Race morning breakfast is not rocket science, but it does come with a few rules. The usual advice is to wake up around 3 to 4 hours before the start and eat your largest meal then, mostly carbs with fewer proteins and fats. A whole banana with a small bowl of oatmeal and peanut butter is the classic example (a bagel or rice will do too), along with around 20 fl oz of fluids, mainly water. Try to avoid stuffing yourself.
The catch is that 3 to 4 hours before a race is usually the middle of the night, and I can’t think of anyone who wants to stand at the stove at 4 a.m. That’s where the slow cooker comes in, in my book. Load it before bed and breakfast is waiting when the alarm goes off, race day or just a regular Tuesday. The slow cooker breakfasts below run from steel-cut oats and egg casseroles to shakshuka, chai and a blueberry crumble you could argue is dessert.
Egg Bake
Eggs whisked with milk, a layer of frozen hash browns, browned sausage, diced peppers and a good handful of shredded cheese. Grease the crock well (or use a liner) and cook it on low for 6 to 7 hours, until the middle is set and the edges pull away like the dish here.
Egg dishes should hit 160°F, per the USDA safe temperature chart, so a quick check with a thermometer in the center settles it. Leftover squares keep 3 to 5 days in the fridge.
Apple Cinnamon Steel-Cut Oats
The original overnight slow cooker breakfast. Rule of thumb is 1 cup of steel-cut oats to 4 cups of liquid (I like half milk, half water), plus 2 diced apples, cinnamon, a pinch of salt and a little brown sugar. Low for 7 to 8 hours. Butter the crock first or the edges scorch while you sleep.
Savory Oatmeal
Oats don’t have to be sweet. Cook them in broth instead of milk, then top each bowl with sliced scallions, sautéed greens, a spoonful of chili crisp and a soft poached egg, like the bowl in this photo. The oats can go overnight on low; poach the eggs on the stove in the morning.
Sausage and Cheddar Breakfast Casserole
Brown a pound of breakfast sausage in a skillet first, and make sure it’s fully thawed before it goes anywhere near the crock (the USDA’s slow cooker guidance says to thaw meat before slow cooking). Layer it with cubed bread, sharp cheddar and green onion, pour 10 or so beaten eggs and a cup of milk over the top and give it 4 to 5 hours on low.
It cuts into neat squares once it sits for 10 minutes, like the plated piece here.
Everything Bagel Breakfast Casserole
Day-old bagels torn into chunks, little cubes of cream cheese tucked in between, eggs and milk poured over, and a heavy shake of everything bagel seasoning on top. Low for about 4 hours.
Stale bagels hold their shape better than fresh ones. Bacon or smoked salmon on the side if you want it, or just a square on a plate like this one.
The Oldest Rule of Race Week: Nothing New
This is one of the oldest rules that all runners follow while preparing for marathons, half-marathons, or even small races like 5Ks. During the stricter diet leading up to race day, avoid trying out new foods that you aren’t familiar with or aren’t sure about their effect on your body. Some runners even come across secret ingredients or products that promise them exceptional performance during the race. Steer clear of all of these.
Our bodies react to food differently from other people, and even regular food items can end up causing gut troubles that you don’t want. In order to run comfortably, stick to the food items that you’ve tried out and know won’t hurt you, especially if you have a naturally sensitive stomach. If you’re extremely tempted to try out some food, at least don’t eat it in the last 2 days before race day. For those last few days, the usual focus is low fiber, high carb foods, such as:
- Pasta
- Rice
- Toast
- Bagels
- Starchy vegetables, such as potatoes
So if one of these casseroles is going to be your race week breakfast, I’d make it a few times during training first.
Banana Nut Oatmeal
Steel-cut oats with 2 mashed overripe bananas stirred into the liquid, a splash of vanilla and cinnamon. Hold the walnuts until morning and toast them in a dry pan for a couple of minutes, because they go soft and sort of sad after 8 hours in the pot.
Cinnamon Rolls
Yes, the slow cooker can bake. Line the crock with parchment, set the rolls in (homemade dough or a store tube both do fine) and lay a clean kitchen towel under the lid to catch the steam so the tops don’t get soggy. About 2 hours on high.
The bottoms won’t brown the way they do in an oven, but you get soft, pull-apart rolls like the one here, and the oven stays free.
Blueberry Syrup
You need 2 cups of blueberries (frozen are fine), half a cup of maple syrup or sugar, a squeeze of lemon and a splash of water. Low for 2 to 3 hours, mash a few berries against the side and let it thicken with the lid cracked for the last half hour. Pour it over the french toast casserole below, or yogurt.
