Becs Gentry is a popular One Peloton instructor. Beyond her role at Peloton, Gentry's dedication to fitness is exemplified by her participation in grueling events. This article delves into the nutritional strategies and training regimen of Becs Gentry, offering insights into her approach to fueling for endurance and maintaining overall well-being.
Becs Gentry's Great World Race
In November 2024, Becs Gentry embarked on The Great World Race in Antarctica, a demanding challenge that tested both her mental and physical limits. This race involved running seven marathons across seven continents in just seven days.
Gentry's motivation to compete stemmed from her desire to reignite her inner spark and set an example for her daughter, Tallulah. Despite initial concerns about the cold, particularly given her Raynaud’s syndrome, Gentry successfully completed the race, attributing her success to diligent training and mental fortitude.
Training and Mental Fortitude
With the help of a running coach, Gentry followed a strict training plan, running an average of 130 miles per week. She emphasized the importance of mental fitness alongside physical preparedness. Her mantra, "forward is a pace," helped her focus on finishing rather than getting caught up in time pressures. This mindset allowed her to appreciate the experience and connect with runners from around the world.
Gentry prioritized consuming enough calories during the race. Her simple motto was, “Don’t be picky. It literally was just, get the calories in. You don’t know when you’re going to eat again."
Read also: The Hoxsey Diet
Becs Gentry's Philosophy on Sharing Her Diet
Becs has shared a lot about her training for The Great World Race, but has been silent on her fueling strategy. In a recent Instagram post, Becs Gentry explained her reluctance to share her specific diet plan, citing her personal history with an eating disorder.
Gentry emphasized that what works for her might not work for others and that she doesn't want to trigger those with eating disorders by sharing her personal food intake.
Overcoming Eating Disorders
Becs has shared a lot about her training for The Great World Race, but has been silent on her fueling strategy. Becs shared two photos in her post. The first photo shows a smiling Becs, but behind that smile was a woman struggling with an eating disorder. She admitted she was unwell, trapped in a bad relationship, and battling depression. She was hiding her pain from everyone around her. Sound familiar? In her own words, Becs said, “The girl in the first photo might look smiley and happy but she wasn’t, she was really unwell. Becs’ turning point came when she visited her aunt Jenn and uncle David in Florida. She realized she had the power to control her future, but it required bravery and significant changes. Becs left a bad relationship, quit her job, went back to school, and moved cities. She writes, “I heard that I could be in control of my future but I had to be brave and make a few changes.
Gentry's journey is a testament to resilience and the importance of both mental and physical health.
Becs Gentry's Daily Routine
Gentry teaches Tuesday through to Saturday and has her days off from Peloton on Sundays and Mondays. In addition to running, Gentry considers a dedicated rest and recovery routine essential to her progress. She focuses on single leg balance and core work and walks her dog multiple times each day.
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Becs Gentry's Approach to Rest and Recovery
Even perennial road runners sometimes struggle with taking a true rest day. Becs Gentry once shared her diary of doing absolutely nothing. The day after racing I plan to have that extra sleep-in; normally if I had wine with dinner, I wouldn’t have another glass of wine, but I thought “Sod it, I can.”
Mentally a lot of marathoners feel ready to run again quickly, if they have no injuries or focused pain site from the race--you’ve been in this routine for weeks or months and it’s hard to just drop that within a day. You have to be very aware that you feel great, but your body can’t handle the intensity and volume you were training at before. I taught a beginner intervals class Wednesday which was perfect for my continued recovery--I was watching my heartrate and it was like I was running at my normal interval speed even though I was well within our speed guidelines for a beginner class. I was running at 6mph when I would normally be running at 10mph and I was breathing like Darth Vader. That’s your body’s internal signal to chill out. I did a short cool-down run after that and walked around with my in-laws for a while and stayed active, but it wasn’t a rigorous day either--a nice walk by the water, some more champagne, and some real malleability in my routine.
I’m feeling much more myself now. I’ve got one more race in May, which is a half for which I just have to maintain my current level of fitness, and then I can really take a break!
