Microwave pancake: if you don’t like breakfast before you run try this

by Nicole Bush

I’ve struggled for pretty much my whole running life to find a breakfast that doesn’t make my stomach hurt, give me heartburn or just make be feel kind of sick after not eating for 8+ hours (aka, while I’m sleeping).

And that’s even without trying to attempt a run in the morning. That’s just my normal breakfast mood; hating it.

So, trying to find something small to eat before a morning run is a perpetual struggle-bus for me. I know if I don’t eat something meaningful before my run, it’ll be even harder for me to have an appetite after it.

I know what some of you are thinking, and you’re wrong.

You know what’s great for that—oatmeal!

I know I’m pretty much alone on an island in the running community here when I say this but, I HATE OATMEAL.

I get it, you can mix so many things with it and make it “delicious”. Sure, I like berries and peanut butter and whathaveyou. But when you put all those things in oatmeal, you’re still putting them in mushy gross warm beige.

Plus it’s what I’ve eaten on so, so, so many race mornings. So, I also feel kind of nervous, as a reflex, whenever I eat it.

But mostly, I’m a texture person and gagging down mushy gross warm beige isn’t my ideal way to start the day.

So, this is where the microwave pancake thing comes in. This is not an original idea. You can buy Kodiak Cups by Kodiak Cakes (the pancake mix with the protein) and they are delicious, but expensive at around $2.25 a cup if you want to be kind of regular about it.

So instead, you can buy Kodiak Cakes regular pancake mix (or the off-brand, Kroger protein pancake mix) and just microwave it in a coffee mug.

I don’t have all the math and measurements for you. But if you can get two Kodiak Cups for just under $5, you can surely get more than two DIY microwave pancakes for just over/under $5 for an entire box.

So anyway:

Put about 1/3 cup of protein pancake mix (I don’t know if this works with non-protein pancake mixes and I don’t really care because a pancake with no protein is annoying) into a microwave-safe coffee cup.

Add about 1/4 cup of water.

Mix it together with the fork you’re going to use to eat it with. Add a bit more water if you think it might need more water for the right consistency.

Microwave it on whatever microwave setting you usually microwave at for 60 seconds.

Then enjoy your differently mushy, not gross, still warm, better beige breakfast.

I suppose you can put toppings and syrup on it, but the idea is to have a portion small enough and chill enough (read as: not sugar overloaded with syrup) that you can still go running shortly after eating it.

This has been working for me as a pre-run breakfast for a couple weeks now.

I make it, eat it, do some activations (or do the activations before the making and eating) and then head out the door for my run.

So far my stomach is ready for more food when I get back from my run, which isn’t typically the case.

So if you’re like me, where breakfast before running doesn’t really mix well, give this microwave pancake thing a try.

If you try it and you like it (or hate it), let me know on Instagram or Twitter, or email me at nicole@nicolebushmedia.com