Happy Friday, everyone!
Fueling your body with nutritious and nourishing foods is essential for healthy and optimal athletic performance. What you eat before a run matters for fueling your workout; what you eat after a workout is essential for faster recovery and overall athletic progress.
The sports nutritionist and author Matt Fitzgerald argues in his book The New Rules of Marathon and Half Marathon Nutrition that your race day nutrition only matters so much when it comes to running well and avoiding the wall. Up to 75% of the nutritional preparation comes from consistent healthy eating (with plenty of complex carbohydrates).
Each run dips a bit into your glycogen stores. Glycogen is how your body stores carbohydrates and thus is the primary energy source for running and other aerobic activities. If you do not sufficiently replenish these stores, especially after a hard workout or a long run, your overall athletic performance will suffer, both in immediately and over the course of a full training cycle. You need to eat plenty of complex carbohydrates such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains to keep those glycogen stores full and keep your fueled throughout your training.
Protein and healthy fats should also be part of your diet as a runner. Protein repairs the microtears in your muscles, thus promoting recovery and training gains. Fat, especially healthy fats such as omega-3 fatty acids, reduce tissue inflammation and oxidative stress and thus play a role in injury-free running.
Ideally, you should eat a carbohydrate-rich meal or snack with protein and healthy fat within 60 minutes after completing a workout. Eating within this window will replenish your glycogen stores, jumpstart recovery, and prevent runger.
Post Run Breakfast Recipe Round Up
If you are a morning runner, breakfast truly becomes the most important meal of the day! These post run breakfast recipes will help you fuel properly after your run.
German Chocolate Cake Breakfast Bars from Athletic Avocado
Persimmon Chia Pudding with Pomegranates from Pixel Sprout
Photo Republished with Permission from Sam Willey/Pixel Sprout
Trail Mix Energy Muffins from A Healthful Heart
Peanut Butter Banana Overnight Oats from Breathe Deeply and Smile
Apple Cinnamon Pancakes from That Girl Shannon
Lemon Blueberry Energy Bites from Pancake Warriors
Kabocha Squash Oatmeal from This Runner’s Recipes
Warm Coconut Peach Breakfast Freekah from In Fitness and In Health
Green Dragonfruit Smoothie Bowl from rachLmansfield
Cinnamon Apple Noodle Breakfast Bowl with Candied Nuts from Athletic Avocado
Photo Republished with Permission from Rachel DiCarlo/ Athletic Avocado
Cherry Limeade Protein Smoothie from SuzLyfe
No Baked Roasted Granola Bars from Simple Fit Foodie
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Blueberry Muffins from This Runner’s Recipes
Chocolate Protein Snack Cake from Fit Mitten Kitchen
Mocha Frappuccino Smoothie Bowl from A Blissful Balance
5 Ingredient Saturday Stack Pancakes from A Dancer’s Live-It
Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal Bars from Pixel Sprout
Carrot Cake Quinoa Bites from Pancake Warriors
Acorn Squash Pancakes from This Runner’s Recipes
Almond Joy Overnight Oats from Fit Living
Carrot Cake Oatmeal from Danielle’s Kitchen
Peach Salsa Egg White Omelet from SuzLyfe
Cinnamon Banana Bread Protein Shake from Fit Mitten Kitchen
Date Sweetened Oatmeal from rachLmansfield
Blueberry French Toast Oatmeal from A Dancer’s Live-It
PB&J Bites from Healthy Helper
Vegan Neapolitan Overnight Oats from Emilie Eats
Photo Republished with Permission from Emilie Herbert/ Emilie Eats
No Bake Banana Pecan Protein Bites from A Healthful Heart
What’s your favorite post run breakfast?
What are your weekend plans?
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I am all about eating as quickly as possible after a run! I definitely make it within the 60 minute window and usually within 30 minutes. The sooner I eat, the better I find I feel and the less hungry I am in the hours after every single run.
I so agree – the sooner the better! It’s amazing how much of a difference a good meal makes for post-run recovery.
Thank you for including my recipes! I honestly can’t wait until I can have a big post run breakfast. I so miss that!
You should treat yourself to the biggest of breakfasts when you can run again! 🙂
I never used to like breakfast. It wasn’t until the last year or two that I really started consuming breakfast calories! And not even just that… I used to only eat sweet breakfasts and now I love savory ones. Sometimes I’ll even eat leftover dinner for breakfast like I’ll heat up a meat patty or something! These all look like great recipes. YUM.
Thank you! Savory breakfasts are so good – salty eggs and bacon/sausage are the best after a hard run! 🙂
So many delicious and healthy post-run options! I love eggs and an English muffins with peanut butter after a run! I do need to mix it up a bit so these recipes will help :-). Have a great weekend, Laura!
Thank you! Your post run breakfast sounds delicious! 🙂 Hope you had a great weekend, Angie!
This all looks so good! Thanks for including me!
Thanks for your recipe! 🙂
Loving this round-up! I usually make eggs or a smoothie after a run (okay, both), but this is WAY more fun and delicious!!
Thank you, Jess! There are so many delicious breakfast – although a good batch of eggs is always delicious 🙂
Thanks for including me! These look like so many great options I cant wait to try making some of them 🙂
Thanks for sharing your recipe! 🙂
Thank you for sharing my recipes! Awesome round up 🙂
Thanks for sharing your recipes – they look amazing! 🙂
Thank you for including my recipe and for pulling together this roundup! I think I found my go-to source for yummy breakfast recipes right here 🙂
Thank you for the awesome recipe to share! 🙂