Eat 2 Run Ambassador Brandon Figueroa gives us an inside look into how he fuels his high performance running:

Welcome to my daily routine! Where I share with you my morning, afternoon and nightly routines – everything from eating, running, training and relaxing (all the important stuff!).

I’m not much of an early riser as I’ll admit I like to stay up late at night, but I always make sure to get my eight hours of sleep. If I want to get up and go run, I’ll get up around 7 or 8 and look outside see how the weathers looking.

I start my day off with a short workout; 90 push-ups, 50 leg lifts, 50 regular crunches and 20 side crunches each side. These exercises are great functional exercises and give me added overall body strength. Immediately thereafter I’ll have my hot water and lemon – this helps to cleanse my body out after sleeping. After reading about lemon water a while back and thinking it sounded like a great idea, I tried it, it stuck and I’ve seen huge results. My stomach is noticeably flatter from doing this and I feel so refreshed!

I will generally go for a run down and back from the beach (20-25 minutes) with only the lemon water in my stomach. If you think about it your digestive system it’s really the only system in the body that never rests so doing runs like this I find it really is beneficial.

After every morning run I whip up one of my vegan smoothies – kale, spinach, cucumber, celery, avocado, ginger and tons of chia and hemp hearts. I make a lot of smoothies with fresh fruit and fresh veggies that I’ve pre-frozen the night before or week in advance. Sometimes, depending on the day and how in feeling, I’ll also have either an omelet (eggs, grilled peppers and zucchini) or oatmeal with peanut butter, Greek yogurt and any fruits I’m feeling like – lately it’s been half an apple and handful of fresh berries.

After all that morning craziness I’ll typically be on my way to work – I like to ride my bike to and from work, which is a great way to add some extra cardio and on a nice day it’s just so relaxing. And on days I’m not working, you’ll definitely find me taking advantage of the great outdoors as I live super close to a beach. So you’ll find me somewhere near the beach or in the water swimming, jumping off the pier or paddle boarding. I make an effort to always get in or near the water – for me that’s my happy place.

For lunch once I’m home (or at work), I’ll eat depending on what I feel like. My go-to lunch at the moment is pita pizzas. Pita pizzas are so easy to prep! Just prep in advance and it’s a 15 minute healthy hardy meal which is also such a great way to get your veggies in (and let’s be honest, who doesn’t like pizza?!!).

In the afternoon I usually have some time to myself watch Netflix, read or hangout with friends. It’s so important to have some RNR (rest and recovery) time between your workouts and daily activities – rest is what makes you grow and become better on top of all the training. After I have my relaxing time it usually close to 5 or 6 so I’m now getting ready for another workout. Depending on the day it’ll be either a run or a gym workout.

My running workouts very from tempo runs, speed work, and high volume work. I’m a huge believer in switching training up so any new things that I feel is beneficial and in my best interest I’ll always give it a try. I’ve always had a cross training day in the week, something like pool running or cycling really helps my body get some extra miles in as well as stay injury free because there’s no impact.

When I’m in the gym I tend to focus on a certain body part. Yes it sounds almost body-building-like, but I’ve found that I’ve gained added strength and power from working separate body parts on different days. This goes hand in hand with running because the stronger you are the less prone you are to getting injured and you will be a much more functional runner.

After coming home from my running or weights workout, I’m ready to eat! My go-to meal when I’m time crutched or just being a lazy bum is a good stir-fry. Stir-fries are great for runners because they contain all the nutrients your body lost from the crazy runs and workouts you just put your body through! They contain carbs (rice or noodles), protein (beef or chicken – always get organic lean cuts of beef and chicken if possible), and best of all you’re getting so many yummy vegetables (peppers, celery, carrots, broccoli and cabbage) just some of the veggies I put in my stir-fries.

After diner I’m really just relaxing watching Netflix or getting some reading in while putting my feet up and unwinding. In a nutshell, that’s a day in the life of me!

Cheers,

Brandon