4 Healthy Recipes Before My First Full Marathon

Here’s all the healthy marathon recipes I ate before my first full marathon! On the week of a race, I like to enjoy healthy dishes with balanced amounts of carbs, proteins, and veggies that don’t interfere with my gut. These 4 recipes were so tasty yet kept me fueled and energized, so I had to enjoy them on repeat this weekend. If you’re getting ready for a marathon race weekend, try some of these gut-friendly recipes for yourself!

Marathon Recipes for Race Weekend

Marathon Weekend Carb Loading with Tested Recipes
Follow Me Through My Marathon Training Journey!

Marathon Weekend Carb Loading with Tested Recipes

Whenever people ask me if I have any tips for training for a race, one of my biggest tip is to start testing your fueling early on.This means testing different meals the night before your long training runs, the morning of your runs, and even during your runs, so you know what actually sits well in your stomach while running. For the past few months, we’ve been practicing entirely different foods to see what gives us energy, what feels good, and what does not make our stomach upset. Trust me when I say this process takes time. It is not something you want to be testing on during race weekend.

It’s my first full marathon! I have to be honest, training for this marathon was hard. But, I’m so happy I got to finish the Vancouver Marathon this weekend! Since it’s race weekend, it’s time for carb loading! Carb loading is so important, but knowing what works for your gut is as well. Here are the 4 tested recipes I enjoyed through race weekend that kept me energized with no problems at all!

Spam Musubi Egg Rice Bowl

This Spam Musubi Egg Rice Bowl has definitely been on repeat since I came back from Hawaii, and I still crave it! I ran my fastest half marathon in Hawaii. So, I’m fully convinced it was because all the delicious food we ate before race day: poke bowls, musubis and rice bowls. So, I figure why not combine them together?

This recipe is super, super easy, with super affordable ingredients that won’t upset your stomach before a long run. You get the perfect bite of roasted seaweed, some hot rice, some Spam, cucumber, and a little bit of egg in one whole bowl. I’ve made this recipe so many times since that it’s now a household favorite. In fact, I made it for breakfast on race day! Highly, highly recommend!

1 can Spam 340g / 12 oz, cubed
3 eggs
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper divided
1 tbsp neutral oil

Musubi Sauce

2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp mirin
1/4 tsp black pepper
½ tsp sugar

To Serve

2 cucumbers sliced
3 cups cooked rice About 2 servings
2 tbsp furikake
Crispy seaweed for serving

Spam Musubi Egg Rice Bowl

Let’s make a super easy Spam Musubi Egg Rice Bowl that has all the nutrients you need in one bowl. I’ve been missing the Spam Musubis in Hawaii, so I’ve decided to make in into an easy rice bowl. In under 15 Minutes, you can have soft scrambled egg, sweet-savory glazed spam bites, and crunchy cucumbers over steaming hot furikake rice. This is a super easy rice bowl that works for breakfast, lunch, or dinner that reminds me of Honolulu beaches.

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Japanese Chicken Curry

Dom specifically requested Japanese curry as his main source of carbs for marathon weekend. So, we’re making a giant pot of Curry to last us the week. If you didn’t know, Dom’s mom makes AMAZING Japanese Chicken Curry. I’ve since learned her super secret tips for extra creamy curry, and combined it with a few tips of my own. So, you HAVE to try making it yourself!

As soon as the chicken hits the pan with this recipe, my mouth starts watering. Japanese curry is so great for meal prep. Not only do we get a yummy carb-loaded meal, but it also cuts down on how much cooking I have to do this weekend. That means lots of resting time for my feet. So, for me, that is a win-win. I made a ton of rice and Dom was prepared to eat it all!

2 lbs Boneless Chicken Thigh cut into bite-sized pieces
4 Onion Thinly sliced
1-2 tbsp butter or oil
1 Carrot chopped
2 Potato Large, chopped
1 pack Japanese Curry Cubes
2 cups Water or chicken stock
1 can Coconut Milk FULL FAT

US Customary – Metric

EXTRA CREAMY Japanese Chicken Curry – One-Pot Dinner

This One Pot EXTRA CREAMY Japanese Chicken Curry is perfect for everyone from first time home cooks or super-busy people who still want to cook at home. It takes 10 minutes to prepare the ingredients, and the rest is just letting it slowly simmer. This recipe almost exactly like your traditional Japanese curry recipe, except it has my mother-in-law’s secret ingredient to make it extra creamy! It preps well, and is an even better treat the next day for lunch!

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Fresh Fruit Salad

I’m meal prepping for the week again, and my first dish for Marathon Weekend is always the Fresh Fruit Salad. You guys have seen me make it a thousand times on this blog. But, I swear having fruits washed, cut up, and ready to go is the best way to enjoy a ton of fruit. You can put it on salad bowls, you can put it on fruit bowls, or even yogurt bowls. And, you can literally put ALL your favorite fruits inside. Of course, what makes this bowl extra fresh is that deliciously tart lemon mint syrup!

1 cup strawberries hulled and chopped
2 kiwis peeled and chopped
1 cup blueberries
1 cup green grapes halved
1 cup purple grapes halved
1 orange peeled and segmented (optional)
1/2 mango peeled and diced (optional)

Lemon Mint Syrup

2 tbsp honey
1 1/2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
2 tbsp fresh mint leaves finely chopped

Fresh Fruit Salad with Honey-Lemon Mint Syrup

If you have leftover fruit you need to use up, make this easy fruit salad with a tart honey–lemon syrup. I made this salad as a simple fridge clean-out recipe, but once everything was chopped and tossed with the syrup and mint, it turned into the one thing I couldn’t stop snacking on all week. It’s chilled, refreshing, and effortless! Whether you pile it on top of pancakes, scoop it over yogurt, or enjoy it as a light dessert, this salad disappears fast.

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A bowl of fresh fruit salad with lemon honey fruit salad, with a mix of fruits like grapes, kiwi, and blueberry

Strawberry Chia Yogurt Bowl

Another breakfast on repeat this week is the Strawberry Chia Yogurt Bowl. I had this the morning before the race! I love a yogurt bowl in the morning because they’re healthy, easy to put together, and still has so much variety. But having yogurt, chia seeds, and fruit first thing in the morning is just so good for your gut.

I also like to add the lemon mint fruit salad we just mentioned on top of the yogurt bowl. It saves time instead of having to prep the fruit when you’re ready to eat. Sometimes, If I didn’t make the chia pudding ahead of time, I’ll simply mix the seeds into the yogurt instead. But, I highly recommend meal prepping the chia seed pudding for maximum gut benefits!

Chia Seed Pudding (Base):

1/2 cup chia seeds
2 cups coconut milk

Granola Bowl Ingredients (Per Serving):

1/4 cup chia pudding
1/4 cup yogurt
2 teaspoons strawberry jam
1/2 banana sliced
1/4 cup strawberries quartered
1/4 cup homemade granola
1 tablespoon honey

Strawberry Chia Pudding Granola Bowl

I’ve been starting every morning with this Strawberry Chia Pudding Granola Bowl. It has both the fluffiness of chia pudding and that smooth creaminess of yogurt. With homemade granola and strawberry jam, this fruity breakfast bowl has all the nutrients you need for the first meal of the day. Make your chia pudding a day ahead, an enjoy a deliciously crunchy and creamy granola bowl for breakfast the next day!

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