Healthy Eating For Runners

One of the most important running tips we give to members of our groups is the benefits of eating healthily. What you eat is just as important as how you train. Running, especially for long distance, burns a lot of calories. To be able to get into a routine with running you will need to maintain a balanced diet. Healthy eating for runners helps with recovery and performance.

It’s important to eat correctly and have a routine which helps encourage a more structured way of eating. A good piece of running advice is to allow time to prepare meals and snacks to help sustain energy.

Remember, preparation is often key when eating healthily. Have a list when you go shopping, invest in some reusable food containers and try your hand at meal prepping. This will ensure you get the right nutrients every day. We all think about what we should eat to train harder, but don’t forget your recovery is as important.

• Rehydrate: replace each ½ kg weight loss with 450-675 ml fluid
• Refuel: You’ll need to replenish glycogen stores, ideally 1g carb/ kg body weight. Refuelling is faster than normal during the first 2 hours so make use of this if you train twice a day. However, if you train once a day then simply ensure you consume enough carbs over 24 hours.
• Rebuild: To promote muscle repair, include protein in your recovery meal (15 – 25g is the ideal amount). Examples of refuelling drinks and snacks that supply 20g include 500 ml milk (dairy or soya), 200g strained Greek yogurt or a hummus and avocado sandwich

To find more useful information about healthy eating for runners, visit our running tips and advice page. If you would like to get involved in one of our running groups, then use our tool to find a local group near you.