The Bellingham Distance Project is diversified in its Fall goals, with Maria coming up to a season break post the USATF Trail 1/2 Marathon Champs, Alyson & Aly in the thick of cross country training and currently prepping for USATF Regionals in Portland,  OR at the end of the month, and Amber and Courtney are a month out from CIM, where they hope to make the OT Standard. Fuel is obviously an essential part of training and recovering; there is no perfect model or caloric quantity that can be used as an umbrella for runners, and as is evident in this Day in the Diet look inside five different athletes’ intake, it all depends on individual needs, environment, whether you’re fueling for a workout or an easy run, or trying to get through excess holiday candy. Check out our typical days’ consumption below!

MARIA DALZOT
Background: Maria was in Moab, UT touring the USATF National Trail Marathon course over the weekend. Staying in a hotel & being in a new environment changes what is available. You have to plan ahead, and know what works for you. Despite all the environmental changes, Maria stayed on top of her diet and was able to get to a store for snacks to munch on through the night. Her focus was to get in nourishing, well-rounded meals that could fuel her for new terrain, and keep her full.

BREAKFAST
Bagel with eggs, avocado & tomato
LUNCH
Spinach wrap with hummus and a salad
SNACK
Apple
DINNER
Thai Curry with rice and fresh rolls
MIDNIGHT NOSH
Cereal, yogurt & bananas

ALYSON KLEIN
Background: Alyson works an 8-5, and did her workout on her lunch break. Because she does her workout mid-day, she’s able to get a meal and snacks in before, which allows her to go into the workout properly fueled/hydrated. A breakfast isn’t always enough to go off of when you put in a hard effort several hours later, so she did an excellent job at getting some sugars and carbs in, as well as a pre-workout Gu to sustain her through her hard efforts and an even better job of getting in protein immediately post workout to reap the benefits of her hard work.

BREAKFAST
Oatmeal (1/2 c oats) w/ raisins, brown sugar & cinnamon (*”A pre-race standard minus the raisins, and something I try to mimic on workout days.”)
2-3 cups of coffee
SNACKS
Handful of THE BEST chocolate trail mix from the Co-Op
Handful of Cascade Farm Honey Nut-O’s
PRE-WORKOUT
1/2 an Espresso Love Gu during warm up run
POST WORKOUT (LUNCH + SNACKS)
Muscle Milk Organic Protein Shake – Vanilla
Water
Peanut butter and jelly on pretzel bun
Pure Organic Ancient grains Vanilla Almond Bar
Annies Summer Berry fruit snacks
Mini milk duds
Vanilla Greek yogurt (individual)
DINNER
Soup and salad combo from the Co-Op
SUPPLEMENTS
Juice Plus capsules
Iron – 2x
EmergenC

ALY HOWISEY
Background: Aly works a high-intensity sales job at Amazon, and multi-tasks endlessly. I thought she was living off of donuts and good beer, but turns out when you surprise-ask her what she ate for the day, she’s got it all figured out and is well-rounded and well-fueled, sprinkled in with some much deserved treats. She’s also probably the most well-hydrated woman on the team.

BREAKFAST
Bowl of cereal with fruit and soy milk
SNACK
2-3 handfuls of THE BEST trail mix (gifted by Alyson from the Co-Op)
2 btls of water
LUNCH
Kigo Bowl: Rice, bell peppers, greens, radishes, carrots, mushrooms & shrimp w/ garlic lemongrass sauce
PRE-RUN
1 chocolate/PB Gu
EmergenC Orange with water
DINNER
Green salad and pesto tortellini salad w/ baguette, olive oil, vinegar
DESSERT
Julies Organic ice cream sandwiches
(“I’m obsessed, and when I’m stressed I eat 2 back-to-back.”)

AMBER MORRISON
Background: Amber eats a vegetarian diet. Not scheduled to work in the ER this day, Amber had flexibility in her schedule of eating and completing a workout. Generally speaking, she will wake up at least an hour and a half before a hard effort workout to make sure she is properly fueled. In this instance, she was able to take in a couple hundred calories before completing her w/o and ended her run with a Vietnamese sandwich to refuel. She had a snack-style dinner spread and celebrated her hard efforts with wine.

BREAKFAST
1 packet Natures Path raisin oatmeal w/ 1 tbsp peanut butter
Coffee
6 milk duds
1 packet EmergenC Orange
SNACK
Trail mix granola bar (pre-run)
WORKOUT
10 min tempo + 10x1K (16 miles total)
LUNCH
Vietnamese Tofu Bun (from Soy House)
Kombucha
SNACK
Handful of Garden of Eatin sweet potato tortilla chips
DINNER
Cheese board w/ apples, chevre, gouda, tapenade, garlic stuffed olives, crackers and hummus
1 glass red wine
SNACK
Handful of sweet potato chips
#2 glass of red wine
8 milk duds

COURTNEY OLSEN
Background: Courtney is in recovery mode from the Chicago Marathon and needs to take in extra calories to recover and prep for CIM. Operating around an 8-5 with a short lunch break and a Rolfing session after work, she had to get her workout in at 6 am. Starting the day early with a hard effort gets the metabolism rolling and by not eating beforehand, she was operating on little stores. She curbed hunger by snacking every hour and fueling up on a carb & protein rich dinner, accompanied by several glasses of wine and a handful of snickers.

WORKOUT
8.5 miles w/ 5 mi at Tempo
BREAKFAST
Coffee w/ milk, sugar, cinnamon
Few slices TJ’s whole wheat sourdough w/ butter
TJ’s vanilla almond clusters cereal (1 cup)
SNACK
Pink lady apple
Salted almonds
Pepper crackers
TJ’s whole wheat sourdough w/ 1/2 an avocado
2x Snickers minis
Handful TJ’s candied ginger
LUNCH
Smoked pastrami w/ stinky cheese & arugula on whole wheat
Water
ROLFING APPT
DINNER
Spiral pasta w/ ground beef & Bolognese sauce w/ homemade garlic bread
2x glasses champagne
SNACK
1.5x glass Chianti
5x Snickers minis
SUPPLEMENTS
Iron x2

There’s always improvements we can make. We keep each other honest, prod extra intake, try to grab coffees or have meals together on Seahawks game days, share breakfast together after a Sunday long run. No matter what you accomplish in a day or a week, you deserve to take care of you, eat good food, insert little rewards, or make room for your indulgences. Balance. There are many ways to get to the end; they don’t all look the same. Keep it simple. Time it right. Hydrate.

Interesting Reads:
What Does an Elite Marathon Runner’s Diet Look Like?
What Elite Runners Really Eat
Are you Eating Enough?
Meal Plans for Runners
The Best Foods for Female Runners
4 Foods Runners Must Eat for Training and Recovery