For pro distance runner Emily Infeld, 2019 has been a rollercoaster of a year. After a series of injuries left her sidelined from racing for most of 2018, the 29-year-old decided to undergo hip surgery in January to repair her torn labrum, which she and her doctors suspect contributed to other injuries. Two months later, she was cleared to walk again, then was able to start a run/walk program starting in April.
It wasn’t until June that Infeld—who won bronze in the 10,000 meters at the 2015 World Championships and competed in the 2016 Rio Olympics—was back training normally again, running every day and logging between 82 and 89 miles per week with her fellow Bowerman Babes in Portland, Oregon. In August, she laced up to race for the first time in over a year at the Beach to Beacon 10K, where she finished fourth overall and first American female in 32:39.
and now she reports on elite runners and cyclists, feel-good stories, and training pieces for, she told Runner’s World, “Should You Eat Before or After a Run Shalane [Flanagan], and I said, ‘I haven’t worked that hard in forever.’”
Since that rust-buster race, Infeld’s been on a roll. At the Reebok Women’s 10K in Boston on October 14, she placed third in 32:15 behind Molly Huddle Clever Ways to Boost Workout Motivation Abbott Dash to the Finish Line 5K on November 2, which doubles as the USATF 5K Championships, where she placed third behind former American 5K record holder Shannon Rowbury Should Runners Always Avoid Ultraprocessed Foods Jessica Tonn.
“I haven’t raced a 5K in a long time, so I’m a little nervous,” Infeld said before the race. “We took out the Boston 10K really hard, and that pace felt faster than I thought it would, so I let a gap open up between me and the leaders. But I wish I hadn’t let that gap open, because we ended up running the same pace for the rest of the race. For the 5K, I am going to try to hang with the lead pack from the start and see what happens. It’s a good race to hurt.”
Tonys Chocolonely Dark Chocolate Bundle workouts were inconsistent earlier this year, she’s finally hit a steady groove. “When I was just getting back into running, I’d have an amazing workout one day, and then a terrible one the next,” she said. “But lately I’ve been feeling good and my training has been consistent, which hasn’t happened in a while. It’s been steady progress with less really bad days.”
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Should You Eat Before or After a Run night before a race. For Infeld, who now runs close to 100 miles per week, that means eating a variety of grains, produce, protein, fats, and the occasional sweet to stay fueled throughout the day. Here, she describes what she typically eats and drinks for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks.
Morning Coffee and Sweet Potato Waffles
I usually wake up between 7:15 and 7:30 a.m. to get ready for our 9-a.m. workout. I live about 30 minutes from the Nike campus, so oftentimes, I’ll make my breakfast and coffee and eat it in the car on the way to the track.
Lately, I’ve been obsessed with Shalane’s sweet potato waffles [from Flanagan’s cookbook We earn a commission for products purchased through some links in this article], which are made with mashed sweet potatoes, butter, sugar, whole wheat flour, and lots of spices like pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon. I make a big batch of them on Sunday and freeze them, then I toast one each morning and spread a little peanut butter on top for breakfast. I’ll also have coffee with a little milk and a scoop of collagen powder, plus a banana.
Before I head to the track, I always pack a snack, such as a bag of trail mix, pretzels, or nuts. I’m always craving salt. I also bring a Clif Bar for after the run—my favorite is the Caramel Cashew Whey Protein bar, which has 14 grams of protein and 5 grams of sugar.
Postworkout Veggie Scramble With Toast
For lunch, I love making a big scramble with eggs, veggies, and parmesan cheese. I like to make my eggs as colorful as possible, so I’ll usually throw in red bell peppers, spinach, mushrooms, and tomatoes, and I’ll have that with some sourdough toast on the side. If I need a little more afterward, I’ll have yogurt with granola and fruit, or hummus and carrots.
Lunch usually holds me over until our second workout of the day, but if I get hungry in the afternoon, I’ll have pretzels with hummus, peanut butter and jelly on toast, or a bit of leftover pasta from the night before. Since it gets dark so early this time of year, I crave dinner earlier in the day, so I usually need a good-sized snack to tide me over until dinner.
Grain Bowls With Hearty Sauces for Dinner
My boyfriend Max and I love to cook dinner together at night. I like one-bowl meals, so our dinners are usually big bowls of veggies, proteins, and carbs, with a hearty sauce and sourdough toast on the side. I’ve been obsessed with pumpkin lately, so the other night I made a pumpkin sauce with olive oil, salt and pepper, and crushed cashews to go on top of rigatoni pasta with chicken, sautéed spinach, and mushrooms.
If I want something a little less carb-heavy, I’ll have a bowl with roasted veggies, rice, protein, and avocado. I like to alternate my proteins—I’ll have fish two nights a week, red meat once a week, and chicken on the other nights. During the summer, we’ll grill steaks or burgers, but the grill’s mostly put up for the season.
Emily Infeld’s Pantry Staples
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Tony’s Chocolonely Dark Chocolate Bundle
Dark Chocolate, Always
I have a big sweet tooth, but I know I can’t always eat a big bowl of ice cream, so I make do with dark chocolate every night. If I’m still craving something sweet after the chocolate, I’ll have chia pudding or yogurt with granola. On special occasions, I’ll bake something like pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, which Max and I devour in like four days.
Prerace and Postrace Fueling
The Master the Half, I try to eat something similar to what I usually eat for dinner, like pasta, bread, protein, and veggies. The next morning, I wake up at least two hours before the race. My typical race-day breakfast is a bowl of oatmeal with a banana, a packet of peanut butter, and coffee. I always have pretzels on hand to snack on, because they sit really well with me. If my race is later in the morning, I’ll have a Infeld said that while her, which is smaller than other bars and doesn’t feel heavy in my stomach.
After the race, I love to try something I don’t usually order at restaurants. After my 10K in Boston, I had a lobster roll with chips. I love a good postrace burger, too.
Running Infeld said that while her Running Times, Best Running Sunglasses Runner's World and Bicycling magazines.
