12 weeks • Distance fueling • From the 7pm event to the off-season

Distance track playbook

Twelve weeks built around the late-event problem: what to eat at 3pm and 5pm before a 7pm race, what to eat between a prelim and a final, and how to hold normal eating through a taper.

A distance staff feeding runners around late events, prelims and finals, and overnight travel.

Every week: an email you can send as written, one thing to say at practice, three things for staff to do, and the food to name.

01Eating for a 7pm eventSolve the long gap between school lunch and a late-evening distance event.Open

Owner: Distance event lead
Done when: Every distance runner can say what they eat at 3pm and 5pm before a 7pm race.

Operations

01Post the 3pm and 5pm times, not "eat before your race", so runners have an actual clock.
02Keep sandwiches and bananas in the cooler on meet days for runners who arrive with nothing.
03Check the heat sheet for event time changes and re-announce the two times if it moves.

Team talk

You race at seven. If you last ate at lunch, that is eight hours. That is the whole problem.

Eat a sandwich at three and something small at five. Banana, pretzels, half a bar.

Nothing new after four o'clock. Race night is not for experiments.

Family email

Subject: Racing at 7pm: what to eat at 3 and at 5

Hi families, Distance events go off late. A runner who last ate at 11am and races at 7pm has been running on nothing for eight hours. The plan: - 3pm: a real snack. A turkey sandwich, or a bagel with peanut butter - 5pm: something small and plain. A banana, pretzels, or half a granola bar - After the race: chocolate milk and a sandwich before the bus leaves Nothing new and nothing greasy after 4pm. Familiar food only. Thanks, [Coach name]

Use with this week

Race Morning Fuel — Build the timeline backward from the event time, not the meet start.

Program Access boundary

Weeks 2–12 stay server-locked.

Week 1 is the public working sample. Program Access opens all three complete playbooks for one school at $250/year.

Open Program Access