What you put into your body is vital for running performance. If you fuel your body with healthy, nutritious food and drink, you will ensure you have plenty of energy to complete your runs and recover efficiently between each run. Good nutrition is also key to your overall health, keeping you free from illness and injury. Food provides you with the building blocks needed for muscle recovery after running, making you fitter and stronger, all the way through your training.
Running Nutrition Basics
To get the most out of your running, focus on nourishing your body with nutrient-packed foods that will support your training plan.
Understanding your needs
There are three macronutrients that provide energy for your body: protein, carbohydrate and fat.
Carbohydrate
Carbohydrate from potatoes, pasta, rice, oats and fruit is your muscles’ preferred fuel source and is essential for high-intensity exercise. As a rule of thumb, the longer and harder you train the more carbohydrate your body burns. It is stored as glycogen in the liver and muscles, but stores are limited, approximately 500g or enough to fuel 90 – 120 minutes of high-intensity exercise. When glycogen depletes during exercise, fatigue develops.
Fat
Fat is crucial for energy, brain function, the production of sex hormones and for absorbing vitamins A, D, E and K. The healthiest types are unsaturated fats, found in nuts, seeds, oily fish, avocados and olive oil. Our bodies rely more on fat for energy during longer events.
Protein
Protein isn’t used as a fuel source for exercise, unless glycogen stores are depleted. Instead, it helps your muscles repair and adapt to training and is therefore very important in terms of recovery. It’s found in meat, fish, legumes (beans, lentils, chickpeas and peas), dairy products, eggs, nuts and seeds.
Building a Balanced Plate
As a general rule, fill half your plate with colourful vegetables, a quarter with healthy carbohydrate-rich foods, a quarter with lean protein foods, and a smaller serving of healthy fats. Throughout the day, snack on fruit, nuts or plain yogurt and sip on mostly water. When you approach each meal with this mindset then you will be able to build a healthy, balanced meal.
What to eat before you run
It’s generally beneficial to eat before a run – this will provide you with energy to help sustain your running. Your pre-run meal should be easy to digest, high in carbohydrate and low in fat and fibre.
Plan to have a meal 2 – 4 hours before you run: a combination of carbohydrate and protein produces sustained energy release. For example, if you’re planning to run at midday, have porridge, milk and bananas for breakfast. If you’re planning an evening run, opt for a baked potato with hummus or chicken with veg for lunch.
If the interval between your last meal and your run is longer than 4 hours, then have a healthy high-carbohydrate snack 30 – 60 minutes beforehand to maintain blood glucose and keep hunger at bay. Suitable options include a banana or a fruit and nut bar.
If you prefer to run fasted, then do so only for low-moderate intensity runs or higher-intensity runs less than one hour duration. Anything longer than this will likely deplete your glycogen stores and lead to a loss of muscle.
Ensure you start your run hydrated. The simplest and most practical way to assess hydration is checking the colour, volume and odour of your urine – it should be a pale straw colour. Anything darker suggests underhydration and that you need to drink more. As a guide, consume 5 – 10 ml/ kg body weight in the 4-hour period before exercise.
During
If you’re running for less than an hour, you won’t need to consume additional fuel during exercise. Your energy needs can be supported by your glycogen stores.
If you’re running for longer than an hour, consuming carbohydrate (in liquid or solid form) during exercise will help maintain your blood glucose levels and running pace as glycogen stores get depleted. Start fuelling after about 45 minutes (depending on your pace) and aim to consume 30 – 60g carbs/ hour. Fuelling during running may cause nausea or gut problems initially, especially if you haven’t done so before. Begin with small amounts and build up gradually. Options that supply 30g carbohydrate include 500ml sports drink, 1 – 2 bananas, 2 Medjool dates or 1 – 2 fruit and nut bars (check the label).
Hydration
There are no strict rules about how much you should drink – it depends on your sweat rate. Be guided by your thirst or calculate your sweat rate by weighing yourself before and after running than add on the weight of any fluid consumed.
Recovery
Eating the right macronutrients along with replacing fluid losses is essential for building endurance and strength and helping you recover from running. There are three goals of recovery nutrition:
Rehydration – aim to replace each 1 kg of weight loss with 1.25 – 1.5 l fluid. This may include water, milk, sports drinks or recovery drinks.
Refuelling – replenish glycogen stores by including carbohydrate in your meals. This will help you refuel and prepare for your next session. For rapid refuelling, for example when training twice a day, consume 1 – 1.2g carb per kg of body weight within 2 hours of your run.
Repair – protein provides the building blocks to repair damaged muscle fibres and build stronger muscles. Include 0.25 – 0.4g protein per kg body weight, or approximately 20 – 30g protein per meal. Include protein in all your meals and snacks so it is distributed fairly evenly throughout the day.
Summary
Fuelling your body properly will ensure you have plenty of energy to progress in your running. A balance of carbohydrate; protein and healthy fats as well as colourful plant foods will keep your body heathy and in top running condition. Try to keep ultra-processed foods to a minimum as they are generally high in sugar, salt or fat and low in fibre. Drink plenty of water to stay hydrated and for longer runs consider consuming carbohydrate to sustain your performance. If you’re training for a race, rehearse your fuelling and hydration plan during training. You’ll need to practice drinking on the move and try different types of foods and drinks to find out what works for you.
If you enjoyed this post and want to find out more about running nutrition, then check out my book, The Runner’s Cookbook. It features more than 100 delicious recipes to fuel your running. With a foreword from five-time Olympian Jo Pavey, the book also provides practical nutrition advice on fuelling before, during and after running, guidance on hydration and supplements, weight loss tips, how to recover from injury, and how to prepare for 5k, 10k, half marathons, marathons and ultra races.