Any Tips For Eating On the Road?

I tend to get really nervous about everything I eat leading up to a race. When I’m travelling for a race this feeling amplifies. I eat pretty basic meals day-to-day. Everything on the road suddenly seems so questionable and scary. Any tips or calming my inner pre-race eating fears when I’m travelling the days leading up to a race?

Based on how you describe yourself I feel an easy strategy to calm this fear could be to go to the local grocery store for a meal or two. This may put you back in your comfort zone and ease your nerves. The benefit of the grocery store is that there are a ton of options you can make into a meal even if you don’t actually have a kitchen to prepare them.

One of my favorite places in a good grocery store is the area in and around the salad bar. Selection can vary quite a bit from grocery store to grocery store, but the salad bar and options around that section of the store often relate to daily eating. On many salad bars you can find fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, various cheeses, peas, beans, eggs, turkey or chicken, pasta salads, and more. Hopefully you can find options that you often choose in your daily routine from the salad bar.

Some salad bars even offer hot items such as soups, macaroni and cheese, pot pie, grain-rich salads, and pizza. I suggest aiming for lower fat items as much as possible. A mayonnaise soaked pasta salad, flakey pot pie, or creamy cheddar soup may tack a lot of fat on to your on-the-go eating.

Be sure not to just choose salad. Effort should be made to include sufficient carbohydrates with the meal. You can complement low carbohydrate salad bar options with a fresh roll or bagel from the bakery; maybe grab a yogurt from the dairy section; and breeze through the aisle for your favorite whole grain crackers or breakfast cereal. When in doubt, pack similar items if feasible.

Hopefully this will support you feeling back in control of your on the road pre-race eating.

By the way, Greg (and friends Tim and John) had a successul, awesome Mt. Whitney summit over the weekend. I’m looking forward to his return home to hear all of the details!