When I was in high school, traveling to away meets was the best. The whole team would pile onto a big yellow bus, drive for an hour, run on a new course against new competitors, then pile back onto the bus and get home after dark. It felt like freedom. No parents, no curfew. Just the rare chance to run in a new place against unknown competitors. The thing that made those meets really exciting though, was that maybe, just maybe, the bus driver would agree to stop at McDonald’s on the way home. When the bus would turn towards those golden arches, a cheer would invariably rise from me and my fellow athletes and we’d excitedly debate what we would order. For me, it was the same thing every time: an M&M McFlurry (soft serve ice cream swirled with chocolate candies) and French fries. Every. Single. Time. I mean, I had just run a race. I deserved to treat myself!

As delicious as my high school post-race meal was, when I look back I realize that none of us were really concerned about consuming the post-race foods that would best enhance our recovery. We simply didn’t know that what we ate after the race was just as important as what we ate before. Considering that only 40% of schools have nutrition education requirements for 9th/10th grade and only 20% have them for 11th/12th grade (IES, 2019), this isn’t too surprising. But that’s a discussion for another day. Back to post-race recovery.

Most experts agree that refueling as quickly as possible post-race is preferable, though research into the supposed 30 min “anabolic window of opportunity” is far from definitive (Aragon, A. A., & Schoenfeld, B. J. (2013). The anabolic window of opportunity argument posits that for maximum recovery and nutrient uptake, fuel must be consumed within 30 minutes after exercise. We runners know though, that eating 30 minutes after a race ends isn’t always feasible. So, for our purposes, I propose that consuming post-race fuel within 2 hours after exertion is preferable and will deliver desired benefits. Click Here to learn more about the post-exercise anabolic window.

So that begs the question…what should I eat? While all research may not agree on when we should eat post-race fuel, most does agree on what we should eat: carbohydrates and protein. Consuming carbohydrates post-race helps us refill our depleted glycogen stores. Refilling these stores ensures that we will have enough energy for the next hard effort. Likewise, protein helps rebuild the muscles we damaged during the race. Research tells us that a 3:1 carbohydrate to protein is ideal for recovery. This means that for every gram of protein we consume, we should consume 3 grams of carbohydrate. Have you heard athletes touting the recovery merits of chocolate milk recently? There’s a reason for that. Chocolate milk contains roughly 30 g of carbohydrates and 8 grams of protein. Pretty darn close to that 3:1 ratio.

Let’s analyze my high school post-race meal to see if it was as good choice.

A McFlurry contains 93 grams of carbohydrate and 14 grams of protein for a ratio of almost 7:1. Definitely not enough protein to maximize muscle recovery. But the real issue is that a McFlurry contains a whopping 12 grams of saturated fat and 85 grams of sugar. Those numbers alone make me cringe when I think about how many McFlurries I used to consume!

As for the French fries, they contain 50 grams of carbohydrate and only 4 grams of protein for a ratio of about 12.5:1. Again, too many carbohydrate, not enough protein.

I think even before analyzing my post-race meal we could all agree that it wasn’t the best choice. I WOULD like to point out that I usually consumed it within 2 hours of competing. So, it wasn’t ALL bad!

Ok ok, so now you know what I shouldn’t eat…what about some ideas of what I CAN eat? Here are some great examples including some packaged options for ease and convenience:

Chocolate Milk

Carbs: 30g

Protein: 8g

Plain Greek Yogurt & Banana

Carbs: 33g

Protein: 17g

Picky Bar (Blueberry Boomdizzle)

Carbs: 24g

Protein: 7g

Rx Bar (Sea Salt Chocolate)

Carbs: 24g

Protein: 12g

I hope this blog post has gotten you thinking about how important your post-race fuel is not only to immediate recovery but also to long-term performance.

What’s your favorite post-race snack? Does it fit into the 3:1 carb:protein ratio? 

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References:

Aragon, A. A., & Schoenfeld, B. J. (2013). Nutrient timing revisited: is there a post-exercise anabolic window?. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 10(1), 5. https://doi.org/10.1186/1550-2783-10-5

IES. (2019). Nutrition Education in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools. National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved from: https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/frss/publications/96852/

Keywords: recovery, fuel, carbohydrate, protein, race, nutrition