Appealing Meals Will Likely
Match Your Appetite at
Different Times of Day
by Scott Douglas
Whatever time of day you run, you have 60 minutes after
your workout to properly refuel. Here's how to take it all in.
If you're like a lot of runners, your post workout routine
goes something like this: Stretch, drink water, shower, and get on with your day. Food?
That can wait until you're hungry, right?
Not if you want to feel your best on your next run. When
you run, you burn mostly glycogen, a fuel stored in your muscles. Your mission right after
a run, therefore, is to eat, even if you don't feel hungry. And fast. No matter what time
of day you run, the enzymes that are responsible for making glycogen are most active
immediately post workout -- leaving you a 60-minute window in which those highly
stimulated enzymes are at maximum capacity to produce glycogen.
"After exercise, especially following intensive or
prolonged bouts, the body is primed to reload muscle glycogen," says Suzanne Girard
Eberle, M.S., R.D., author of Endurance Sports Nutrition. Wait more than an hour to
refuel, and your body's ability to make glycogen out of what you consume drops by an
astounding 66 percent. And the longer you wait, the more likely you are to feel sluggish.
"Everything runners do is about how well we
recover," says Lisa Dorfman, M.S., R.D., a sports nutritionist and marathoner.
"That's when the gains from training come."
In that crucial first hour, shoot to consume 300 to 400
calories -- ideally containing three grams of carbs to every one gram of protein. Your
body's already primed to make glycogen out of simple carbs, and a little protein helps
repair muscle-tissue micro damage. Of course, what you'll feel like eating (or drinking,
or not) after a 7 a.m. run will probably differ from what you'll want after a run in the
noon heat or between work and dinner. Here's how to maximize the refueling window,
whatever time of day you run.
Early Risers
Byrne Decker, a 2:22 marathoner and law partner in Maine,
runs early in the morning near his office and then eats back at his desk. "Breakfast
is usually yogurt, cereal, and fruit," he says. Many breakfast foods have the perfect
post run carb-protein mix. "Cereal with skim milk is a great recovery meal,"
Dorfman says. Choose a cereal with a few grams of protein. If you have time to cook,
Dorfman recommends egg whites on toast. If you eat on the road to work, choose easily
transported foods, like energy bars or a bagel with cheese.
The Lunch Shift
You've spent your lunch break running. Now you have to eat,
but you're on the clock. Use the office refrigerator and microwave for tasty leftovers
with the right nutritional balance (a small serving of pasta with red sauce, a turkey
sandwich on whole-grain bread). Of course, if high noon means high temps, the heat might
have zapped your appetite. "Drink your carbohydrates and protein," says Girard
Eberle. "Flavored milk, fruit smoothie, meal-replacement beverage, or post workout
sports drink."
After Office Hours
If you can't sit down to your evening meal within an hour
of your run, graze on raw veggies, crackers, bread, and a little cheese to tide you over
healthily until your fully restorative dinner. You'll want more of a glycogen-reloading
plan if you run from the office and still have a long commute in front of you. Joe LeMay,
who lives in Danbury, Connecticut, trained for his 2:13 marathon PR with evening runs from
his office. He always had portable snacks on hand (apples, bananas, bagels) for the
45-minute drive home and was especially careful to re-hydrate en route. "This would
be the perfect scenario for a sports drink," says Dorfman. "Then you have
dinner."
Night Moves
Finding good recovery-window foods after late-night running
will involve some experimentation. "Try a carbohydrate-rich drink," Girard
Eberle suggests. "Or eat half of your dinner before and the other half after."
Anne Woodman, a 20-mile-a-week nighttime runner in Morrisville, North Carolina, has
learned that a half to one cup of cereal does the job of restocking her muscles without
interfering with her sleep. "The key is to end up not starving at dinnertime or after
the run," says Eberle. "This will easily lead to overeating."
Copyright 2006 Gale Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved
ASAP Copyright 2006 Rodale Press, Inc. Runner's World April 1, 2006, Byline: Douglas,
Scott
|
