The real life diet of a first time marathon runner
Slightly over one month out from the Chicago Marathon and the “real life diets of professional runners training for the marathon” pieces are starting to trickle out.
Of course they are.
But, the vast majority of us who are going to be running the Chicago Marathon on October 8th are not professional runners. For many of us, this will be our first marathon and more than a few of us — myself included — signed up to do this while drunk because eh, why not check something off your bucket list, right?
Not all of us have access to the kinds of resources that professional runners have, including nutritionists, trainers, and oh yeah, copious amounts of time with which to train. I came into marathon training on New Year’s Day with the best of intentions. I was going to eat healthier, drink less, basically become a whole new man. Heck, two months ago, I even bought a book on how to adjust your diet so that you are in optimal shape for the marathon.
Spoiler alert: I am doing almost nothing differently from a dietary perspective. The picture you see above, of a chicken burrito bowl and chips and guacamole from Chipotle, is a fairly typical lunch for me. I have read all of 25 pages of said marathon nutrition book. Not because it’s not engrossing, but because I’m too lazy to cook when I get home.
So, in the spirit and style of this GQ article on the marathon training habits of professional runner Diego Estrada, here is a look at the real life diet of Matt Lindner, professional magazine editor and first time marathon runner and semi-reformed fat kid.
What is a typical training day like for you?
So glad you asked. Since I have a full-time job — covering online retail for Internet Retailer magazine — I can’t train during working hours, so I generally get up at around 4:30, curse my phone alarm, and eat a cup of strawberry yogurt and a banana — two bananas if it’s a long run day because they’re nature’s Power Bar, according to something I read on the internet before I got too far into training. Then I’ll pop in my headphones and head out on the lakefront trail which is a gorgeous place to run, hoping all the while there are no rollerbladers out there because rollerbladers are the scourge of the lakefront path. Once I finish up my run, I’ll drink some chocolate milk because, again, I read somewhere on the internet that drinking chocolate milk is really good for you after a run. I do not know how I would be training for a marathon if not for the internet.
Okay, so what about lunch then? Surely you’re doing something different there, right?
Alas, while some first time marathoners try meal planning, I stick to the greatest hits of what’s around my office in the Loop and appears to be semi-healthy. In other words, lunch tends to rotate between the teriyaki chicken at Panda Express (it’s grilled, not fried like the orange chicken, which means it’s “healthy”!), Chipotle, Roti because it’s a Mediterranean spin on chicken and rice. And then water. Always water. Gotta stay hydrated while training for a marathon, because I read that somewhere on the internet.
Any tweaks or adjustments the day before a long run?
Yes! This is the one area where I have been known to, as the kids say, mix it up. I’ll head to Noodles & Company for spaghetti on the day before a long run because I read somewhere on the internet (are you sensing a trend here?) that carboloading before a long run is really important.
Your diet sounds…like it could use some improvement.
Eh…I’m not going to win the race, plus chicken and rice and spaghetti are somewhat healthy, right?
Moving on…so surely you eat a nice healthy dinner, right?
Well, after working from 9-to-5, I’m pretty tired because adulthood will do that to you. So, dinner generally consists of a frozen pizza or a peanut butter sandwich — on whole wheat bread, because healthy! — and a couple of handfuls of cereal.
Wait a sec…you really only ever eat frozen pizza or peanut butter sandwiches for dinner?
Yeah, pretty much.
So…all that’s really changed is you’re running now and eating pasta on Fridays.
Yep.
Why?
Well, part of it is the fact that I like the things that I like. I’m too lazy to cook, I enjoy the occasional bottle of cheap wine here and there, and I’m terrible at grocery shopping, despite the fact that I’m in my mid-30s. The great thing about running 30+ miles a week is, unlike when I wasn’t running, I’m not gaining any weight, and have actually lost a couple of inches off my waistline.
So if it’s working for me and I’m happy, why change?
To learn more about Open Heart Magic, which has more than 120 volunteers that go around to Chicago hospitals and teach kids how to do magic tricks and is the charity that I’m running the Chicago Marathon for, please click here and consider donating.
