The Importance of Fuelling your Running
Whether you are just starting out or training for a race, when training volume increases, your fuelling should too.
A situation I often see arise, when running frequency increases, is that people neglect the need to replenish their body with the required nutrients. The side effects from this can range from mood swings, to stress fractures, to a plateau (or a decrease) in performance, just to name a few!
There is no one size fits all in terms of nutritional advice for runners, as everyone has different starting points, goals, and preferences. But when fuelling and running is not quite aligned, people tend to be in 1 of 2 camps:
“Healthy eater, under-fueler”
With the best intensions to be healthy, this person usually orders the salad or the low calorie option when dining out. They are on a fitness regime and want to look and feel good, meaning they might neglect whole food groups (such as carbohydrates).
2. “Calories out, calories in”
This runner has just smashed her long run and deserves a “treat”, so replenishes with a favourite sugary snack; after all the Garmin says the calories have been burnt!
Now, there is nothing wrong with salads or favourite snacks. But when we pull things back to macro (carbohydrates, proteins, and fats) and micro (vitamins and minerals) nutrients, the question here is are you getting what your body actually needs?
Fuelling your body provides many benefits, but in terms of running, the most appealing are increased performance and faster recovery. When glycogen stores (the stored form of glucose) become depleted during prolonged exercise, performance can suffer significantly. Similarly, by consuming carbohydrates and protein post-sessions aids in muscle recovery by replenishing glycogen stores and providing amino acids necessary for muscle repair and growth.
As a general rule of thumb, runs should be fuelled before and refuelled after. Furthermore, there is evidence to suggest that women have a 30 minute optimal window in which to consume their recovery food of choice. This is different to men, due to differences in metabolism and hormonal fluctuations. So, some advice would be to have something ready to go for post sessions, (a protein smoothie is a great option here!)
If you are feeling like you’re constantly in a haze of fatigue or have a lack of progression in your running, despite the hours that you dedicate to the sport, it might be worth having a look into your nutrition habits on a given day. An app like MyFitnessPal might help you log, monitor, and become aware of your daily intake versus output.
As always, just reach out if you have any question: SH@innerfight.com