French Toast Casserole
Everything that goes into this one is laid out here: a loaf of thick bread, eggs, milk, butter, vanilla, cinnamon, a little nutmeg, maple syrup, banana and raspberries.
Cube the bread and let it dry out overnight if you can, then soak it in the egg mixture right in the crock and dot the top with butter. Low for 3 to 4 hours, until the center is set. Fruit goes on at the end.
Ham and Swiss Hash Brown Casserole
A bag of frozen shredded hash browns, diced cooked ham, a diced onion and plenty of Swiss cheese, layered twice, with a dozen eggs and a cup of milk poured over. Low for 6 to 8 hours, which makes it one of the better candidates for an overnight run. Keep leftovers 3 to 5 days in the fridge.
Crispy Breakfast Potatoes
Here’s the honest part: the slow cooker doesn’t do crispy. What it does well is take chunks of potato, onion, a little oil and seasoning salt to fork tender over about 4 hours on high. Then they go into a hot skillet for 10 minutes in the morning, and you get plates like this one.
Breakfast Tacos
The slow cooker part happens the night before. A few chicken thighs or a small pork shoulder go in on low with a jar of salsa, cumin and a little chili powder, and by morning the meat shreds with a fork. Chicken should reach 165°F.
Warm some corn tortillas, pile on the meat, diced tomato and whatever greens you have (microgreens, in this case), and add a fried egg if you want one. The extra meat keeps 3 to 4 days in the fridge, according to the FoodSafety.gov cold storage chart, so a couple more mornings of tacos are already done.
Some mornings there isn’t time for a long run, and a 20 minute tempo run is one good tool to keep in your training toolbox. Keep a steady pace at 80 to 85% effort, about your 10K pace (if you’re not sure what that is, take what you’ve done in a 5K recently, double it, and add a couple of minutes), and find a flat course so you can dial in the pace. Warm up first, and cool down afterward with slower jogging for a mile or so. A short workout like that still leaves time to eat before work, which is where a breakfast the slow cooker made overnight comes in.
Breakfast Burrito Bowl
Everything from a breakfast burrito minus the tortilla. Diced potatoes, chorizo or sausage, black beans, peppers and onion cook on low for 6 hours. Scramble the eggs on the stove in the morning and pile it all into bowls with pico de gallo, lettuce and a drizzle of sour cream, like the one here.
Chilaquiles
Simmer a jar of red or green salsa with shredded chicken thighs and a little broth on low for about 4 hours. The chips can’t go in early or they turn to mush, so fold in tortilla chips right before serving.
Top it the way this bowl is topped: crumbled cotija, pico de gallo, guacamole and a fried egg if you have one.
Strawberry Jam
Not a breakfast on its own, but it makes toast, yogurt and oatmeal a lot better. About 2 pounds of hulled, chopped strawberries go in with 1 1/2 cups of sugar and the juice of a lemon. Cook it on high with the lid propped open a little so the steam can escape, stirring now and then, for 3 to 4 hours until it’s thick and glossy.
It firms up more as it cools, so don’t wait for it to look like jam in the crock. This is a fridge jam, not a canned one, so keep jars like these in the refrigerator.
Spinach and Feta Frittata
Whisk 8 eggs with half a cup of milk, then add a few handfuls of baby spinach and crumbled feta. Grease the crock, pour it in and cook on low for about 2 to 3 hours. It’s done when the center is set and reads 160°F. Slice it into wedges and it reheats fine in the microwave.
Sleeping the Night Before a Race
I am usually a good sleeper and never have insomnia, but for whatever reason, the night before a race, I don’t sleep well. Before the Seattle Rock n’ Roll marathon I tossed and turned for 8 hours. Loading the slow cooker before bed takes one thing off the list, and here are a few other ideas that help:
- Sleep well 2 to 3 days out. You’re usually still at home in a familiar bed that far ahead, so if you get the rest you usually do in the days leading up to the race, a rough night before should still be okay.
- Eliminate sounds. Hotel AC or heater units, crying kids, cars outside; ear plugs or headphones can take care of most of them.
- Take your mind off the race. Listen to music, podcasts or audio books, or read a book if you can’t stop thinking about the next morning.
- Stretch or walk around. If you’re antsy, get out of bed for a few minutes, stretch or do a few pushups or situps (nothing strenuous), then lie back down.
Cheesy Polenta With Poached Eggs
Coarse polenta is the Italian cousin of grits, and it takes a long, slow cook just as well. Use 1 cup of polenta to 4 cups of water or broth with a pinch of salt, and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours, stirring once or twice if you’re around. Stir in parmesan and a pat of butter right before serving.
