Eating Enough Food During the Day to Support the Running Habit

Today, at practice, I was informed that one of the better sprinters on the team had been having cramps during the warm-up run because he did not eat lunch so I went over to talk to him to further investigate the situation.  He said he had snacks in his bag but he did not eat those and that the school lunch just didn't look appealing.  I asked why.  He said that it was pizza and that this one guy on the football team had a pizza before a game and just puked everywhere so that if we were going to be doing a workout, he didn't want to get sick.  Fair enough.  Eat nothing so then you have nothing to throw up.

Well, you are doing something at practice, right?  You need some sort of nutrients to sustain yourself through a practice.  Your stomach is cramping because  YOU ARE HUNGRY!  So eat something if you get the hunger pangs at home, work, or wherever.  It will help you.  Eat enough so you are not still hungry but not too much that you feel stuffed.

What do you eat before a practice or a run?

First off, every person is made differently and their metabolisms are individualized so that not everyone can eat a huge omelette before a morning 5k race and you may be so nervous that you do not feel like you can eat anything at all.

Second, there are a few foods that tend to cause problems for some people when under stress:
1) Dairy (milk, cheese, yogurt)
2) Other high fat foods
3) Highly processed, high sugar or fried foods

Tbese should be consumed after exercise and not before because it will most likely lead to a higher incidence of stomach cramping.  There are other causes of cramping but they do not relate as much to food consumption.  They are related to hydration and that is another day.

Third, nutrient timing is also key.  Figure out what you need to have in your system to compete or run and how early it needs to be in your system so it can be digested well.

Keep running well and remember to eat something if you are hungry.  Do not sweat the calories.  You will burn it off one day if not, you may actually need the extra pounds to be stronger.

Heidi