“WHAT GLUTEN FREE FOODS SHOULD I EAT BEFORE A LONG RUN?”
Apparently that’s one of the top searches I get to my site. Maybe it’s because I’ve chatted about gluten free training fuel, or gluten free pre race meal ideas. Ya, I’m a gluten free sherpa wife at your service. And it’s my pleasure!
With that in mind, I thought I’d go ahead and extend this “gluten free search” a wee bit more and talk about LONG RUN fuel, the gluten free food kind.
I don’t plan on doing in long runs anytime soon, but I’ve spent a good seven years making gluten free long run fuel for the kiwi. We’ve figured GF meals work well, and what doesn’t work well. It’s all about timing and of course, trial and error.
Here are my favorite gluten free foods to eat before a long run (at least an hour before).
Fuel Cakes and Rice Balls… Not together though. Haha. These two recipes are great for those who can’t stomach a lot before a run but need good calories and carbs for fuel.
I’ll give you the fuel cake recipe, just in case you missed it before.
Ingredients and Their Purpose Below:
- 7oz Unsulphured Mission Figs
- For Potassium and Natural sugars (carbohydrates)
- 1/2 cup Raw Cashews and 1/3 cup Unsweetened Shredded Coconut
- For good fat and natural energy (calories)
- Cinnamon
- an anti-inflammatory spice
- 1/2c Brown Rice Crispies cereal
- for GF good whole grains and carbs
- 1 tbsp. Gluten Free Brewers Yeast or Nutritional Yeast -for this recipe, the brewers yeast makes it more nutty.
- For B vitamins, Amino Acids, and Iron
Directions:
Blend everything in food processor, roll into a ball, then flatten with hand. Store in freezer for later use. Makes around 11-12 cookies.
The Coconut Rice Date Balls you can find here. I’d say 3-4 are great to eat along with a banana. Again, dense good calories. More rice cake recipes here!
The Grain Free Option – Plantain Bread. The original recipe is from Purely Twins. We just add in a scoop of protein powder or almond meal thicken it. Or we will add an egg to make it fluffier.
Want to make it more of a meal? Eat this about 2 hrs before. Rice with fried plantain, a little bit of bacon (not too much, just for salt and flavor), a drizzle of maple syrup, and sprouted Corn Tortillas. Yep, more Rice and Plantain Love. If you want this for post run, just add in some GF chicken or turkey sausage. You can also switch out the bacon for salsa.
Porridge (Two Ways) – The first porridge is made from steamed rice and a little coconut butter or coconut milk. You’ve heard me talk about it before. Then top with fig, cashew, and banana. It’s delicious! For us, white rice is easy to digest. Plus if you eat it cold, it’s a resistant starch, yea!
The Second porridge is made from gluten free oats and eggs. This is one that really works well as pre or post run fuel. The trick is to not cook the egg all the way and then add a little milk and honey on top. It’s amazing! Probably why I keep coming back to it!
And since it’s Fall, here’s my favorite PUMPKIN bake we use for pre-run fuel. It’s great with NUTTZO on top as well.
Can’t stand to chew food before a run? Here’s a bonus SMOOTHIE recipe.
* Almond Milk, frozen banana, maca powder, 1 tbsp honey, 1 tbsp. almond butter, and 1 scoop or less of a vanilla protein. And sometimes we add in a half cup of coffee or 1 tsp instant coffee.
What’s your go-to pre long run fuel?
And feel free to ask for more ideas in the comments, I have TONS!
Cheers,
LC
