Mizuno Athlete Leah Thorvilson shares her favorite recipes for a pre-race meal and a bonus post race smoothie
When traveling for races, unless you have a mobile kitchen, options can sometimes be limited for pre-race meals…but when you are running a race right in your hometown, do you have a “go to” meal you make for yourself?
Despite the popular belief that a high carb, high calorie meal is the way to go, my favorite pre-race dinner is a salmon salad. Okay, admittedly that is just my meal of choice any day of the week. But really, why should the night before a race be different? You always want to eat something that you know your body tolerates well. While I agree that you need to be sure you are fueled up with some good carbs, I prefer to eat my more heavily carb laden meal at lunch time, and then have a lighter dinner. Here are a few of my favorite salmon salad recipes. Feel free to borrow them and make them your own with fun tweaks! I also like to name my recipes. Why not?
The Grover:
Inspired by my favorite salad at The Grove in Houston.
Baby kale to fill bowl, drizzled in white truffle oil (substitute EVOO if you are not a truffle fan–but we might no longer be friends) and season with salt and pepper to taste
1 small sweet potato, cooked and cubed (I cook taters on Sundays, so it’s cold, not hot on your salad)
1/2 avocado, cubed
1/4 fennel bulb (I don’t really know how much of the dang bulb it was….I’m guessing for the sake of the recipe)
1 happy piece (no grumpy fish allowed) of salmon, dusted (frivolously) in cayenne pepper- bake at 325 for 15-18 minutes
1/4 cup pepitas (aka, raw pumpkin seeds, but pepitas sounds so posh)
Redemption Salad:
Named because it’s beautiful, and prior to making this I had created two smoothies that were super ugly. This made me feel better about them.
Baby kale/spinach
4 baby bells, preferably of a variety of color for aesthetic purposes mix tossed in EVOO and seasoned to taste
1 small jicama, sliced and rolled in cayenne pepper (if you’re not a hot and spicy person, you can skip that part)
1/2 avocado, fill the seed hole with fresh blueberries
1 piece of energetic (we also don’t like lazy fish) salmon, seasoned with Chinese 5-spice (these can be found in bulk at Whole Foods) and drizzled in mustard seeds (also in bulk at Whole Foods)- bake at 325 for 15-18 minutes
And now, for the coup de gras….what should I eat after my race? How about a delicious recovery smoothie?
The Brass Monkey:
1/2 c almond or coconut milkNamed because he is a funky monkey…who is also chunky 🙂
10 almond milk ice cubes (just put almond milk in an ice cube tray…..I know, it’s genius)
2 scoops vanilla protein (I use Arbonne, but any non-whey protein would work)
1/2 frozen banana
2 dried turkish figs
2 tbsp chia seeds
2 tbsp flax seeds
1 tbsp hemp hearts (optional but awesome)
1 tbsp lucuma powder (ditto ^^)
1 tbsp almond butter
There you have it! Pre-and post race happiness. You’re welcome.