Week 4: Higher Mileage -> Increased Recovery Efforts | Feed Your Runner

Race results, the next phase of training, the benefits of omega-3s, and this week's meal plan + new grocery list formats!

Jan 24, 2025

∙ Paid

Hi friends,

We’re home from the Houston half marathon, where our friend Conner Mantz ran a new American record of 59:17—so incredible!! Clayton ran a PB of 60:52. He’s happy to see progress and grateful to come away with a good day, but he’s hungry to close that gap!

I had so much fun cheering for Clayton all over the course. I probably spent about 6 hours figuring out the best way to get around on race morning—lot’s of talking to kind locals, zooming in and out on google maps, and then walking, biking, and driving around the city. It’s so fun to have a reason to explore side streets, and now my camera roll has more pictures of random intersections in Houston than of me and Clayton together in Houston. So fun. :)

And now the real training for the Boston marathon begins!

If you’re just here for the recipes, then you can scroll past this nerdy training stuff, that is totally allowed. :)

Over the next 4 weeks, Clayton will start to increase his weekly mileage, going from 92 miles in the week before the Houston half marathon to a max of 120 miles a week. He will have 20-25 mile long runs on Saturdays. On Tuesdays and Thursdays are sessions of interval training or tempo runs followed by weight lifting and sauna training.

This graph shows Clayton’s build from April to August leading into the Olympics. There are two dips in the graph, one in the middle for the Boston 10k and one at the end for the Olympic marathon. These dips indicate lower mileage and lower efforts in training (i.e. a taper), While there are peaks and valleys throughout the data, the overall trend is up. For this Boston build, we are currently at the left side of the graph where the blue and orange lines begin to climb.

So what is the role of nutrition during these weeks? It’s all about recovery so that he can keep increasing his intensity.

In this week’s nutrition tip, Jackie discusses the role that omega-3s play in supporting recovery, and this week’s picks will set you up well to see those benefits!

We’ll also continue to support his iron levels by including 1-2 servings of red meat this week, as discussed in a previous nutrition tip.

Wherever you’re at in your training—for your next race or your phase of life—I hope you find something delicious from this week’s plan!

Take care,

Ashley

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.

These oats are a great way to replenish depleted glycogen stores after a run. And add in some chia seeds for the added benefits from the omega-3s!

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

I’ve received many requests for more snack options! These chocolate chip cookie dough protein balls are some of my favorites, I hope you enjoy them too!