Week 15: Taper Mindset & Travel Prep | Feed Your Runner

Packing tips, book recs, race week recipes, and Jackie's recs to make your race-weekend go a little bit smoother!

Hi friends,

10 days till race day! We’re getting so close!

Packing prep

I know we still have 10 days to go, but I like to start thinking about what I want to pack so that I make sure I have everything on hand.

Here’s a roundup of what we typically bring:

• Familiar snacks

  • Cadence fuel bars for the carb load

  • Pretzels

  • Bobos from Costco (both pb&j and chocolate chip)

  • Trail mix

  • Homemade snacks (like pb bars or breakfast cookies)

• Electrolytes

  • Cadence core sachets

• Familiar breakfast

  • I like to bring stuff for oatmeal! We make it with hot water and a disposable cup in our hotel room. I bring a bag of oats and chia seeds.

  • Peanut butter and honey (in a container under the 3.4oz limit if we fly) for either oatmeal or toast.

• Recovery tools

  • Massage gun

  • Massage stick

  • If we’re feeling crazy, we bring the compression boots

• Race day fuel

  • Cadence energy sachet

  • Carb mix

  • Bottles

Mindset prep

This taper time has helped us shift from physical prep to mental prep.

We finished Des Linden’s Choose to Run and now we’re listening to Meb Keflezighi’s 26 Marathons. I’ve also started an advance copy of Keira D’Amato’s new book, Don’t Call It a Comeback (you can preorder it here) and I’ve loved it so far! It’s just so amazing to get in the head of these athletes who have achieved amazing things.

One of my favorite parts of Des’s book was the way she brought me into her race-day experience. I could imagine Clayton’s every step, from leaving the hotel room, boarding the bus, waiting and waiting, lining up on the start line, avoiding pot holes, taking tangents . . . all the way to find me at Boylston Street.

I love that visualization. Putting myself in Clayton’s footsteps helps me to anticipate his emotions and needs—and it helps me to set my expectations properly. These next 10 days of parenting, meal times, bedtimes, packing, running, and everything else will all fall into place easier (and with less frustration and resentment!) if I can put myself in his position and know where his mind is at.

I just love these opportunities to go all-in on this support role.

Maybe you’re a runner, maybe you’re a support person, or maybe you’re both. Maybe you have a race on the calendar, and maybe you don’t.

But if running relates to life at all, then there are lots of opportunities to support and love those we love.

There are so many ways to go about showing support, and mine just happens to maximize two of my favorite things: reading good books and eating good food. :) I hope you find a way that works for you!

Thanks for supporting us, and good luck this week on your individual journey!

Take care,

Ashley

Jackie and I made an effort to pick recipes that could be flexible for your race week: made at home, made in a hotel/Airbnb kitchen, or purchased from a restaurant. Good luck!!

Breakfast

I like to batch prep a few breakfast options, and then mix and match them throughout the week with eggs (usually scrambled with bell peppers) and cereal (I can’t keep Clayton from his rice krispies + bananas or his honey bunches of oats; he’s also a big fan of granola). He usually eats both a savory and a sweet option each morning.

Smoothies are an excellent carb loading option! Make sure to add granola and fruit on top. Additionally, consider making it with juice instead of milk (more carbs vs protein/fat) and eliminating the protein powder.

Make this carb-load friendly by using a large tortilla and increasing the egg-to-potato ratio.

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

It can be helpful to pack snack essentials with you while traveling—especially something you know you like and can rely on in the days before the race. These breakfast cookies travel well!

Dinner

Monday: easy mileage

For the carb-load, go heavy on the rice, pineapple, and bread.

Tuesday: workout

Post-workout omega-3s!

Wednesday: easy mileage

Pineapple chicken rice bowls leftovers.

Thursday: workout

We will arrive in Boston on this day! We love the restaurant SweetGreen for bowl-type meals—a substitute for the hot honey salmon bites leftovers.

Friday: easy mileage + carb load

Clayton often eats Thai food pre-race, a tradition from his college days. Coach Eyestone is a foodie, and he would often steer the team to a Thai restaurant a few nights before the race. Extra scoops of rice for the carb load!

Saturday: easy mileage + carb load

This is an easy meal to replicate while traveling. The potatoes can be a great add to your carb load.

Sunday: easy mileage + carb load

Keep things simple the night before the race! This rotini bolognese is a great option. We don’t want to get overly full from creamy pasta sauces, meats, etc. Focus on prioritizing carbs. And if you don’t have a place to make this, it should be easy to replicate at a restaurant.