If you live in a part of the country where there are Kroger grocery stores, you can find a little item in the frozen food section called the “Kroger Personal 3-Cheese Pizza”. It costs about a dollar on sale.

If you look at the nutrition label in between the fat and sodium and all the un-natural ingredients (like I used to do), you’ll find that in addition to over 500 calories, this little treat has over 20g of Protein, which is like eating a protein bar, right?

When I started running, I really had little to no idea what to do, nutrition-wise. I thought that because I would be running off calories it meant I could eat anything. But when I started to learn more about what I was putting in my body, I realized that nutrition is directly related to my success on the pavement.

Below I’ve listed some of the things I’ve learned about how to approach my nutrition, particularly in preparation for a race.

Nutrition on Training Days
It seems that it is best for me to run on an empty stomach. Every great run I’ve had has been before breakfast, or with a small meal of eggs and coffee (my long-standing breakfast). It really does give my body more flexibility when running, and it makes the meal afterward that much more satisfying. Small quantities of nutrient-dense foods have also worked for me. Some examples include black beans, lentils, kale and fruit smoothies and granola bars. I also enjoy energy gels. When I run in the evening, I try not to hop onto the treadmill immediately after dinner. When possible, I’ll eat half of dinner before and half after a run. Sometimes, on tough runs, I’ll even skip that meal and make up for it with a larger breakfast the next day.

Night Before a Race
A lot of people will swear by a big ol’ plate of spaghetti. Carbo load to the max, right? I agree that it’s advantageous to have so much stored energy, but it can also be taxing on the body if done improperly. I used to eat an entire box of pasta the night before marathons. I did it at first for the “wow factor” of eating an entire box of pasta, but now I have second thoughts about the pasta dinner. It has become more and more painful to shove down so much food the night before, and I have found that there’s not a huge return on this huge gluten-filled investment.

My last big race I ate a pack of bacon for my meal prep, and I felt just as great through race day. Whatever you choose to use, make sure you’ve practiced running with that food. Never introduce new food to your plan the night before a race, because your body might react negatively to it.

During the Big Race
I enjoy gels, as they are a great source of calories before and during a run. This year during my first ultra marathon I introduced real foods, potato chips, bacon, grapes, and trail mix, to my runs. This was both fun and nerve-racking at the same time. I had not had much experience eating real food while running, but everything I chose worked out pretty well because I had practiced with eating it in training. It was even pretty fun!

After the Big Race
I often celebrate with the refreshments made available at a race. I figure, “I just accomplished an awesome goal, why not celebrate?” I do not, however, use race day as an excuse to eat everything in sight for three days in a row.

Nutrition is Key
The year of marathon training when I followed my food plans religiously, and didn’t give in to many cravings, the difference on race day turned out to be amazing. I ended up chopping 30 minutes off my marathon time and I even felt much better afterwards than in previous races! Now I stick to healthy and natural foods most of the time, and I feel and perform much better. No more dollar pizzas in training for me.

Ethan Fleck and his wife, Kristin, blog  about health and wellness at Hello, Flecks. Follow them on Facebook and  Twitter to keep up with his training updates and more!