308. Carb Loading Before a Marathon: What Most Runners Get Wrong with Brooke Czarnecki, RDN, LD
Release Date: 09/17/2026
313. Marathon Travel & Recovery: How to Arrive Fresh and Recover Faster
Healthy Runner Podcast
Traveling for a marathon? ✈️ Don't let long flights, heavy legs, poor sleep, or travel fatigue sabotage the months of training you've put in! Whether you're heading to NYC, Philadelphia, Indianapolis, or Disney for Marathon Weekend, how you travel before your race and recover afterward can make a big difference in how you feel. In this episode of the Healthy Runner Podcast, Dr. Duane Scotti, physical therapist, running coach, and 9-time marathoner, shares practical, science-backed marathon travel and recovery tips to help you arrive feeling fresh, race strong, and recover smarter. You'll...
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312. Travel Nutrition for Runners: What to Eat When Traveling for a Race with Claire Shorenstein, RD, CSSD
Healthy Runner Podcast
✈️ Traveling for a marathon or half marathon? Don't let poor nutrition derail months of hard work before you even reach the starting line! You've spent months training, dialing in your fueling strategy, and preparing for race day. But what happens when airports, long flights, unfamiliar restaurants, and changes to your normal routine throw your nutrition plan off track? In this episode of the Healthy Runner Podcast, Dr. Duane Scotti is joined by Claire Shorenstein, MS, RD, CSSD, a distance runner, board-certified Sports Dietitian, and founder of Eat for Endurance, to share practical travel...
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311. Do THIS After Every Race (Most Runners Skip It!) - Post Race Reflection
Healthy Runner Podcast
🎁 FREE Post Race Reflection Worksheet → Your finish time tells you how fast you ran. Your reflection tells you how you can GROW! After finishing my 9th marathon at Wineglass, just 2 minutes shy of my PR, I discovered something powerful. Even though I missed my traditional marathon PR, I actually ran an AGE-GRADED PR at 46! And it reminded me why EVERY runner should take the time to reflect after a race. In this episode of the Healthy Runner Podcast, I'm walking you through 5 post race reflection questions to help you celebrate your wins, learn from your challenges, and become a stronger,...
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310. How to Race Your Best Marathon with Peter Bromka
Healthy Runner Podcast
FREE Marathon Training Guide: Train Smarter & Race Strong → You can be in the best shape of your life and still miss your marathon goal if you don’t execute properly on race day. So how do you take months of training and turn that fitness into your best possible marathon? In this episode of the Healthy Runner Podcast, I sit down with 2:19 marathoner, running coach, and writer Peter Bromka to break down how to race your marathon for peak performance. Peter shares lessons from years of racing, coaching, studying, and writing about the marathon. He also includes why this distance is so...
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309. Tapering 101: How to Taper Before a Half Marathon or Marathon
Healthy Runner Podcast
FREE Marathon Training Guide: Train Smarter & Race Strong → Are you a few weeks away from your half marathon or marathon and suddenly wondering if you’re running too little? Welcome to the taper crazies! After months of long runs, speed workouts, and strength training, reducing your training before race day can feel completely backwards. You may start wondering if you’re losing fitness, whether you should squeeze in one more long run, or why your legs suddenly feel heavy. But here’s the key: You don’t get faster during your taper by squeezing in more fitness. You get faster by...
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308. Carb Loading Before a Marathon: What Most Runners Get Wrong with Brooke Czarnecki, RDN, LD
Healthy Runner Podcast
Are you carb loading correctly before your marathon, or could your nutrition strategy be setting you up to hit the dreaded wall at mile 20? If you think carb loading means eating a giant bowl of pasta the night before your race, you're not alone! But proper marathon carb loading involves much more than one big meal. In this episode of the Healthy Runner Podcast, Dr. Duane Scotti sits down with registered dietitian and endurance sports nutrition expert from our team to break down exactly how to carb load before a marathon or half marathon. You'll learn when to start carb loading, what foods...
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307. 3 Common Marathon Injuries: How to Treat Them Without Giving Up Running with Carolyn Coffin
Healthy Runner Podcast
What happens when your hamstring, IT band, or Achilles starts hurting in the middle of marathon training? Do you really need to stop running completely? Not necessarily! In Episode 307 of the Healthy Runner Podcast, I’m sharing an insightful conversation I had with Carolyn Coffin from the Inspired Soles Podcast about 3 of the most common injuries that can derail marathon training and what you can actually do about them without automatically giving up running. We take a deep dive into: 🏃🏻♀️ Proximal hamstring tendinopathy: Why stretching that nagging pain near your sit bone may...
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306. How to Train for Disney Marathon Weekend: 5 Mistakes Runners Make with Coach Whitney LaCombe
Healthy Runner Podcast
Training for RunDisney? and learn how to train for the entire Disney experience…not just the miles 🏰🔋 Are you training for Disney Marathon Weekend like you would for any other marathon? That could be one of the biggest mistakes you make. Disney Marathon Weekend isn't just about covering 26.2 miles. Between the early wake-ups, standing in corrals, walking through the parks, Florida weather, and for Goofy and Dopey runners… racing on back-to-back days, your body has to handle much more than the mileage on your training plan! In this episode of the Healthy Runner Podcast, I’m...
