One of our faithful Twitter followers, @lilpokes, asked a great question today.
“What should I eat before a marathon?”
Lee, from The Running Couple (@runningcouple) sent us his recommendation:

The diary tracking your food vs. performance is a great way to find out what works for you and what doesn’t. While training for my first marathon, I got to hear all the horror stories about GI problems and decided to do something about it. I would track what I ate throughout the day and how my performance was for the following run. The entire week before the race I stuck to my safe food and had no problems at all. That is what I love about running…learning about your body and testing your limits.

My pre-race food stays the same…whole wheat pasta with red sauce the night before (I avoid dairy like the plague) and oatmeal with peanut butter and honey in the morning 3 hours before the start. I usually stick with water, but I always have a small glass if orange juice in the morning. I get my caffeine from my Clif Shot Bloks!

Janda Ricci-Munn has this suggestion:

30 min. pre race/during warm up = 1 Power Gel + a few sips of sport drink

60 min. pre race/during warm up = Light hydration (a few sips of sport drink here and there)

2 Hours pre race = 1 pint of sport drink

3 – 3.5 hours pre race = 400 – 500 or so calories, which should primarily come from complex carbohydrate sources such as oatmeal, bagels, cereal, etc.  Avoid animal protein sources & dairy if possible.  Very small amount of fat in the form of peanut butter okay, but not more than a tablespoon or so.  Consume 1 full glass of sport drink with breakfast (sport drink should factor into the caloric equation).

30 min. pre race/during warm up = 1 Power Gel + a few sips of sport drink

60 min. pre race/during warm up = Light hydration (a few sips of sport drink here and there)

2 Hours pre race = 1 pint of sport drink

3 – 3.5 hours pre race = 400 – 500 or so calories, which should primarily come from complex carbohydrate sources such as oatmeal, bagels, cereal, etc.  Avoid animal protein sources & dairy if possible.  Very small amount of fat in the form of peanut butter okay, but not more than a tablespoon or so.  Consume 1 full glass of sport drink with breakfast (sport drink should factor into the caloric equation).

Hope this helps! Do you have a special meal that works for you before your race? Comment on this post and let us know what your favorite pre-race meal is!