What are good foods to eat before a 5k?
What should I eat the night before and what should I eat the morning of if my race is at 10am?
I am a 17 year old male that runs a 16:45 and weighs 130 lbs.
What are good foods to eat before a 5k?
What should I eat the night before and what should I eat the morning of if my race is at 10am?
I am a 17 year old male that runs a 16:45 and weighs 130 lbs.
bananas are always a good choice
BrianZ wrote: What are good foods to eat before a 5k? What should I eat the night before and what should I eat the morning of if my race is at 10am? I am a 17 year old male that runs a 16:45 and weighs 130 lbs.
Morning of: Banana and about 10 (a handful) of almonds Night Before: Quality protein (4-6oz wild salmon), complex carbs (brown rice), green vegetable (broccoli and/or spinach)
Morning I would have oatmeal, a shake and then SUSTAIN! (check it out, Bernard Lagat uses it and I swear it works)
But just get a solid dinner in and then a light meal in the morning like oatmeal or a banana. Make sure you hydrate plenty the day BEFORE and day of (sip, not gulp if its hot day of-don't want to have TOO much)
Nutritionist wrote:
BrianZ wrote: What are good foods to eat before a 5k? What should I eat the night before and what should I eat the morning of if my race is at 10am? I am a 17 year old male that runs a 16:45 and weighs 130 lbs.Morning of: Banana and about 10 (a handful) of almonds Night Before: Quality protein (4-6oz wild salmon), complex carbs (brown rice), green vegetable (broccoli and/or spinach)
Forget to mention, I would also have some hot or cold tea the morning before. The moderate caffeine boost always seemed to help.
Eat some simple sugars prior to the race so that you have more energy. Complex carbs digest too slow for optimal performance.
Don't eat squat the morning of. Don't need to and it adds weight. Have a glass of water 8:00am ish. Eat some light carbs the night before that will move out of your system by morning, and don't overeat.
Honestly, not even kidding, last time I PRed in a 5K, I'd eaten hummus for breakfast.
just a couple bites of anything bland, to take the hunger away. your stomach and small intestine don't need to be at work before a 5k.
one good mouthful of food when you wake will give you plenty to get your blood sugar up to norm if it needs it after sleep.
I think it makes very little difference for a 5k. Just eat a normal healthy meal the night before and a light breakfast a 2 or 3 hours before your race (or nothing if you don't feel hungry).
no food for me. just a bottle of water about two hours before the race and make sure to use the restroom before lining up. i usually don't eat until at least three hours after eating too. my stomach just completely shuts downs from running
Best pre race food ever, happened to PR the 3 times I had some before:
Is what we eat the night before a race even helpful? I've heard a lot of talk about how the night before the night before the race is most significant. Things like sleep and food aren't going to significantly impact your race the night before because your body doesn't have the time to really absorb it.
I've slept terribly the night before a race and felt really good the day of, so I pay attention to my sleep 2 nights before a race. I also would rather eat really light the night before so I don't have any bowel issues at all.
The day of, water when I wake up and some Accelerade before/during my warmup. Hit the bathroom 5 minutes before the line.
Different things work for different people, but here's what my morning would look like if racing at 10am
6am wake up, eat some fruit,orange or apple then go for a 10 min shakeout run, stretch, possibly go back to sleep
7:30 am eat half a banana and get ready to leave for race depending on how long it takes to get there etc
9am take some form of caffeine, whatever works best for you, warm up 15 min
9:50 strides, 2 x 150m
10:am race
All my best 5ks (sub 14) have come from an evening race but no reason this schedule can't be adapted for a morning race
Good luck!
Matt
I recently ran a 5k in a different time zone. Two nights before I got decent sleep and ate fairly well. The day before race, travelled all day. Small bite of protein bar for breakfast, snack and small glass of wine for lunch@airport. Had cheese and cracker plus grapes (which I had to purchase- nothing else left) w/water on plane. Catnapped afterwards. It was late evening when we landed (early evening or dinner time for us). Decide to get Five Guys@ airport. Haven't had this type of food in a long time. By the time we got to our place, it was very late. We're tired. Noticed my stomach wanted to make a statement by letting me know that it didn't appreciate the fat bolus...therefore I was up few times in the night which I believe it cleared out my system!, plus u couldn't sleep w/all noise outside our hotel. Woke up around 5am (felt like I never slept b/c of time change-more like middle of night). Took a small bite of protein bar and grabbed small cup of coffee. Race was in couple hours. Took my UCan mix drink half hour before the race. Did my warmup (amazingly, I felt great) and lined up for the race. I PR'd and felt like it was one of my best races thus far.
pr100 wrote:
I think it makes very little difference for a 5k. Just eat a normal healthy meal the night before and a light breakfast a 2 or 3 hours before your race (or nothing if you don't feel hungry).
^^ This
Have a light breakfast and some cold tea and relax.
coffee
Dude, just eat a Powerbar with a glass of water for breakfast if it's a morning race. It does wonders.
I don't think the same foods work for everyone. I just think the main points are to make sure your bowels aren't weighing you down at race time, your body is stocked with enough sugar, and you get in some caffeine both for the stimulation and to help empty your bowels before the race.
Personally, I try to eat something easy to digest with plenty of carbs and lean protein the night before - like pasta and chicken, and I drink a Gatorade to make sure I'm topped off with carbs. Although none of that really matters too much with a 5k. The only time I really had trouble was when I ate a cheap fatty steak the night before and it had not exited my system before the race the next morning.
The morning of, I have coffee and a banana or if I need something more packable, I like Clif Bloks (glorified gummy bears) just to make sure my blood sugar isn't depleted). I try to avoid anything too solid like oatmeal.