Tips and Tricks for a Training Run

Dinner the night before a long run:

Usually I eat rice (typically brown), lots of veggies, and fish or chicken.  Sometimes this is eaten as separate portions to a meal, or all together like in sushi or even sometimes Chipotle.  This is a sure pre-dinner meal that will give me good protein and carbs, and will keep my tummy happy through out the run the next day.  And LOTS of water throughout the day.  


Pre-long run breakfast:
A slice of sprouted wheat bread with natural peanut butter, and/or a banana

Post workout meal:
Immediately after a long run I want something with fruit, I think fruit tastes the best after a hard workout.  After I've had my fruit fix, which usually is an orange or a smoothie from jamba, I then have a big bowl of oatmeal with berries, chia seeds, agave, and sometimes granola for a real treat.  

My list of favorites:
1. and 3.  I think these shots are some of the best tasting energy gels I've tried thus far.  I've tried several flavors of Gu, which are just fine, but the flavors that Clif makes taste good.  My favorite flavors are the "Razz" and "Chocolate."  I know what you're thinking about the chocolate, it has to taste terrible, which is what I used to think, but my friend convinced me to try it and it tastes like pudding!  Craziness!

2. Stinger Waffle: This is one of my favorite carb-rich foods for a long run, After about an hour to an hour and a half in, I eat one of these, and they're sooooo good.  A yummy waffle cookie, and it's made with everything you need to keep up your energy.

4. Nike Running Tanks: I love how light and airy these tanks are, without being clingy.  It's still really hot in California, and when my runs are spanning from 6-10:00AM I need something light and cool.

5. Neutrogena sunscreen: One of the best sunscreens I've used while sweating my guts out. Even though the sweat is pouring off me, the sunscreen doesn't run or get into my eyes, it works really well.

6. Vitalyte electrolyte drink: I've had problems in the past with other electrolyte drinks that use sorbitol instead of sugar, and they've killed my stomach.  This drink tastes really good, isn't took expensive and it keeps me hydrated and my tummy happy.

7. Nathan water belt: Eh, this is just an ok water belt.  I don't love it, but it gets the job done.  If I were to get a new belt, I would go with something that is insulated and keeps my drinks cool through out my run.  My frozen water bottles with this belt melt in an hour, not great.

8. Garmin Forerunner 305: This is the satellite GPS I use to track my runs.  It has a ton of features including a heart monitor, GPS tracking of the run, and many more, but I unfortunately don't use most of them.  On my screen I keep track of: my pace, my overall time, my distance, and the clock.  All I need to keep track of the important stuff.

9. Lululemon dart and dash shorts: My new favorite shorts!  I wear these on my long runs, and they are soooo wonderful.  They stay in place, which is the best feature, unlike many other compression/spandex shorts that end up riding up.  These have 5 pockets to store anything from a phone, keys, Gu's money.  I love these.  I so recommend them!

10. New Balance Minimus Trail Shoes: I've been wearing these since February and I love them.  It takes a good long while to work up to a long mileage, and my feet are so tried after I've worn them on a long run, but they have helped with my IT-band problems, so much.  I had terrible IT-band issues, and since changing my foot strike and switching into these shoes, I haven't had any problems.  I also just purchased their road version of these shoes and can't wait to test them out.  It's sad how excited I get over new running shoes.

There are my top ten long run favorites and tips.  I don't know if any of you out there are training for a race, or are interested in training for a race, but all of these things have helped me so much.  I hope at least one will help you.