Marathon Training Diet

Nutrition is often an overlooked element of marathon training. To make your long training runs seem much easier, follow a marathon nutrition plan!

This article covers your day in and day out marathon training diet. More specific topics such as race week nutrition, marathon race day nutrition, what to eat just prior to training, what to eat immediately after training and what to eat pre-race are covered in these marathon training diet strategies.

Your source of energy is the food you eat. All food is composed of carbohydrates, proteins, fat and fiber. Carbohydrates are tied to energy production, complete proteins are tied to tissue repair and building, fat provides body fuel and fiber is roughage. While most foods have trace amounts of all macronutrients, each food is typically rich in one macronutrient. ALL are needed in your diet.

Carbohydrates and Marathon Training

Your body burns carbohydrates more efficiently than fat or protein.An ideal runner’s diet would have 60-70% of your daily food intake as carbohydrates.

Runners benefit the most from the amount of carbohydrates stored in the body. Carbohydrates yield more energy per unit of oxygen consumed than fats. What this means is that you get more energy for running when your body burns carbohydrates than you do when your body burns fat or protein. Because oxygen often is the limiting factor in long duration events, your body will find it easier to use the energy source that requires the least amount of oxygen per kilocalorie of energy produced. (energy is measured in kilocalories)

To produce energy, your body converts carbohydrates into glucose. Carbohydrates provide 40 to 50 percent of your energy requirement when you are running at a moderate pace.Carbohydrates provide a greater percentage of your energy requirements as you start running harder. It is difficult for your body to break down protein and fat into glucose to provide energy. So your body burns carbohydrates first. When you are working out intensely, your body uses it’s energy for the workout and doesn’t have much to spare to break down protain and fat.During a marathon, you had much rather that energy be used for running faster.

Best sources of carbohydrates for your marathon training

Carbohydrate needs are commonly based on the runner’s body size and activity level. For moderate-duration, low-intensity exercise, runners need 5-7 g of carbohydrates per kilogram of body weight. Runners engaged in long-duration and high-intensity exercise need 7-12 g of carbohydrates per kilogram of body weight.

All carbohydrates are not the same.

Best sources of carbohydrates in your diet

  • Fruit,
  • vegetables,
  • brown rice,
  • enriched whole-grain breads,
  • whole grain cereals,
  • rolled oats,
  • beans,
  • legumes, and
  • sweet potatoes

(Note: Cheetos, cookies and tortilla chips are not on the list.)

Fat

The next macro-nutrient to be used by the body during exercise is fat.

Fat is not the enemy.Fat that comes from eating too many cheetos is. (Remember that excess of any macro-nutrient – carbs, protein, fat – is turned into fat.) For moderate exercise, free fatty acid metabolism accounts for about half of the total energy expended. For events lasting more than an hour, your body may use mostly fats for energy. Using fat as fuel depends on the event’s duration and the runner’s condition. Trained athletes use fat for energy more quickly than untrained athletes. (Your long training runs teaches your body to use fat for energy.)

Best sources of fat in your diet

  • Nuts
  • Seeds
  • Nut butter
  • Fatty fish
  • Fish-oil supplements
  • Flaxseed oil
  • Safflower oil
  • Canola oil
  • Sunflower oil
  • Corn oil
  • Avocados
  • Egg yolks

Protein For The Runner’s Diet

After carbohydrates and fats, protein provides energy for the body. You also need protein to repair muscle tissue that is damaged during exercise. While it is true that exercise MAY increase an athlete’s protein requirements, most Americans get more than the recommended amounts of protein.

A good rule of thumb is to get 10-12 percent of your total calories from protein. Most authorities recommend that endurance athletes eat between 1.2-1.4 grams protein per kilogram of body weight per day. Remember, extra protein is stored as fat.

You probably don’t need extra protein, what you do need is to eat protein from quality sources.

Many runners (especially women) who are trying to lose weight cut calories by cutting out protein. However a better place to cut out calories is your daily bagel. Don’t get me started on my “bagels are empty calories” rant; for now, all I’ll say is protein-rich foods include lean pork and beef, poultry, fish, eggs, beans, tofu, and low-fat dairy products. Your marathon training diet should include lean sources of protein.

Best sources of protein in your diet

  • Lean pork and beef
  • Poultry
  • Fish
  • Eggs
  • Low-fat dairy products
  • Broccoli
  • Beans
  • Corn

Fiber

Fiber helps the body stay healthy and may prevent heart disease. It might be easier than you think to get enough.

Soluble fiber may help prevent heart disease by lowering LDL, or “bad” cholesterol levels. Good sources of soluble fiber are oats, barley, beans, apples, oranges and other fruits and vegetables. Try to eat 20 to 35 grams of fiber every day. This should not be a problem if you eat a wide variety of whole grains, nuts, seeds, beans, fruits and vegetables.

Fiber also keeps the bowels “regular”. This is key to avoiding discomfort on your long training runs.

Best sources of fiber in your diet

You can sneak fiber into your diet by adding vegetables to stews and casseroles. You can add oatmeal to meatloaf, bread and cookies. Fruit on cereal, as a snack and in salads are other options.

The above are guidelines for creating your marathon eating plan. You may want to read up on carbohydrate loading for your marathon race week.

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