New York City

11 Ways to Carb-Load Before the New York City Marathon

October 26, 2015

For me, there's no distinction between eating for fun and eating for fuel. I need food to survive, of course, but I put a lot of effort into making sure each meal is as enjoyable as it can be—even when there is a lot on my figurative plate. I’ve let this principle guide me the past few months while training for the New York City Marathon. During runs, I often eschewed sport gels in favor of Starbursts and peanuts. After long runs, I happily downed piled-high tartines on olive oil-fried toast, or large amounts of grain-heavy salads. If hunger struck, I didn’t think twice about mid-afternoon cake snacks at the office. 

It’s the final stretch now: The New York City Marathon is November 1st, and it’s time to carb-load. Carb-loading doesn’t just mean eating a bowl of pasta the night before a race. To do it well, you need to eat excess carbohydrates for three or four days prior. That means this week I need to eat a lot, and I still want to eat well. Here’s what’s on my menu to make sure that I get plenty of carbs, not too much fiber, and just a little fat:

Overnight Steel-Cut Oats with Almond Butter & Honey by ying

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Oats 

 

Heidi Swanson's Baked Oatmeal by Nicholas Day

Oatmeal

 

Breakfast Fried Rice by Kathleen | Hapa Nom Nom

Rice

 

Baker's Sign Soft Pretzels by Nicholas Day

Pretzels

 

A Medley of Roasted Potatoes with Homemade Za'atar and Aleppo Pepper by onetribegourmet

Potatoes 

 

Southwestern Spied Sweet Potato Fries with Chili-Cilantro Sour Cream by TasteFood

Fries

 

Braised Onion Sauce by Kenzi Wilbur

Onion

 

Pasta e Ceci (Pasta with Chickpeas) by Emiko

Chickpeas

 

Sweet Potatoes Roasted in Coconut Oil by Gena Hamshaw

Potatoes

 

Vegetarian Carrot Fried Brown Rice by Erin (Naturally Ella)

Rice

  

Low-Sugar Oatmeal Raisin Cranberry Cookies by Joanne Chang

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Do you have a ritual pre-race food? Tell us in the comments. 

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