I have a post-marathon tradition that includes eating a hamburger and inhaling a plate of fries. After running Ottawa in the best marathon time I've posted since 2011, I ordered the meal, and after a few fries, pushed away the plate, thinking of the choices we all make to stay healthy.
Us runners are obsessed with food. What think about what we eat, how much of it, and what types with the knowledge that carbs are king. Marathoning has its challenges -- train a lot, and you get hungry, but it's easier to consume a hundred calories than it is to burn it off, a mile per 100.
The problem with training like an athlete and eating like a couch potato can lead to that first-marathon weight gain, where you can't burn off enough calories to satisfy the hunger.
Once a running friend told me they had trouble putting on weight during marathon training. I wasn't really identifying until I realized that it all really depends on what you're eating, and how it figures into your performance.
New one, @anitakapadia: vega chai plus banana, water, ice, soy milk yoghurt and instant coffee. Wow. pic.twitter.com/uptzUhDDfC
— yumke (@yumke) July 7, 2013
Look, I've been training for marathons for eight years, two cycles most years, and have always found it a challenge to eat well. Everything comes together until I hit my post-evening run meal, when it all falls apart. You think it's hard to eat 1000 calories in one go, not that hard if you're not eating the right food.
Last year, before the Summer Olympics and I interviewed Dylan Wykes, one of Canada's fastest marathoners and also a vegetarian, on what he eats.
A typical day would look like
