The Fueling Deep Dive
Part 1- How To Fuel Your Runs
I’ve written quite a bit recently about running and general nutrition (see How to Train Your Tummy and Training More but Gaining Weight?), but I’ve very much steered away from providing too much detail in terms of what a runner should or shouldn’t eat when they’re training and/or racing.
My main reasons being that a) there are so many factors that influence our food choices- what we eat, when we eat and when we stop eating and b) food, nutrition, and weight are such huge subjects. And I like to stay in my lane. I’m not a sports nutritionist and, as you know because I bang on about it regularly enough, there still isn’t enough research out there on female athletes (and don’t even get me started on peri/post menopausal athletes).
The knock-on impact of this means that I’m often flailing around in the dark, trying to unravel and adapt the little research that is available to meet my own individual needs, never mind those of the runners that I coach, who are often juggling full time jobs, family commitments, care responsibilities etc etc, and not to mention the ever-present and persistent idea that they’re not even “real runners” anyway, so why would they have to think about proper fuelling?
But there is another barrier at play here we need to address…...
wanting to be thin more than they wanted to be very successful and competent runners- wanting to be thin more than wanting to be happy, healthy and injury free.
I’ve read countless essays and met hundreds of women over the years who have spent the last 30 or 40 years wanting to be thin, and I mean, not just wanting to be thin but wanting to be thin more than they wanted to be very successful and competent runners- wanting to be thin more than wanting to be happy, healthy and injury free. And I know that it is near impossible (trust me I’ve tried) to shift this mindset, which is so embedded in the majority of women’s identity, it’s like the writing through a stick of rock. It’s incredibly hard to shift- it takes a lot of time and effort to reshape ingrained beliefs and attitudes.
This ever-pressing desire to be thin also rears it’s ugly head in running, too. I’m sure I hardly need to tell you this. So, let’s talk about the elephant in the room… why do so people think they have to be skinny to be fast? There I’ve said it. Phew, glad that’s out in the open, because I challenge that, I really do. Running fast requires good genetics and a good solid base of training – simply being skinny doesn’t automatically make you a fast runner. Yes, you might run slightly faster but it’s not sustainable for long. I’ve seen so many runners lose weight, run fast, eat less, run faster, eat less and eventually burn out through injury or overtraining.
So, because I know I have enough knowledge to potentially help at least some people (especially) women break out of this cycle of under-fuelling and low energy/injury, today’s post is going to deviate from my nutritional comfort ground of general information, and dive in to the details.
Let’s get specific about what, when and how to fuel, because the good news is that there’s some great research finally being published, but let’s get the boring bits out of the way first.
The fundamentals to remember:
You will train at your best when energy intake runs, literally, in sync with your energy needs.
The most important nutrition strategy to reduce the risk of injury and illness is to consume adequate energy.
Being under-fuelled means that many of your body’s systems will also be under powered.
This is your mantra- Fuel, Repair, Protect, Hydrate
Fuel– Carbs and healthy fats
Repair– Protein
Protect– Vitamins and minerals
Hydrate- Water
Listen, I can already hear the protests… Oh no! Not CARBS!
Look, YES CARBS. But I know that this seems to be a radical statement for many. Carbs have got a lot of bad press over the years and for runners shifting this mindset is, in my experience and from the amount of research I’ve read, vital. Our brain prefers to use carbs as fuel, running long distances you need carbs to fuel… yet carbs seem to be the villain in society, as low fat, no carbs, fasting diets have become increasingly ingrained into society.
Let me show you what Fuel, Repair, Protect, Hydrate looks like in every day life- this is just an example of a meal plan for an active person, food, nutrition and examples of a daily food plan should always be individualised, because we are all different.
Fuel, Repair, Protect, Hydrate
This is just an example of a meal plan for an active person, food, nutrition and examples of a daily food plan should always be individualised, because we are all different.
Again… I know, it looks a lot doesn’t it? Especially if you’re used to skipping breakfast, I mean poached eggs on toast used to be my full on evening meal at one point in my life.
But the recommended daily amount of carbs per day (and this will depend on what your activity level, just because you’re not training for a marathon doesn’t mean that you don’t need carbs!) is 4-6g per kg of bodyweight. What does this look like? If you weigh 65kg that’s 260g of carbs on the lower end of this scale. All of these numbers are approx -
1 banana = 27g carbs, 100g (approx 3 slices) of wholemeal bread = 60g of carbs, bowl of porridge = 28g carbs, small bowl of Greek yogurt = 10g carbs, portion of brown rice = 45g carbs, steamed veg = 10g carbs, 2 tbs hummus 5g carbs.
You get the idea, and this is when the shit gets real… are you eating enough? If you do skip breakfast and don’t eat until lunchtime, you’re missing out on nearly 1/3 of your daily carbs and I’ve not even mentioning if you train without breakfast (don’t worry, I’ll get to that…).
