Top of the Key

So to mix it up a bit, and since I need to post as it’s been 3 days since I was last in here, I figured I’d offer some insight into what I eat for meals, and specifically what I do for recovery, which I think is almost more important than what you do during training.  First off, some meals that I’ve been consuming lately:

Breakfast: Egg Wrap
I mix 4-5 cage-free egg whites, and one yellow, scramble with red peppers and sometimes broccolli, and throw it in an organic whole wheat wrap.  The tortilla wrap is usually warmed up in the toaster oven for a few minutes to keep everything hot.

Morning Snack:
Kashi Seven Grain Cereal (like Grape Nuts) and Non-fat Vanilla Brown Cow Yogurt.  A pretty good power packed snack

Lunch: Chicken Sandwich
I usually buy the chicken breasts from the deli at Whole Foods, I sort of burnt myself out on cooking chicken breasts a few years back, and haven’t recovered.  This does the job nicely though.  Slap the breast on some whole wheat bread with spinach and horseradish mustard, and that’s pretty much it.  Maybe some Pita Chips or baby carrots on the side.

Afternoon Snack:
Anything from an Organic Honeyscrip Apple to a Banana or Carrots with Lemon and salt over them.  Usually if I have a workout, I’ll pack in a bit more, maybe a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Dinner:
The past three nights, all the same thing.  2 grilled 96% lean grass fed bison burgers (no bun, just plain), 1/2 grilled red pepper (right now, red peppers are $1 at Whole Foods), and then baked Brussell Sprouts with olive oil and some pepper.  And last night I added a spinach salad with some cranberries and an organic bartlett pear.  Salad dressing has been Whole Food’s Lite Honey Mustard.  Tonight I’m breaking from that meal, need to give my taste buds some options.

RECOVERY:
The biggest focus of my training over the past 3-4 months has been recovery.  First thing I do coming back from a big workout, which lately has been most days, is to drink water.  Then immediately drink 6-8 oz of low fat organic valley chocolate milk with a scoop of whey protein powder, and 2 B Complex vitamins.  While that’s thrown down my throat, I also eat a PowerBar Recovery Bar.  That gets me settled for the first 30 min.  Then when the stomach is ready, it’s time to eat a meal.  But following this regime for months has had a big impact, I think, on my ability to get up the next day, and do it all again.  Plus massage once a week, couldn’t do without that, but as far as nutrition, this is what’s working for me.

PRE-WORKOUT:
Before workouts, like a run first thing in the morning, all I’ve been taking in is coffee, and a the PowerBar Smoothie’s.  I have at least one of these a day.  I find them easy on the stomach, yet still giving me the energy to perform the workout.  It doesn’t sit there in your stomach like a clif blok might, or a gel.  For me anyway, this has been another big factor in accomplishing my workouts and finishing strong.

Hope this sheds some light on nutrition for some of you.  I have switched the huge carbo loading at night, like pasta  and rices, to a more vegetable focus.  I do have eat Brown Rice Pasta 1 or 2 nights a week, but not as much as I was doing leading up to CDA.  Same with morning breakfast.  Jess and I would have 1/2 bagel with peanut butter and honey every morning, what’s that, 3-1/2 bagels a week?  Too much, and I can feel the difference too.  Keeping it light, natural.

Less than 4 weeks, I’m counting workout by workout now, and all that’s left is some solid race pace efforts and staying healthy.