that get me. 

There's a vision that always haunts me prior to a runDisney race. It was the year I ran the Full Marathon (2011, I think). It was my very first full and I was taking it all in. Well, I had a friend who was running the half that year, so I met up with another friend to cheer her on from the TTC. As we waited for runners to approach, we saw two stray runners who either woke up late, missed their bus, etc. One was frantically running through the TTC, eating a banana and attempting to catch a monorail. The other one was a man who basically sprinted through us to get where he needed to go. I so hope they both made it to the start line as I felt so bad for them! 

After experiencing that, my brain now goes to the worst possible scenario during taper week and my dreams go crazy.

Although the butterflies and anxiety get to me sometimes, tapering is good! I enjoy the slower pace, the "bonus" time I get to spend at home, and all the excitement that leads up to a race. 

I honestly enjoy tapering (most of the time). All of the time on your feet, hours of training, and hard work has finally paid off and the ultimate reward of crossing the finish line is directly ahead of you. Tapering is a time to scale back the weekly mileage and run a few easy paced miles "just because". 

If the dreams would leave me alone, I would be alright! :)

Now, ask me about this again in December before my next half marathon and I'll probably tell you a different story! :)