{"id":8460,"date":"2023-10-30T00:21:54","date_gmt":"2023-10-29T17:21:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=8460"},"modified":"2023-10-30T00:21:54","modified_gmt":"2023-10-29T17:21:54","slug":"marathon-fueling-tips-from-paralympian-susannah-scaroni-rd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=8460","title":{"rendered":"Marathon Fueling Tips from Paralympian Susannah Scaroni, RD"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"drop-cap text-big text-gray\"> <span class=\"drop-cap__first text-dropcap \">W<\/span>hen Paralympian <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/suscaroni\/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/suscaroni\/?hl=en\">Susannah Scaroni<\/a> went to grad school to become a registered dietitian, her daily meals began to change. In particular, as she read more about the research behind endurance sports nutrition, the wheelchair athlete started to eat a lot more carbs. And she quickly noticed a difference in her performance: &#8220;<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I really attribute a lot of the changes that I&#8217;ve experienced since 2017 to working toward a higher carb diet and training my gut to even be better and better at a higher carb diet,&#8221; she says. <\/span><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Those &#8220;changes&#8221; include major victories: Gold in the 5000 meters at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and first-place finishes at the Chicago, New York City, Boston, and Grandma&#8217;s marathons.<br \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Ahead of lining up once again at the New York City Marathon, Scaroni\u2014now an RD\u2014gave <em>Well+Good<\/em> the inside scoop on exactly what her marathon fueling plan looks like.<\/p>\n<h2>The day before<\/h2>\n<p>Because wheelchair racing involves less impact than running, Scaroni says the training involves high intensity and high volume the majority of the time, which means she pretty much always follows a high-carb diet. So she only really starts to zero in on race-specific nutrition the day before.<\/p>\n<p>That starts with sipping on carb-rich drinks: She aims for 80 ounces of fluid, including 32 ounces coming from a sports drink like <a href=\"https:\/\/clicks.trx-hub.com\/xid\/leafgroup_ca5e0_wellgood?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FGatorade-Original-Quencher-Variety-Bottles%2Fdp%2FB00HC767P6%3Ftag%3Dwgtrx9723-20%26asc_refurl%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.wellandgood.com%252Fmarathon-fueling-susannah-scaroni%252F%26asc_source%3Ddirect%26asc_campaign%3Dno-campaign&amp;p=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wellandgood.com%2Fmarathon-fueling-susannah-scaroni%2F&amp;event_type=click\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Gatorade-Original-Quencher-Variety-Bottles\/dp\/B00HC767P6\" data-type=\"affiliateLink\">Gatorade<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"related-content \" style=\"\" data-module-init=\"related-content\" data-module-immediate=\"\" v-cloak=\"\">\n<div class=\"related-content__wrapper \" v-cloak=\"\" :class=\"{'is-loaded':isLoaded}\">\n<p> <span class=\"inline pr-6 text-seafoam-dark\">Related Stories<\/span> <\/p>\n<p> <related-content class=\"related-content__links\" parent-article-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/marathon-fueling-susannah-scaroni\/\" current-title=\"\u2018I\u2019m a Paralympian and Dietitian, and Here\u2019s What I Eat Before a Marathon\u2019\" current-image=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Susannah-Scaroni-New-York-Road-Runners-425x285_418x278_true_70.webp\" v-on:parsely-posts-loaded=\"onPostsLoaded\" start-date=\"2023-04-29\" tag=\"div\" inline-template=\"\" url=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/marathon-fueling-susannah-scaroni\/\" secret=\"w5ztterVB03LGZJLfXS0hf3EvQBuFFIWew9hmVQxthU\" apikey=\"wellandgood.com\" limit=\"3\"> <\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"related-content__card mb-[10px] sm:mb-[20px]\" :class=\"{'related-content__card--full':posts.length === 1}\" v-for=\"(post, key) in posts\"> <a v-on:click.prevent=\"trackLinkGA($event, key)\" :href=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/marathon-fueling-susannah-scaroni\/post.url\" data-url-source=\"related-content\" class=\"related-content__link\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"\"> <\/p>\n<div class=\"related-content__card--image bg-tan\" :style=\"{ backgroundImage: 'url(' + post.image_url + ')' }\"> <img :src=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/marathon-fueling-susannah-scaroni\/post.image_url\" :alt=\"post.title\"\/> <\/div>\n<p> <\/a>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> <\/related-content> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Although her pre-race dinner is typically provided by race organizers, she likes to follow a bit of a formula. <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For carbs, she&#8217;ll have some rice, potatoes, or pasta. She&#8217;ll also include a lean protein like chicken or fish. &#8220;And I don&#8217;t avoid too many vegetables, but I&#8217;m not having a dry kale salad, for example,&#8221; she says. &#8220;I&#8217;m trying to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/marathon-runners-pooping\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/marathon-runners-pooping\/\">have a little less fiber<\/a>, but some cooked vegetables are always nice.&#8221;\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>In order to make sure she&#8217;s not up all night <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/get-up-to-pee\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/get-up-to-pee\/\">going to the bathroom<\/a>, she&#8217;ll drink most of her final fluids for the day at dinner so that she&#8217;s also taking in some electrolytes, like sodium, to help her hold onto them. Then she&#8217;ll just have a small glass of water when she&#8217;s brushing her teeth.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sleep is just as important as nutrition,&#8221; she says. &#8220;And not having to use the restroom more times a night is a big part of that.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>The morning of the race<\/h2>\n<p>Just like any other morning, Scaroni starts every race day with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/coffee-first-thing-morning\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/coffee-first-thing-morning\/\">big glass of water<\/a> to rehydrate after sleeping.<\/p>\n<p>She usually eats breakfast a couple hours before training, but before a race\u2014particularly one with tricky logistics like the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/what-is-nyc-marathon-day-like\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/what-is-nyc-marathon-day-like\/\">New York City Marathon<\/a>, which begins on Staten Island\u2014there may be a few hours between breakfast and the start. So she&#8217;ll have a bigger meal that includes complex carbs and protein, like oatmeal and yogurt or peanut butter, maybe a <a href=\"https:\/\/clicks.trx-hub.com\/xid\/leafgroup_ca5e0_wellgood?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FCLIF-BAR-Chocolate-Organic-Non-GMO%2Fdp%2FB004XEDS5I%2F%3Ftag%3Dwgtrx9723-20%26asc_refurl%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.wellandgood.com%252Fmarathon-fueling-susannah-scaroni%252F%26asc_source%3Ddirect%26asc_campaign%3Dno-campaign&amp;p=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wellandgood.com%2Fmarathon-fueling-susannah-scaroni%2F&amp;event_type=click\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/CLIF-BAR-Chocolate-Organic-Non-GMO\/dp\/B004XEDS5I\/\" data-type=\"affiliateLink\">Clif bar<\/a> and Gatorade because she knows she has time to digest it\u2014and she doesn&#8217;t want to end up hungry during the race. Then she&#8217;ll bring a Gatorade, <a href=\"https:\/\/clicks.trx-hub.com\/xid\/leafgroup_ca5e0_wellgood?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FPOWERADE-Sports-Drink-Mountain-Berry%2Fdp%2FB0BVZVTBFJ%2F%3Ftag%3Dwgtrx9723-20%26asc_refurl%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.wellandgood.com%252Fmarathon-fueling-susannah-scaroni%252F%26asc_source%3Ddirect%26asc_campaign%3Dno-campaign&amp;p=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wellandgood.com%2Fmarathon-fueling-susannah-scaroni%2F&amp;event_type=click\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/POWERADE-Sports-Drink-Mountain-Berry\/dp\/B0BVZVTBFJ\/\" data-type=\"affiliateLink\">Powerade<\/a>, or <a href=\"https:\/\/clicks.trx-hub.com\/xid\/leafgroup_ca5e0_wellgood?q=https%3A%2F%2Fgo.skimresources.com%3Fid%3D104860X1561639%26xs%3D1%26xcust%3DSTMSFT-1127111%26url%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.skratchlabs.com%252Fproducts%252Fhydration-sport-drink-mix%253Fvariant%253D32766105157703&amp;p=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wellandgood.com%2Fmarathon-fueling-susannah-scaroni%2F&amp;event_type=click\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.skratchlabs.com\/products\/hydration-sport-drink-mix?variant=32766105157703\" data-type=\"affiliateLink\">Skratch Labs<\/a> carbohydrate hydration mix with her on the bus and in the tent just before the start.