Supplements
After resisting most supplements for the better part of my life, I’m cautiously changing my tune. I’m now a Masters runner and in my personal life, I’m optimizing for longevity. Previnex uses the most bioavailable, clinically tested ingredients, the optimal form and dose of each ingredient, pharmaceutical grade manufacturing, testing of raw ingredients and finished products. Their new Muscle Health Plus is something I’m now taking. Turning 40 - and having a thin frame - has made me realize that I need to prioritize lean muscle mass to stay healthy and age well. Muscle Health Plus will help you prevent muscle damage, which is particularly important for aging runners who want to protect themselves from muscle loss and recover faster after hard workouts.
I’m also supported by AG1, the greens superfood mix. This is a category-leading greens mix that has 75 vitamins and minerals, prebiotics, probiotics, antioxidants, and adaptogens. One scoop per day is what I’ve been doing to help me fill in any nutrition gaps in my diet. It also provide a nice boost of energy and focus throughout the day. I also love that AG1 has changed over the last decade.
Read also: Weight Loss with Low-FODMAP
Pre-Race Nutrition: What to Eat Before a Run
Whether you’re running a 5K, 10K, half marathon, or full marathon, what you eat leading up to the event-including your pre-race dinner-can significantly influence your performance and how you feel on the big day.
What to Eat the Night Before a 5K
What you eat the night before a 5K race will vary from what you should eat before longer distances, such as a half or full marathon. Still, it’s important to be mindful of your menu. The night before the race, you should eat the meal you’ve been practicing eating before your long runs: the meal you know sits well in your belly and provides your body with the fuel it needs to complete the distance the next day.
Leading up to a 5K, you want to have some good fuel for those faster-twitch muscles to utilize, which includes easy-to-digest carbohydrates like potatoes and rice. You’ll also tap into your slow-twitch muscle fibers, which use fat in addition to carbs for fuel, so adding lean protein (such as chicken breast or tofu) can round out your meal.
Hydration, too, is crucial, and paying attention to electrolytes can help balance fluid retention in your body. Becs prefers adding electrolyte supplements to one or two glasses of water daily starting a couple of days before a race and continuing straight to the morning of the big run.
One standard rule of thumb is to drink half your weight in ounces of water daily. Another, per the Mayo Clinic, is for men to have 15.5 cups of fluids and women to have 11.5 cups of fluids daily-yet these needs often increase for runners, athletes, and those who sweat a lot. At the same time, it’s important to avoid overhydration, which can strain the kidneys.
What to Eat the Night Before a 10K
What you should eat the night before a 10K won’t differ too much from your pre-5K meal plan. There’s typically no need to carb load, and a standard blend of carbs and lean protein at dinnertime should suffice to provide energy and fend off discomfort during the race. Choose foods that are easily digestible, well-tolerated, and familiar to you for your pre-race dinner.
As the 10K is slightly longer, you may need some extra energy stores to pull from. My go-to snack is a toasted and buttered English muffin with peanut butter and banana or strawberry on top.
Hydration-wise, it is the same for all distances. You want to ensure your body is supported in every way, and adding electrolytes will cover that off for the additional sweat you are about to lose while running.
What to Eat the Night Before a Half Marathon
If you have a half marathon on the books, your nutrition plan-for the night before, the days leading up to the race, and the weeks or months you’re training-will need some extra finessing. As soon as you start training, you will start to adapt your nutrition to support your extra output.
Carbohydrate load leading into a half marathon can help you feel energized on race day. This helps to fully stock your glycogen (carbohydrate) stores, which is your primary source of fuel for your body and muscles. As such, she recommends eating 8-12 grams of carbohydrates per kilogram of body weight daily for one to two days before a half marathon. It’s also important to spread out your carb intake evenly between meals and snacks, rather than eating them all at once.
Long-distance runners traditionally eat a lot of carbs to sustain energy over these high miles, which is why she recommends prioritizing carbs that will fuel you well on race day. Her pre-race meal of choice is actually a Hawaiian pizza, but Becs’s other go-tos include:
- Potatoes
- Pasta
- Fresh bread
Meanwhile, she advises against eating carbs in the form of fried or processed foods.
I personally like to add in a decent amount of protein to give my muscles the recovery tools they need. This may include foods such as grilled chicken or plant-based protein options such as tofu or tempeh.
Your need to keep on top of hydration is huge, especially as mileage and intensity increases.
What to Eat the Night Before a Marathon
Like with a half marathon, focus on your nutrition strategy not only the night before but also in the days leading up to your big race. As you get closer to the marathon, carb loading will be key.