Poach or fry a couple of eggs on the stove while the cheese melts in, then pile them on with some crumbled bacon, like the bowl here.
Breakfast Quinoa With Berries
Rinse a cup of quinoa well (it’s bitter otherwise), then cook it with 2 cups of milk, a cup of water, cinnamon and vanilla on low for about 4 hours. Berries and a drizzle of honey on top.
Homemade Yogurt With Strawberries and Granola
Slow cooker yogurt sounds fussy, but it’s mostly waiting. Heat half a gallon of milk on low for about 2 and a half hours to 180°F, unplug it and let it cool for around 3 hours, to 110°F. Whisk in half a cup of plain yogurt with live cultures, then wrap the whole crock in a towel and leave it 8 to 12 hours.
Strain it if you like it thick, then build a bowl like this one with sliced strawberries and granola.
Pumpkin Bread
Same idea as the banana bread below, with a can of pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice and a little brown sugar in the batter instead of bananas. A loaf pan set inside an oval cooker keeps the shape, like the sliced loaf here, and it usually needs about 3 hours on high with a towel under the lid.
Let it cool before you cut it or it crumbles.
If you’re working toward a marathon, don’t set your goal pace in stone too early in your training. Run a few shorter races along the way (5k, 10k, half-marathon) and adjust your marathon goal pace after each one; a race time calculator like McMillan’s is a good guideline, though a lot can happen between mile 13 and mile 26. I made the common rookie mistake of starting my first marathon too fast, so take it from me. Each of those tune-up races is also a chance to test your race morning breakfast, so you know what works before the one that counts.
Banana Bread
Mash 3 ripe bananas and mix up your usual banana bread batter, then bake it in a greased loaf pan set inside an oval slow cooker (or right in the greased crock). Towel under the lid, high for 2 to 3 hours, until a toothpick comes out clean.
It comes out moister than oven banana bread, with a paler crust, as you can see on the slice here.
Coffee Cake
A sour cream coffee cake batter with a brown sugar, cinnamon and butter crumb on top. Line the crock with a parchment sling so you can lift it out in one piece, and bake on high for about 2 hours with a towel under the lid.
A slice and a little espresso, like this, is not a bad way to start a rest day.
Chai Concentrate
Cinnamon sticks, crushed cardamom pods, whole cloves, black peppercorns, sliced fresh ginger and 8 cups of water go in on low for about 4 hours. Add a handful of black tea bags for the last 10 minutes only (longer and it turns bitter), then strain and stir in honey.
Mix it half and half with hot or cold milk. Over ice, like the glass here, it’s an iced chai latte for a lot less than the coffee shop charges.
Chai is what I’d want waiting after a hard morning effort, and a VO2 max test is about as hard as they come. When I got my VO2 max tested, the test worked like this: start running a little slower than 10k pace for about 4 minutes, increase the treadmill incline by 1% every 2 minutes, and give a sign when you can only run for 1 more minute. I started at about a 7:30 pace, wearing a funky Darth Vader type mask, and after about 11 minutes I gutted out a last minute at a 5% incline. Needless to say, it’s a pretty intense test.
Rice Pudding
Arborio or plain long grain rice, whole milk, sugar, a cinnamon stick and a pinch of salt, on low for 2 and a half to 3 hours with a stir or two. It thickens as it cools. A spoonful of the cinnamon apples below on top is a nice touch.
Churro Bread Pudding
Cubes of brioche soaked in eggs, milk, brown sugar, vanilla and a lot of cinnamon, cooked on low for 3 to 4 hours until the custard is set (160°F in the middle). Toss the top layer in cinnamon sugar before it goes in so it tastes like a churro.
Serve it warm with a little caramel and fresh raspberries, the way this bowl is done.
Blueberry Crumble
Toss 4 cups of blueberries with a little sugar, lemon and cornstarch, then scatter a crumble of oats, flour, brown sugar and cold butter over the top. High for about 2 hours, with the lid cracked for the last 30 minutes so the topping dries out.
Breakfast or dessert, your call. A spoonful of yogurt on it makes the case for breakfast.
Cinnamon Apples
Halve and core a few firm apples (Honeycrisp or Granny Smith hold up best), set them cut side up in the cooker, and fill the hollows with a little butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and a handful of oats. Pour a splash of cider in the bottom and cook on low for about 3 hours, until a knife slides in without a push.
A spoonful of yogurt or whipped cream on top, the way this one is served, and a dusting of extra cinnamon. Any extras reheat in a couple of minutes the next morning.