<\/p>\n<p>Coffee is also a must. &#8220;<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What I love, if I have the opportunity, is to bring my own <a href=\"https:\/\/clicks.trx-hub.com\/xid\/leafgroup_ca5e0_wellgood?q=https%3A%2F%2Fgo.skimresources.com%3Fid%3D104860X1561639%26xs%3D1%26xcust%3DSTMSFT-1127111%26url%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Faeropress.com%252F&amp;p=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wellandgood.com%2Fmarathon-fueling-susannah-scaroni%2F&amp;event_type=click\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/aeropress.com\/\" data-type=\"affiliateLink\">AeroPress<\/a>. I usually use about 16 grams of beans and grind those up,&#8221; she says. &#8220;Or, if I don&#8217;t have that option and there&#8217;s a coffee shop, I like to get a red eye, which is a cup of coffee with a shot of espresso in it.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>On the course<\/h2>\n<p>Scaroni did her master&#8217;s thesis on fueling considerations for the specific needs of para athletes. Some have impaired GI functioning due to a spinal cord injury, and even<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> just the position that athletes take inside their sports wheelchairs can interfere with the gastric system. Also, she points out: &#8220;Our hands are in gloves, so just the act of eating needs to be done a little bit more thoughtfully.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Scaroni&#8217;s go-to strategy is filling up a <a href=\"https:\/\/clicks.trx-hub.com\/xid\/leafgroup_ca5e0_wellgood?q=https%3A%2F%2Fgo.skimresources.com%3Fid%3D104860X1561639%26xs%3D1%26xcust%3DSTMSFT-1127111%26url%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.camelbak.com%252Fshop%252Fpacks%252F&amp;p=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wellandgood.com%2Fmarathon-fueling-susannah-scaroni%2F&amp;event_type=click\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.camelbak.com\/shop\/packs\/\" data-type=\"affiliateLink\">CamelBak<\/a> with 60 grams of carbs from her Skratch Labs hydration mix, then drinking it through a straw (mostly on downhills when she doesn&#8217;t have to use her hands to push).<\/p>\n<h2>Her advice to other marathoners<\/h2>\n<p>There&#8217;s a classic saying in running: Don&#8217;t try anything new on race day. And that applies to your marathon fueling plan, too. Scaroni suggests training with exactly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/what-to-eat-during-a-marathon\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/what-to-eat-during-a-marathon\/\">what you plan to eat<\/a> during the race, down to the exact brands and flavors. &#8220;<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GI issues during running are so prevalent, and I think really kind of trying to nail down what your body can tolerate while you&#8217;re running is a big thing to completing the marathon to the best of your ability,&#8221; she says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Along those same lines, she suggests also practicing that early breakfast, or multiple small meals, like you&#8217;ll have on race day. And about all that free Dunkin Donuts coffee in the start village: Only partake if you typically drink coffee right before a run. &#8220;If<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> [you&#8217;ve] never had it before,&#8221; warns Scaroni, &#8220;it&#8217;s not necessarily the best day of the year to try it out.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"disclaimers__after_content mb-[18px] mt-[16px] pt-[16px]\">\n<div class=\"outline-earmark relative mt-[8px] pt-[10px] pl-[20px]\">\n<p>\n            Our editors independently select these products. Making a purchase through our links may earn Well+Good a commission.          <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async defer src=\"https:\/\/platform.instagram.com\/en_US\/embeds.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1675549\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When Paralympian Susannah Scaroni went to grad school to become a registered dietitian, her daily meals began to change. In particular, as she read more about the research behind endurance sports nutrition, the wheelchair athlete started to eat a lot more carbs. And she quickly noticed a difference in her performance: &#8220;I really attribute a &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8461,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8460"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8460\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}