Worried about bonking in your marathon? Get the 6 best pre-marathon foods
Race day has arrived! What are your best food choices for race morning?
Before you decide exactly which foods to eat, review our guidelines for breakfast recommendations for long run days.
If you are reading this the day before your race, you should probably stick to what has worked for you in the past. Hopefully today isn’t the day before your race; you don’t want to try anything new on race day. That said I once ran a marathon in brand new shoes so if what you have now doesn’t work, try these suggestions.
But if this is the day before your race and you need a solid breakfast recomendation, you can still find good suggestions here.
Foods to eat before the race should be foods that can easily be found in a regular grocery store. You will want to give each of these a try during your marathon training to see which works best for you. Try a couple of these suggestions in case you get down to breakfast on race morning and they don’t have the fruit you want.
How much you eat depends on how early you get up. For every hour between now and the start of the race, you can take in 200-300 calories. So if you get up 2 hours before the race, eat 400 – 600 calories. Take in the higher amount of calories if you ate an early dinner.
Here are specific recommendations:
Fruit with eggs
Boiled eggs travel well and scrambled eggs are in hotel restaurants. Choose fruit that is low in fiber such as:
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bananas,
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peaches,
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cantaloupe,
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honeydew, and
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watermelon.
Fruits to avoid because they have a lot of fiber are:
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apples,
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berries,
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dates,
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figs,
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grapes,
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pears,
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mango,
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papaya and
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pineapple.
If you are travelling remember to pack utensils you will need.
Applesauce mixed with protein powder
Make sure you get unsweetened applesauce. Add 2-3 tablespoons of protein powder.You can carry the powder in a small baggie with you, no need to bring the whole container.
Baby Food is always a good choice
Baby food is easy to find in the grocery store and it is easily digestible. You can even eat the meats if you could tolerate the taste pre-race.
Liquid meals are my standby
Due to nerves I often find I can’t manage whole foods. I just can’t chew them. This is more true for an Ironman race than a marathon but I always have a liquid back-up just in case.
Make a smoothie from protein powder, fruit juice and 1-2 of the low-fiber fruit listed above. Sometimes I carry a Magic Bullet blender with me.
Ensure High Protein drink is one I have used successfully. Most grocery stores carry it in the baby food aisle. This is my pre-bike ride drink. Though Ensure is rather expensive, you can find it on sale if you watch for it.
Sports bar with protein
This doesn’t work well for me as I have trouble chewing them when nervous. I know many runners who swear by sports bars before a run. Drink lots of water with these. They are quite dry and can draw your fluids into the gut to help with digestion.
Drink plenty of fluid, including water
There is no reason not to have your morning coffee or tea just be SURE you have practiced this beforehand. Caffeine is known to cause upset stomach and nervousness as it speeds up your metabolism. This isn’t what you want before your marathon.
During the last hour before the race ONLY drink water. Drinking fluid with sugar, such as a sports drink, may cause low blood sugar leading to light-headedness. (Of course that could be your nerves)!
Often digesting carbohydrates lead to a spike in insulin which causes a drop in blood sugar.Sports drinks usually have high-glycemic carbs.
However, 10 minutes before the start is a good time to take in 100 – 200 calories from a sports drink or gel. By the time these carbs hit your blood stream you will be running and the exercise effort will blunt the insulin effect. Make sure to drink 6-8 ounces of water with this.
To make sure you get to race morning in optimal shape, read our guide to help you plan your menu during race week
After the marathon you will want to be able to celebrate your achievement. Follow our guidelines for the best foods for marathon recovery to ensure you have energy for the party that night.
