27 February 2009

what to eat after a run

You gotta love Runner's World for actually encouraging you to drink chocolate milk after a run.

I have strong food cravings after a run. Usually, I crave for fish with garlic rice. Beef tapa, too. But mostly fish. And ever since I started running, Pancake House has been the post-race breakfast venue of my choice because of their pan-fried bangus with garlic rice and egg, as well as their chocolate chip pancakes.

Lately though, I've been really hungering for a post-run cereal breakfast. I don't know any breakfast places (except hotels) that have cereal on their menu, simply because people would rather buy a box of cornflakes from the grocery and eat at home. But there's more joy in unwinding and having a post-run breakfast celebration in a restaurant than at home. If you know of a cheap breakfast place that includes cereal, please drop me a note.

One of the many great things about running is that you have to eat after a run. According to various health and fitness sites, there's a 15 to 60-minute "recovery window" for runners (and for people who work out in general) to refuel because it is after strenuous exercise that the body most needs nutrients to repair muscle tissue and replace glycogen stores, which are responsible for providing the body with energy during exercise. You need to replace these depleted stores; otherwise you won't have enough energy in your next run/exercise, and your performance will suffer.

Such fantastic, craving-friendly scientific truth. I'm definitely going for chocolate milk next time.

3 comments:

  1. woohoo!!! this is such great news for a glutton like me!!! thanks, gina girl. i have no patience at all to go through the articles in runner's world so i'm happy you shared this important info.

    i love cereal too!!! but yeah... i also don't know of any place that serves it, except for hotel breakfast buffets. hay.

    if you stumble upon a cereal-serving place, let me know too, okay?

    btw, we got teased so much for joining botak instead of doc fit that we relented tonight and registered for doc fit. fortunately someone bought our spots at botak.

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  2. Yeah, isn't this bit of info great?! Our gluttony is justified!! Haha. When I'm super hungry, I eat more than the usual, and people get confused and ask, "So where does it all go?" (kasi payat daw ako, and I'm sure you get the same questions as well).

    Hello, I never starve myself, noh!! One just has to pick the right kind of food, or at least the not-so-evil kind of food--and then you can binge!!! (Besides, the regular exercise helps keeps those extra calories away.)

    After I wrote this entry, I had a bowl of cornflakes. In the middle of the night. Haha. I promise to let you know if I find a cereal breakfast place. Can't afford a hotel buffet breakfast. Wahaha. =P

    Knowing Rio, he'd really make sure you'd sign up for DocFit!! Since it's your first 10K, at least it's a runrio race diba? Mine was also rio's race, and I really appreciated all the markers and the general organized look and feel of the run. Made the 10K less painful. Haha.

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  3. i agree on the no starvation policy. i hate dieting. i'd rather kill myself working out than curb my appetite for all things yummy. :)

    hope your botak run goes well! enjoy!

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