Olympic and marathon champion Shalane Flanagan knows more about nutrition now than when she competed at the elite level. Perhaps that’s partly due to the fact that she co-authored two books, Run fast. Eat slowly And Run fast. Cook quickly. Eat slowlyin 2016 and 2018 respectively, before officially retiring in 2019.
Her food philosophy revolves around eating as many good, healthy, nutritious and simple ingredients as possible, but also making them delicious. “Just because it’s healthy doesn’t mean it shouldn’t taste good,” she says WH.
These days, the 42-year-old considers marathon running “kind of a nice treat.” As a full-time mother of two and coach at the University of Oregon, her fitness goals are twofold. First, she wants to stay healthy for her children. ‘Having children is a real test of endurance [that] takes a lot of time and energy,” she says. ‘I find that I can be very tired, but it’s amazing how much further I can go than I thought possible in making sure I look after them.’
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Goal number two for Flanagan? To keep up with her collegiate athletes. “I think so [running] It’s a really good time to connect with them,” she says. “If you can go for a run, you can have a really good conversation because there’s no eye contact, and that’s why people open up a lot.”
For this year’s New York City Marathon, Flanagan teamed up with MasterCard to strengthen small, local New York businesses. “Many of these small business owners are also running the marathon,” she says. “I think that’s incredible because there’s nothing easy about running a marathon or training for a marathon [and] There is nothing easy about owning your own business and starting it, but they are very similar in that it takes a lot of perseverance, determination and resilience and shows up very consistently.”
Flanagan lined up alongside some of these small business owners on Nov. 5 as part of MasterCard’s Priceless Start, a unique opportunity to get a head start on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge just like Marathon’s elites. “You get to inaugurate the path before all the other runners arrive, and it feels like you’re interacting with some of the best in the world,” she says. “It’s really liberating to be the first on the street.”
What did she eat in the run-up to the big day? And what does she eat on a ‘normal’ day? Keep reading to find out, plus some of the hard-earned fuel lessons she’s learned over the years.
The New York City Marathon calls for carbohydrates from New York City.
It’s perhaps not surprising that when she’s in the Big Apple, her favorite food is New York pizza. “I live in Oregon now, and the pizza just isn’t the same there,” she says, adding that bagels are also a must when she’s in town.
But the night before the race she eats rice, sweet potatoes, salad and protein (usually fish, steak or chicken). She notes that staying hydrated is also crucial pre-race, and she likes coconut water because it “has good natural electrolytes.”
In the days leading up to the race, she tries to focus as much as possible on things that are as natural as possible. “Because on the day of the marathon there is a lot of packaged food on the course, with gels and stuff.”
There is a time and place for simple carbohydrates as fuel.
Before the race, Flanagan prefers frequent high-carb snacks to large meals. And those carbohydrates are largely simple rather than complex. “Normally I would want more whole grains and stuff during training, but if you’re going to run a marathon you want to cut down on fiber,” she explains.
“Simple carbohydrates are very quickly digested and ensure that the beautiful glycogen flows into the legs [and] in the system.” Some of her favorites are pretzels, some fruit and the occasional Lärabar.
Homemade pastries are an important part.
When it comes to daily fueling, overnight oats are a good choice and coffee is the top priority in the morning. Flanagan notes that she isn’t “super consistent” with her daily food choices due to her busy lifestyle, but one favorite thing is some kind of homemade pastry that’s easy to grab and take with you to a practice, for example.
She also often takes fruit as a snack while she is coaching, along with tea, especially in the colder months.
Preparing the Sunday meal sets her up for success on weekdays.
“On Sundays, if I can, I try to prepare some meals,” she notes. Rice bowls often rotate: “I make a lot of different vegetables, rice, different sauces and types of proteins,” she explains, adding that the variety keeps the meals from becoming boring. “That’s my easy choice for lunch.”
At dinner, things are a little more flexible or ‘all over the place’ in her words, although sitting down for a good family dinner is a priority. “A lot of it is trying to combine what a three-year-old would like and what an adult taste would like,” she notes. “Some nights it does a little more of the chicken fingers, and other nights it’s the homemade, oven-baked, really good chicken parmesan thing.”
Local food is central.
However, her commitment to seasonality remains consistent. “I try to eat more seasonally, so in the winter I don’t eat as many berries as in the summer, I have to admit,” she says.
Lately, she says, squash has been on the rise. “I think local and seasonal food tastes better first and foremost,” she says, and “because it doesn’t travel as far, what you eat is also more nutritious.”
Healthy fats also play a leading role.
Including healthy fats like nuts, avocados and coconut oil is a priority for Flanagan. “[They] really help maintain a healthy menstrual cycle, which then helps maintain good bone density,” she says. “And I just feel more satisfied when I have the good, healthy fats.”
Flanagan explains that growing up in the “era of the fat-free, low-fat diet” she learned “that all I was really eating was a bunch of sugar and I never really felt full afterward,” she says. “That was the most important thing I learned on my nutrition journey.”