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305. What Jon Levitt Learned from 850,000 Runners About Running After 40
Healthy Runner Podcast
Have you ever wondered if you can keep running (not just through this season) but for the rest of your life? If you're over 40 and you've started questioning whether your body can keep up, this episode is for you. Joining me today is Jon Levitt, host of the popular For The Long Run podcast, where he's spent years interviewing some of the world's best runners, coaches, sports scientists, and researchers to answer one big question: What does it actually take to achieve sustainable excellence? Through conversations reaching more than 850,000 runners every month, Jon has uncovered the common...
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304. Disney Marathon Training: The Strength Work Most Runners Skip
Healthy Runner Podcast
Training for RunDisney? and learn how to train for the entire Disney experience…not just the miles 🏰🔋 Disney Marathon Weekend isn't just a marathon… it's one of the most unique endurance events you'll ever train for. Between miles on unforgiving concrete, long days walking through the parks, early morning wake-ups, and for many runners, back-to-back races like Goofy and Dopey, your body needs more than just a running plan. It needs a strength plan. In this episode, Dr. Duane Scotti, running physical therapist, running coach, and two-time Dopey finisher, shares the exact 20-week...
info_outline[Download] Nutrition Blueprint
Are you carb loading correctly before your marathon, or could your nutrition strategy be setting you up to hit the dreaded wall at mile 20?
If you think carb loading means eating a giant bowl of pasta the night before your race, you're not alone! But proper marathon carb loading involves much more than one big meal.
In this episode of the Healthy Runner Podcast, Dr. Duane Scotti sits down with registered dietitian and endurance sports nutrition expert Brooke Czarnecki, RDN from our Spark Healthy Runner team to break down exactly how to carb load before a marathon or half marathon.
You'll learn when to start carb loading, what foods to eat, how much carbohydrate your body actually needs, and the biggest nutrition mistakes that could leave you feeling depleted on race day.
Whether you're training for your first marathon or chasing a new personal record, this episode will help you develop a smarter race-week fueling strategy so you can arrive at the starting line feeling prepared and confident!
What You'll Learn:
-Why marathon runners hit the wall and how carb loading can help.
-The biggest carb-loading mistakes runners make.
-When to start carb loading: 24, 48, or 72 hours before your race?
-What to eat during the final 2–3 days before a marathon.
-How to train your gut to tolerate more carbohydrates during long runs.
-Whether high-carb fueling affects your long-term health.
-Important carb-loading considerations for female runners.
-Brooke's practical 3-day carb-loading strategy when race day is approaching!
Stop guessing about your marathon nutrition and start fueling with a plan!
Grab your FREE Marathon Training Guide Here!
Episodes and Resources mentioned in this episode:
Links and Resources from the show:
- Get all of Brooke’s previous episodes on the podcast in one place!
- Listen to my previous episode on how injury and nutrition guidance sparked Rachel’s first marathon success!
- Listen to my previous episode on How to Eat Like a Runner
- Listen to my previous episode on hydration and electrolytes for running
If you are a runner who is looking for an individualized nutrition plan and want to prevent under-fueling so you can run strong and last long then you can begin to work with Brooke within our 1:1 signature Healthy Runner Coaching program here.
A big thanks to CEP for your support for this episode!
Healthy Runner listeners get 15% off their entire order when shopping CEP Running online through November 15!
Shop CEP Running or enter code LRL-NYC-15 at checkout.
Offer ends November 16, 2026, at 3:00AM EST. Limit one use per customer. Cannot be combined with other discounts.
💧 Hydrate Smarter with LMNT
Long runs, hard workouts, and sweaty training sessions can take a lot out of you, especially when you're training in the heat.
LMNT has become one of my go-to ways to replenish electrolytes and stay on top of my hydration throughout marathon training. Each stick pack delivers a meaningful dose of electrolytes without sugar, artificial colors, or other dodgy ingredients.
Get a free 8-count Sample Pack of LMNT’s most popular drink mix flavors with any purchase at https://www.DrinkLMNT.com/healthyrunner
Proper hydration and fueling are key parts of building a strong, healthy, and durable running body. Give LMNT a try and find your favorite flavor, mine is watermelon! 🍉
💙 Ready for an Individualized Nutrition and Training Plan?
If you're looking to dial in your marathon nutrition, overcome recurring injuries, and train smarter for your next race, we'd love to help!
Through our Healthy Runner Coaching program and Healthy Runner Academy, you can get expert guidance to build a training and fueling strategy that works for YOU.
👋🏼 New here?
I’m Dr. Duane Scotti, former physical therapy professor turned full-time running coach, running physical therapist, and 8x marathoner 🏅
I help everyday runners stop nagging injuries, get stronger, and finally feel confident in their training by blending rehab-level expertise with performance training.
If you found this helpful, make sure to follow the Healthy Runner Podcast and share this episode with a runner who needs to hear it.
Connect with Brooke:
Brooke’s Race Day Carb Loading Guide
- Instagram: @intentfulnutrition
- Email: [email protected]
- Healthy Runner Facebook Community
- Actively Fueled Podcast on Spotify
Connect with Dr. Duane:
- Instagram - @sparkhealthyrunner
- Sign up for the Healthy Runner Newsletter
- Join our Healthy Runner Facebook Community