What you eat the two to three days before your marathon will determine if you ‘hit the wall’ or cross the finish line feeling energized. Eating simple, refined carbohydrate foods helps to fully stock your glycogen stores in your liver and muscles. The carb-rich foods that make it onto her pre-race eating list include:
- White rice
- Potatoes
- Bread
- Fruit juice
- Candy
When glycogen stores are fully stocked [by eating these simple carbs], it provides up to 90-120 minutes worth of quick energy that your muscles can use.
When athletes do a proper carbohydrate load for the first time, they are amazed at the difference it makes once they get to mile 20-22 in the marathon. She speaks of clients who were able to shave as much as 20 minutes off their PRs solely by changing their nutrition strategy, which illustrates the power of a solid pre-race fueling plan.
- Carbs such as rice, pasta, potatoes, or quinoa
- Lean protein like chicken, white fish, or tofu
In addition, Baumann generally suggests choosing electrolyte drinks with higher sodium levels to ‘hyper-hydrate’ the night before a marathon, as well as sipping on the same option on race-day morning. If you’re a heavy or salty sweater or the weather on race day is looking warm, be intentional about adding extra salt to your food the days leading into your race.
Foods and Drinks to Avoid the Night Before a Race
To ensure you can stay as comfortable and well-supported as possible on race day, there are a few foods and drinks generally worth avoiding the night before. Here are some of the main ones that have the potential to curb your stride:
High-Fiber Foods
While high-fiber foods are beneficial for gut health, metabolic health, heart health, and beyond, it’s best to steer clear of them right before your race. Eating high-fiber foods such as lentil pasta and cruciferous vegetables-such as raw broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts-can increase bloating and digestive discomfort going into race day.
If you’re going to eat plant-based foods before your race, she recommends opting for lower-fiber alternatives, which include:
- Most well-cooked and canned fruits and vegetables
- Ripe bananas
- Soft melons
- Lettuce
Fried or Fatty Foods
Fried or fatty foods can sit in your stomach and slow down digestion, leaving you feeling sluggish during your race. As such, she recommends avoiding deep-fried foods (like French fries and fried chicken), fatty meats, and greasy burgers.
Spicy Foods
While some people will tolerate the heat better than others, it’s usually best to opt for more mild foods the night before a race. Spicy foods can irritate the stomach lining, increasing the risk of acid reflux and heartburn. That’s the last thing you want to experience on race day.
Large Portions
It’s ideal to avoid eating a huge pre-race dinner, especially before longer runs. Eating large portions of food the night before a race can leave you feeling overly full, bloated, and uncomfortable on race day. On this point, she underscores the importance of being intentional about portioning out your food intake throughout the day, rather than trying to, say, squeeze all your carb loading into one single dinner the night before your race.
I generally eat my big meal two days before the race in order to allow my body time to process the food.
Alcohol
You don’t want to overdo it on alcohol the night before a race, as it risks dehydration, headaches, and (the horror!) even sleeping through the start time. However, some runners-Becs included-sometimes opt to treat themselves to a bit of vino the night before a race. If you have alcohol, have a small glass-nothing more. Of course, everybody is different, so if you know that even a few sips will impair your sleep or throw you off track, it’s best to avoid alcohol entirely.
What Time Should You Eat the Night Before a Race?
The timing of your pre-race dinner will vary depending on the distance of your race, personal preferences, and usual eating habits. That said, her general recommendation is to have your pre-race dinner about two to four hours before you go to bed, which allows enough time for proper digestion.
If you’re running a 5K or 10K, she says this eating window can be pushed back to two to three hours before bed. But for those who are running a half or full marathon-or those who choose to eat a carb-heavy dinner or late snack-she suggests building in a four-hour buffer time, at minimum, to allow your body time to digest before crawling under the covers.
For instance, Becs says that she prefers to eat her dinner as early as possible before a big race, which gives her enough time to digest and hit the hay for a full night’s quality rest.
The Importance of Personalized Nutrition
The best practices for what to eat the night before a race will vary based on a handful of factors, most notably including how long the race is. Most often, a healthy balance of carbs and lean protein will do the trick. If you’re running a half or full marathon, consuming simple carbs will help ensure your glycogen stores are fully stocked to fuel you for the (literal) long run.