From the August 2004 issue of Runner's World
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 postrun 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 postworkout 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 rehydrate 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."