Protein
The recommended daily amount of protein per day is 1.2 – 2 g per kg of bodyweight, if you weigh 65kg that’s 78g of protein per day. And in real terms a 20g portion of protein is 3 large eggs, 200g of cottage cheese or half a tin of tuna, a bowl of Greek yoghurt, 3oz grilled chicken breast, 3oz baked salmon.
Whilst protein is relatively easy to add into our daily diet, research suggests that most people leave their protein intake until later on in the day when really it should be spread out evenly with each meal (see the protein plates for an example).
Fats
Female runners should get 20-30% of daily energy intake from good fats like avocado, nuts & seeds, oily fish. Personally, I feel a bit pissed off about having been told for years to avoid this massively important macronutrient and I have to question what the impact that the media influence had on my past racing performance. Why? Because as a teenager throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, popular media heavily promoted the low-fat message, contributing to its widespread acceptance that fat was bad. Magazine articles, TV shows and advertisements emphasised the idea that fat was the dietary villain, further ingraining the belief that reducing fat intake was the key to better health and weight control. And now, especially as an older female runner, I’m having to retrain my wiring and try to retrain others, that healthy fats are essential for so many reasons. Here are just a few:
the production of hormones such as estrogen and progesterone
it’s a dense source of energy that the body utilises as a primary source of energy, especially during long-duration runs
fat intake supports joint and tissue health by reducing inflammation and providing the building blocks for cell membranes (you know, quite important!)
We really need to question this narrative. Even without diving into the research, it’s clear that as older runners, especially women, many of us have spent years following low-fat diets, often cutting out the essential fats that are crucial for hormone production- hormones that naturally decline with age. These fats also help maintain our joints, tissues, and membranes. It’s remarkable that many of us are still running at all! What’s even more disheartening is seeing so many women give up running because they feel too stiff, too tired, or aren't improving, when sometimes, it really could be as simple as adding more healthy fats to their diet.
So, let’s shift the focus from counting calories to building a well-balanced performance plate. Strive for three meals and two to three snacks each day. I used to go for a run and jump straight into a strength and conditioning session without refuelling—but not anymore!
Easy Training Day
Moderate Training Day
Hard Training Day
Timing Tips
If you are running at 7.00am, eat your breakfast between 6.00am-6.30am aiming for 30-60g of easily digestible carbs to avoid running on an empty stomach. A banana or bagel with peanut butter, toast with jam etc are perfect. The advice is to always eat something before a run, as when you wake up, your body is in a fasted state and running on an empty stomach is a no-go for female athlete health and performance. Yes, I know… but I’ve been there, done that. I’ve run fasted because I’d read it’s great for fat adaptation in endurance sports, but that was evidence from the male specific research, current research suggests it’s not the best approach for women due to a number of reasons (there are quite a few, I’ve condensed it down to just 3; for a deeper dive join me on Wednesday 23rd October at 8.30pm BST)
Impact on cortisol levels potentially leading to a negative affect on the reproductive hormones (yep, those pesky estrogen and progesterone hormones!).
Increased risk of muscle breakdown because without food your body may resort to breaking down muscle tissue for fuel.
Impaired performance due to low glycogen so you may experience fatigue earlier in your run leading to a reduction in your overall performance.
So, are you eating enough?
I get it, it feels counterproductive to eat more when we’ve spent years listening to “eat less, move more” rhetoric. I know it’s so chaotic and complicated, and I’m still learning myself, and you might still be dismissing what I’m saying, asking yourself what the fuck are optimal performance factors anyway, I only run 5km a couple of times a week! BUT, how long do you want to continue running for? How long do you want to stay active?
So humour me… ask yourself whether you’ve experienced any of the following. These are some of the signs that indicate you might not be eating enough– how many apply to you?
Low mood/feeling irritable
Difficulty with motivation for training
Persistent fatigue
Unintentional weight loss
Inability to alter body composition
Pressure to lose weight (from self/others)
New or persistent gut discomfort
Loss of appetite
Always feeling hungry
Menstrual cycle changes
Lowered sex drive
More frequent injury &/or illness
Prolonged rehab
Poor performance or failing to adapt to training
Of course, there are many reasons why you might not be eating enough to fuel- short term life blips or it could be a bit more long term, and like me, you just didn’t realise. However, the long term impact of having an energy deficit can result in low energy availability (LEA) which can negatively impact your health, performance and increase the risk of injury.
If you only take one thing away from today’s blog, it’s this… fuel your runs! Because if you do, something magical will happen… you’ll feel better AND gain more fitness, AND you’ll become a better runner because you are able to work harder. The new catchphrase is Fuelling is Fun- I’m not even kidding, it’s out there on social media, so it must be true…