Week 11: Fridays Are for Steak & Rice Bowls!

I'm excited for this week's lineup! So many yummy recipes using delicious end-of-summer produce. Plus Jackie's nutrition deep dive on carb loading so you're ready when race week comes.

Hi friends,

We are 31 days out from the World Champs marathon!!! The first episode of Clayton’s docuseries for this build dropped last Saturday—a fun 15 minutes of content from the Beach to Beacon 10k and some great workouts. I’m so glad that we have a record of these good memories and his hard work too look back on!

On the home front, school started this week for our first grader, and the transition feels big for our family: we’re moving from our own daily rhythms to the dictates of the school bell schedule. It’s been an adjustment! Are we the only ones?

Being on-time is not my strong suit, so it feels like a herculean effort to do so for 180 days. Wish us luck! :)

I’m happy to share Jackie’s nutrition deep dive about pre-race carb loading. Even though this is Clayton’s ninth (!!) marathon, I feel like this is an area where there is always room for more education and improvement. Thanks, Jackie! I also appreciate thinking about carb loading with 4 weeks to go so that we can plan our strategy, have the right foods on hand, and do small practice rounds for the last few long runs.

As for this week’s meal plan, it’s filled with some of our favorites! Hope you find something you’re excited to make for yourself, your runner, or your family. :)

Take care,

Ashley

Breakfast

Clayton runs twice a day, and his morning run is usually 10-12 miles. So breakfast is a big event! We aim for protein and lots of carbs, particularly carbs now that his training is intensifying. In addition to this week’s options, we’ll serve things like toast, hash browns, and granola each morning.

I’ll serve these bowls with some toast or the banana coconut muffins below.

Lunch

Clayton usually eats big breakfasts (post morning run) and big dinners (post afternoon run), so we keep lunch time pretty simple. His typical go-to is turkey sandwiches with pretzels or chips. We’ll include a serving of tuna this week for omega-3s as well.

Snack

We loved these muffins! I’m excited to make them again.

Dinner

Monday: easy mileage

I’ll serve these with peaches and smashed broccoli! You can pair with whatever fruit + veggie combo you enjoy.

And if we’re having sandwiches, then some chips will definitely make an appearance—gotta have that crunch. We love Cape Cod original sea salt and Late July multigrain chips.

Tuesday: workout

I’ll serve this with some Costco sourdough bread and maybe even some roasted potatoes.

Wednesday: easy mileage

BBQ turkey sandwich leftovers + summer salad leftovers.

Thursday: workout

I’m excited to make this one with in-season tomatoes! I’ll serve this with noodles and Costco sourdough bread.

Friday: easy mileage

I’ll make our favorite fancy black beans—a little bit more effort that’s rewarded with a ton of flavor! We love to top these bowls with this guac and pickled onions. And we recently became hooked on Mateo’s salsa from Costco . . . wow, I’m excited for this meal. :)

Saturday: long run

Pesto bruschetta chicken leftovers.

Sunday: recovery day

Steak and rice bowl leftovers.