Runner’s Mise En Place

“Mise En Place” is a French term common among chefs. Generally, it means “putting in place” or gathering and prepping ingredients before cooking begins. This might include washing, chopping, thawing, organizing and arranging all the ingredients in a recipe before throwing anything into a pot. It keeps the chef on task, the kitchen organized, and allows less chaos to occur during the cooking process.

For myself, I’ve implemented what I call a “runner’s mise en place.” Basically, it’s a ritual I follow before runs to fuel me and get into the right headspace. I’m almost always a morning runner, so my mise en place often starts the night before. It looks something like this:

Night before run:

1. Double check my alarm for 5:00AM, sometimes 5:30AM

2. Get my running kit together (clothes, headphones, shoes, Flipbelt, etc.)

3. Make sure my running water bottles are clean or in the dishwasher

Morning of the run:

1. Wake up with my alarm

2. Drink a few large gulps of water

3. Bathroom

4. Prep pre-run nutrition:

   1. Banana

   2. Verb caffeinated energy bar

   3. Saltstick tablet

   4. 1 Tums (for heartburn I sometimes get during runs)

   5. GU and/or Maurten gels if it’s a long run

5. Prep Water Bottles:

   1. Nuun Electrolyte in a water bottle

   2. Protein/Collagen shake in a shaker bottle

   3. Occasionally add another water bottle of just water (typically for long runs if I’m tired of the electrolyte taste after the run)

6. Eat the pre-run nutrition (sometimes at home, sometimes on the drive over to the run)

7. Run

What I’m really trying to say is - there’s a lot of prep I do before a run.

This week though, on a couple occasions, I’ve felt like a prepared chef with washed, chopped, and organized ingredients, only to find out the stove doesn’t work.

On Wednesday, Jan 8, I came off a solid 8 mile treadmill run and overall felt decent. My pace was probably a 4/10 effort, which felt great as I continue to manage my knee pain. After the run, though, the knee started to get progressively sore. It’s a common symptom of runner’s knee to feel discomfort when sitting, and since I work a desk job, the pain was escalating throughout the day.

I didn’t think too much of it though - I figured by Thursday morning I’d be good to go again for another mid-level run. I woke up, went through the morning ritual, ate all my food, and started the run. About 0.25 miles in, my knee felt “chunky.” Not full on pain yet, but it didn’t feel smart to push through. It’s the most frustrating thing for me to prep mentally and nutritionally for a run, only to call it quits immediately after starting.

When I’m dealing with an injury, I tend to be a little overly optimistic. My knee often feels okay when I wake up, but I’ll start to notice any pain/discomfort as soon as I start running. So, I typically go through my entire runner’s mise en place routine thinking I’ll be able to get a solid run in, but find out as soon as I enter a jog that it’s not in the cards. I’ve eaten the caffeinated energy bar, swallowed a capsule full of salt, dissolved a Nuun electrolyte tab, and mixed my protein shake - all for nothing.

I hate being injured, and I know I probably need to take more breaks between runs. Some might say I should stop running all together for a few weeks. I’m not there yet though. I’ve had good runs even with the knee issues when I’ve rested adequately, and I just need to dial in the recovery. I’m still feeling optimistic about the Surf City half coming up in a few weeks. Even if I can’t attempt a PR, I’m optimistic that I can at least treat the race like a good long run. Crossing fingers.

——

On a separate note, I’m going to start tracking the progress of my two 2025 goals in each blog post. Obviously we’re still early, but I’m curious how my progress reports will evolve in the the year. For now, I’ll label each goal as Red (off track), Yellow (too early to tell or unsure), Green (on track) :

**************

1/9 Progress Report

• Sub 3 Hour Marathon @ CIM: December 7, 2025

  • Status: Yellow

  • Notes: With the injury and my slower paces, it’s hard to tell if I’m on track.

• 2,025 Miles in 2025

  • Status: Yellow

  • Notes: I’ve been on track with just under 50 miles completed this year so far, but keeping this at yellow with the knee.