Nutrition Leading up to Marathon Day

Stephanie Izard, I love you.

Arrived in Chicago Thursday afternoon and went straight into work mode. Thankfully that night I got to meet up with Gabriel — oh, and his parents — and enjoy a nice Rioja with my bro.

Some, especially bikini competitor friends, will find my diet shocking! I don’t track calories regularly, I make smart choices and make sure I fall into the 40-30-30 macro zone. Of slight concern is that I have dropped some weight lately, but that may have to do with my foot (feet) and reduced time in the gym lifting weights. Anyway, check out my piggy status.

Thursday’s Macros:

Yes, over 100 grams of fat.

Friday’s Macros:

Not the increase in protein! And yes, a lot of fat AGAIN!

Looking back I need to be up to at least 2600 calories, I will fix that today.

So about Friday (sorry, Shake Shake did not prove to be exciting enough to even talk about). I’ve admired Stephanie Izard for a while, and Claire reminded me of her existence last week, so I planned ahead for Little Goat Diner. The menu is sick. SICK. The burger pictured above was like heaven, and I’m not sure why, but I wasn’t very full or weighed down afterwards. Maybe that was because I chose to do all my errands on foot yesterday, covering about five miles, which is a joke considering tomorrow I run 26.24 miles!

Anyway, for dinner Eli and I decided to go to the historic Palmer House’s Lockwood. On my way there I tripped and fell. It was pretty hilarious, but sadly no one saw, so I was the only person to get any joy out of it.

Quality salmon is one of my favorites. I will eat it any way I can get it. Because I had a boatload of dark meat for lunch, this was a wise and tasty choice. I also chose a good wine to accompany it, and I think Eli was laughing at me while I slowly smelled and tasted and analyzed the choice. That’s what I do now. Eli is small but big in personality and I love her.

Little spitfire, big spitfire!

Then I got really anal about planning my Saturday diet because of the 17 marathons under my belt, only ONE was spared porta-potty agony. Yeah yeah, TMI, but any serious runner can relate to poo horror stories. I leave it at that.

I have pretty much confirmed that dairy wrecks me. I’ve also noticed that too many vegetables, especially raw, can lead to unhappy digestion when coupled with the stress of a long run. No more spicy food the day before a race and, for the second time ever, no alcohol the night before the race.

My sleep has been off, with me passing out to sports center from about 11-2 a.m., so when I woke up I set this out to make sure I don’t mess anything up. Been getting up around 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. and then going back to bed around 6:30 a.m. This worries me a little.

Seriously, the difference between a 3:30 run and a 4:00 run is how much time I waste in stopping to use the bathroom. I feel optimistic that nothing will go wrong tomorrow. Do you like how I even set my plans in my layout!? Of course I will consume a full lunch and dinner of real food today. Lunch is TBD, but I am thinking some form of chicken and rice, and dinner will be with our Endure to Cure team. I will choose pasta and meatballs and skip veggies altogether. Tomorrow morning I will have an Exo bar and banana, and add in half a bagel if I feel the need. Thursday through Sunday, like every day, I’m consuming a gallon of water.

It’s not all spontaneity in my life!

After the race, as you can see, I plan to claim my beer prize and get myself squared away in time to watch the Patriots CRUSH. I wonder when I leave to go to the gym right now (for a very light stretching, mobility, treadmill jog) if the room service will just leave my mess on the floor.

I might have time to put up another post tonight because I know some people might be wondering what the HECK is going on with my feet. Again, I am a little worried, but what’s the point in getting bent out of shape now!? No point. The only thing I have to keep in mind is to NOT hurt myself because I have an Ultra to run in December.

I’ll post my race day kit on Instagram later, but not until after the expo because sometimes I find treasures at the expo. Like, pink stuff.

Are we excited yet?