Simon (part of the dazNbone Spring 2019 Marathon team) asked me today:
“Porridge for breakfast? Whole oats, skimmed milk and a few raisins microwaved. Allowed or food of the devil?”
Simon we believe that porridge is a great choice for breakfast but ultimately dazNbone would recommend that you try and avoid having it every day.
Porridge is a great choice for marathon race-day food and therefore we would definitely recommend that you eat as part of a balanced weekly breakfast. The secret to a great porridge is that you can choose what type of milk to use (dazNbone loves Rude Health Almond Milk) and you can choose all kinds of toppings to inject some super-food power. Try adding some omega3 triggering nuts (walnuts and hazlenuts or some sunflower seeds) . Another gem is Chia Seeds - a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, fiber, antioxidants, iron, and calcium. For the sweet tooth monsters you can go for some sugar alternatives like honey or agave syrup. Don’t forget the Scottish trick to add a little salt.
So if the plan isn’t to eat Porridge every day here are some Breakfast Options:
Eggs:
The best habit you could form is to eat more eggs. Athletes can get a huge amount of value out of eggs - Eggs are rich in amino acids, choline and vitamin D, all of which are essential to healthy muscle growth. Researchers say that eating eggs in the morning can reduce your daily cravings for fatty foods by up to 400 calories, making eggs useful for fat loss efforts too!
Ideally have an omelette once or twice a week because that often encourages a zero bread choice and you can add loads of other good stuff in - cheese - peppers - onions and chilli flakes - always get the morning juices flowing with some spice action. Amazingly there are thousands of different ways to make a killer omelette - love this link to discover who makes the best
dazNbone '#toptip - If you are super crazy then always make more salad in the evenings and put salad with your omelette.
Sourdough Bread Plus:
It's total hipster but Avocado on good toast is a great protein source. Once again look to spice up with pepper and harissa and chilli flakes.
On a marathon race day dazNbone love Banana and peanut butter - Again brilliant protein source. We often read that other runners love to get a sweet&savoury mash-up and many love peanut butter and jam combo. You will often find this supplied at “aid stations” on longer runs. You can find some great sourdough toast recipes in one of our go-to books by the brilliant Anita Bean.
Not sure if you have every tried it but you can get a kilner jar and fill it with some porridge oats and some milk - you add some fruit/nuts and maybe chia seeds and leave in the fridge over night and you have a delicious breakfast ready in the morning. One of the new kids on the run-food block is 33 Shakes - check out their Chia Seed Gel which is getting rave reviews from runners looking for alternatives to gels.
So there you have it Simon - Mix up your breakfasts with these options and you will get leaner and importantly race day ready.
Skipping Breakfast: Fasting is becoming a more popular approach in the sporting world. A new blog post will follow on this but just to say that a great pearl of wisdom is to “eat when you are hungry”. dazNbone have tried this ourselves - wake up in the morning - have some water but only eat if you genuinely feel hunger pains. In a 10 day experiment we didnt feel any hunger pains at all and left out breakfast for all 10 days. More to follow on whether we believe this is a good idea for you marathon runners or not.
As always please leave your helpful/healthy comments