Pre-race nutrition: the lazy woman's approach

I'm not afraid to admit when I've been wrong, and that time is upon us. I posted a rant once about how dumb it was to claim you don't "see color" (color referring to race, I would never knock the color blind). Apparently, it's possible.

My mom recently ran in to a family friend who had attended our wedding. Of course, she had to show off pictures of my adorable nephew. In the course of the conversation, my mom realized that the friend thought that the baby was ours. 

Now, I'm no geneticist, but I'm fairly sure that this

can't create this.

So, I stand corrected. Now that that's cleared up, let's talk about pre - race nutrition. I would really like to do everything in my power to avoid the terrifying ordeal that I suffered through at the Wineglass Marathon. Unfortunately, I've been unable to pinpoint the problem. 

Tomorrow night is two days before the race, and is typically a carb-loading night. I'll just have the leftovers from Vanessa's amazing coconut "curry" recipe. It's not exactly carb filled, but it is available and all I have to do is put it in the microwave. Also, I'd probably have to throw it away if I don't eat it tomorrow, and throwing food away hurts my heart. 

Friday night I'll probably get a footlong veggie patty sub from Subway. We'll be driving, I'm too lazy to pack a meal, and I've eaten that before other races and didn't have problems. 

I will avoid dessert and excess sugar on Thursday and Friday. I'm not sure if this will help, but eating a super rich dessert the weekend of Wineglass was potentially the culprit. I would avoid eating dessert tonight, but I can't, and I'll tell you why.

While I love my job, of course it's not without it's challenges. 

Source: someecards.com via Nicole on Pinterest

This year, I've been seeing a significant increase in one particular challenge. I've been getting emails first thing in the morning that go something like this. "Good morning! I've made (insert delicious sounding dessert) for the staff! Please help yourself, it's in the faculty room." I don't have my first break until nearly three hours into the day, and by that time, it's either all gone or only the weird nasty looking parts that no one wants are left. Based on the name of my blog, you can imagine how upsetting this is for me. We're up to at least one delicious treat email a week, if not more.

Source: someecards.com via Nicole on Pinterest

Today, I sent my intern to make copies. She came back and said in a serious voice "Mrs. Lindsey, I have to bring you some of this cake that was down there". Well, she's been working herself to the bone for me, even stayed a half hour late yesterday, so was I going to tell her no, I didn't want any cake? Of course not. All I told her was "get a piece that's heavy on the frosting!". 

It was a miracle I was able to complete my math lesson and not stuff my face as soon as she returned, but somehow I made it and now the cake waiting to be my dessert. Sure, I could just not eat it, in the name of the marathon, but I could barely even type that sentence with a straight face.

So here's my marathon nutrition advice in a nutshell: 

1. Eat whatever is readily available and requires the least effort.

2. Avoid foods that cause problems, unless someone brings them to you and they look really delicious.

 Eric is really struggling with his pre-race nutrition. He wants to go with his classic fried koolaid balls for dinner the night before, but they're out of season, and we've made no headway in figuring out what the hell they are.

Spoiler alert - the race didn't go well

I'm still struggling from a total lack of motivation, but I pushed through a 7 miler (9:18 pace) after work tonight. If you're still struggling with taper boredom, read my friend Minch's recent blog post. It made me laugh out loud, and I don't say that about many blogs. Single ladies: he's just as funny in person.

What's your pre-race nutrition plan? Do you avoid any specific foods?