What I ate after the marathon
For months, nearly everything I ate had a purpose.
During my marathon training block, food stopped being something I could choose based only on what I was craving. I had to think about carbohydrates, protein, hydration and whether a meal would sit well before a long run. My days were filled with pasta, bagels, overnight oats, water, Propel and more GU gels than I would ever like to see again.
I wasn’t starving myself or eating badly. I was just disciplined. Every meal had a job, and there wasn’t much room to randomly order a burger because it sounded good.
Then I crossed the finish line of the New York City Marathon.
Dominos Pizza I ordered on Thursday night
The greatest finish-line meal
After running 26.2 miles, I had a Shake Shack burger and a chocolate milkshake waiting for me. I don’t know if it was actually the best burger and milkshake ever made, but at that moment, it certainly felt like it.
For once, I wasn’t thinking about whether the meal would affect tomorrow’s run. There was no long run tomorrow. There was no alarm telling me to wake up and cover another 16 or 18 miles. My only responsibility was to sit down, eat and attempt to remember how my legs worked.
Later that night, I had an incredible Italian dinner with meatballs, risotto and pasta. Under normal circumstances, ordering all of that might have felt excessive. After running a marathon, it felt completely reasonable. I had spent months preparing for one day, survived 26.2 miles and burned thousands of calories.
Shake Shack burger with a side of their brand new Mac and Cheese Bites
Recovery has tasted pretty good
The celebration didn’t end after marathon Sunday.
Over the next few days, I had Domino’s pizza, another Shake Shack burger, mac and cheese bites and several breakfast sandwiches. Basically, I ate everything I had spent months avoiding or carefully limiting.
And honestly, it has been awesome.
Marathon training requires discipline that most people never see. They see the race and the medal, but they don’t see the mornings when you choose a bagel and oatmeal because you know you need the fuel. They don’t see you turning down certain foods because your stomach has to survive a long run the next morning. They definitely don’t see how tired you become of gels.
That discipline made crossing the finish line possible. But recovery also means giving yourself a break.
For this week, I’m not counting miles or planning every meal around a run. I’m letting my body recover, enjoying the foods I missed and celebrating what I accomplished.
Eventually, I’ll return to a more normal routine. But for now, I ran a marathon—and I’m going to eat like it.
