You can follow the training plan, put the miles in, invest in all the latest gear but one area that most runners overlook is their nutrition. If your nutrition is not supporting your training, this often limits your development, leaves the runner feeling tired and fatigued and results in an increased risk of injury and illness.
Your nutrition does not have to be complicated. You do not need to follow restrictive diets, invest in expensive supplements or buy every single sports product in the shop.
However, there are some nutrition mistakes that runners make regularly which hinders their running performance often without realising it.
Here are five things every runner needs to know about nutrition
1. Don’t wait until race day to start thinking about nutrition
One of the biggest mistakes runners make is treating nutrition as something they only need to think about when a race is approaching.
They’ll spend months carefully following their training plan, but only start thinking seriously about gels, carbohydrate intake and race-day breakfast shortly before the event.
Your training is the time to practise your nutrition.
Long runs provide an opportunity to work out:
- What you like to eat before running
- How you feel when you’ve eaten different meals beforehand
- Which gels or other fuelling products you tolerate
- How much fluid you need
- What works for your stomach during longer runs
By the time race day arrives, your nutrition should feel familiar.
You don’t want your marathon to be the first time you try a particular gel, drink or fuelling strategy.
2. Carbohydrates aren’t the enemy
Carbohydrates often get a bad reputation. For runners, however, they’re an important source of energy, particularly as the duration and intensity of training increases.
Foods such as:
- Oats
- Bread
- Rice
- Pasta
- Potatoes
- Cereal
- Fruit
- Bagels
can all form part of a balanced diet for a runner.
Carbohydrates can be particularly useful around training. Eating carbohydrate before a run can help provide energy for the session, while consuming carbohydrate afterwards can help replenish your body’s glycogen stores and support recovery.
Your carbohydrate requirements will vary depending on factors such as your body size, training volume, training intensity and goals.
The key point is that unnecessarily restricting carbohydrate can make it harder to provide your body with the fuel it needs for training.
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3. Don’t wait until race day to discover whether your fuelling works
If you’re training for a longer-distance event, at some point you’ll probably start thinking about gels and other carbohydrate products.
But there’s a common mistake here:
Runners often wait until their longest training runs — or even race day — to start experimenting.
That’s when things can go wrong.
Gels and other carbohydrate products can take some getting used to. Some runners find certain products difficult to tolerate, while others simply aren’t used to taking carbohydrate while running.
That’s why it’s worth practising during training.
Use appropriate long runs to experiment with different approaches and find out what works for you.
You can practise:
- Different gels or carbohydrate products
- How much carbohydrate you tolerate
- When you prefer to take your fuel
- What fluids work alongside your carbohydrate intake
- Different foods before your run
- How your stomach responds
- What works during longer runs
This process is often referred to as gut training.
Just as your muscles adapt to running longer distances, practising carbohydrate intake during exercise can help you become more comfortable with fuelling while running.
There isn’t one perfect gel or fuelling strategy for every runner.
The best strategy is one you’ve practised and know works for you.
4. Recovery nutrition is part of your training
Your training session might finish when you stop running, but the recovery process doesn’t.
Nutrition plays an important role in helping your body recover from training and prepare for your next session.
After a demanding run, your body needs energy and nutrients to replenish fuel stores and support the repair and adaptation process.
A simple recovery meal or snack containing carbohydrate and protein can be a good option.
For example:
- Greek yoghurt with fruit and granola
- Eggs on toast with fruit
- Chicken and rice
- Tuna pasta
- A smoothie containing fruit and yoghurt or milk
You don’t necessarily need an expensive recovery supplement.
The bigger picture is making sure you’re eating enough overall and regularly providing your body with the nutrients it needs.
Hydration is also important, particularly following longer or harder sessions.
Recovery isn’t separate from training. It’s part of it.
5. Eating “healthy” doesn’t automatically mean you’re fuelling enough
This is one of the most important things for runners to understand.
Nutrition advice often focuses on eating “clean”, cutting out certain foods or trying to lose weight.
But runners also need to consider whether they’re eating enough to support their training.
As your training volume increases, your energy requirements can increase too.
If your food intake doesn’t keep pace with your training, you may experience:
- Low energy
- Poor recovery
- Declining training performance
- Persistent fatigue
- Difficulty completing sessions
- Changes in appetite
And under-fuelling doesn’t necessarily mean you’re eating an obviously unhealthy diet.
You can eat plenty of nutritious foods and still not consume enough energy to support your training.
A diet made up of nutritious foods isn’t automatically enough simply because the foods are considered “healthy”.
The goal isn’t simply to eat healthily.
It’s to eat appropriately for the demands you’re placing on your body.
So, what should runners actually do?
You don’t need to completely overhaul your diet overnight.
Start with the basics.
Ask yourself:
- Am I eating enough to support my training?
- Am I including carbohydrate regularly?
- Am I getting enough protein throughout the day?
- Am I eating appropriately before and after key sessions?
- Have I practised my fuelling strategy before race day?
- Am I paying attention to hydration?
If you’re unsure about several of these, your nutrition could be an area worth working on.
The good news is that you don’t need to get everything perfect.
Start with the foundations, make changes gradually and use your training to learn what works for you.
About James
James is a Sport and Exercise Nutritionist at Fuel the Runner. He holds an MSc in Sport Nutrition from Loughborough University and a BSc in Sport Science from Brunel University.
As Performance Nutritionist at Fuel the Runner, James provides evidence-based nutrition support designed to help runners enhance their performance through better fuelling, recovery and nutrition strategies.
For more running nutrition tips, recipes and resources, follow @fueltherunner on Instagram and Facebook.
Want to become a better-fuelled runner?
Download James’s free Nutrition Guide to Become a Better-Fuelled Runner programme and receive practical daily nutrition strategies to help you fuel your training, improve recovery and perform at your best.
