Any college athlete will tell you that one of the least favorite parts about playing a sport is all the travel for away games. This is something I dealt with for my first two years of college playing soccer for Penn State Berks. Most of our away trips were a pretty far distance away which would make our coach stop and eat somewhere on the way home. Mostly all of the places we would stop were either fast food restaurants or places that didn’t serve healthy food. I know from experience that after a long game you are willing to eat just about anything, but it is important to get the right nutrients so your body can recover. This is the main point this blog stresses.
This article by Ms. Mangieri gives three different ways an athlete can eat healthy food on an away trip. One of her tips, which I think the best and only way to deal with this problem is to purchase a cooler and bring your own healthy performance food. Packing your healthy food would be the best option because you get to eat the healthy foods you want and are able to eat them at any time. One thing I would do is pack some granola bars in my bag for after the game because I knew I would get hungry on the way home. Another tip she gives is to try to change the foods that are offered or restaurant that is selected. A lot of fast food restaurants are located with other food places around them, so if you can find a good place located near the fast food place then I would suggest going there. This is something that a lot of my teammates have done in the past. The third tip she gives is to determine if you have access to a microwave to heat your food. I think this is a good tip but could cause a hassle for the restaurant workers especially when you are not buying food from their restaurant. I would say her best tips were definitely the first two because they are easy and will help you with your overall goal of eating healthy on away trips.
Overall I thought this was a good blog because it is something I can relate to. Ms. Mangieri uses an informal approach which is pretty straight forward to her audience which makes it easy to understand. I thought her tips were good and reliable and are something that any athlete or any person in general can do when they are going on a long trip and do not want to settle for fast food. Although it may seem like a hassle packing your healthy food and not buying anything at a fast food place on the ride home, I believe it is worth the hassle because your body will get the essential nutrients it needs to recover. This will help your body grow stronger which could improve your skill on the field.