I have a good friend who happens to be an Army Green Beret who suggested I write a nutrition tips post for distance runners. The importance of nutrition during and before racing is so crucial that far too many runners mistake their bad races on account of training too hard or not enough.

I will be discussing some nutrition tips within this post that will help you run a better race and assist you in not making some of the same mistakes I have made over the years.

The farther you run the more your body relies on fueling correctly. A 150 pound individual burns anywhere from 100-120 calories per mile and the heavier the athlete the more calories are burned.

That being said, we have a 150lb runner going out for a 20 mile long run. He or she is going to burn just over 2000 calories in those miles covered, not to mention their metabolism will burn additional calories at a greater rate after the workout itself.

Nanci Hellmich, a writer for USAToday.com did an outstanding article called Vigorous Exercise Burns Calories 14 Hours After Workout  I highly recommend you all to read over which goes into further detail of why replacing lost carbohydrates and eating well is so important.

Nutrition Studies

David Nieman, an exercise researcher at Appalacian State University found that men who exercised on a stationary bike for just 45 minutes burned additional  calories for 14 hours after the workout was complete.

The New York Times in, For An Exercise Afterburn Intensity May Be The Key, supports the study of Mr. Nieman. Dr.Amy Knab of Appalacian State and her collegues did a simple study where they had a group of men age 22 to 33 sit in a metabolic chamber for 24 hours where they did little more then sit, stretch and eat and still burned 2400 calories for the day.

She had a second group do the same thing, but this time cycle on a stationary bike for 45 minutes at 70% VO2max (the maximal effort your body can produce), which found that the men burned 190 extra calories 14 hours after the workout was complete, a 37% increase.

This tell us that runner I mentioned above who does that 20 mile run is going to be burning calories for many hours afterward, thus studying nutrition tips from exercise science specialists and other experience athletes is of vital importance for running success.

You have to replace what is lost and not only replace but replace adequately. If you burn 2000 calories in a run and are already very active even after the run how much more important is eating and focusing on getting the proper amount of calories to make up for what you burned become?

Running Mistakes

I value the mistakes I have made in my own nutrition tactics in races cause at least I can write about them and possibly stop other runners from hindering their race performances.

You MUST ingest enough calories during your race or you will run out of glycogen and probably more importantly, take in the proper amount of carbohydrates and protein prior to the race even starting, in order to maximize your race performance come race morning.

Have you ever done a 16-22 mile long run, drank down a few bottles of sports drink or water and were just to0 tired to eat or lost your appetite afterward and decided to take a nap instead? I know I have…

Don’t do this! You are already severely dehydrated after a run of that length. You have to replace the carbs, minerals and electrolytes you lost in that run. I have had that empty feeling countless times over the years. Make the time to eat something high in carbs immediately after your run. It is hard to do but you have to do it.

Here are a few nutrition tips that I pray you adhere to before, during and after your races.

BEFORE THE RACE

• DO eat a high carbohydrate meal the night before the race, preferably a large bowl of pasta i.e. spaghetti, ziti etc and shy away from salads as they are harder for the body to digest although vegetables are fine
• DO get up 2-3 hours before the race starts and eat a 500-600 calorie, high carbohydrate breakfast. I usually have a small bowl of grits and a bagel with some peanut butter on it.
• DON’T overeat the night before the race as this will make you feel sluggish and heavy the morning of the race
• DON’T drink too much the morning of the race. The last thing you want to do is get 5 miles into a 13 or 26.2 mile race and get a major stitch that you’ll have to deal with the entire race.
• DO take a 65mg Iron Tablet daily. This will prevent you from becoming anemic and running low on your body’s capability to transport oxygen to your working muscles. Run low on this and no matter how motivated you are, you will feel run down and not be able to hit splits in training or races.

DURING THE RACE

• DO aim to ingest 8oz of fluid every 5K or 3 miles.
• DO grab more then one cup at each aid station
• DO take a gel every 5 miles. This is 100-120 calories that will go straight to your blood stream and deliver vital nutrients, electrolytes and glycogen to your muscles.
• DO remember the importance of this. You can get down 100-120 calories immediately to your working muscles by not neglecting ingesting gels. It takes you drinking down a 16 oz bottle of fluid to get the same amount of calories and takes a lot longer.
• DON’T sip! A huge mistake I have made in my earlier marathons. You need to DRINK, that means grabbing a few cups every 3 miles and ensure you focus on getting the majority of the contents in each cup. It takes about 3 of those miniature plastic cups they hand out to us to equal 8oz. How much do you really drink when you run by those aid stations? Be honest with yourself. Do you think it has been enough? Can you do better?
• DON’T wait until your thirsty to start drinking. TRUST ME, this is NOT what you want to do. Ingest fluid early on and every 2-3 miles, don’t wait until your at mile 17 frothing at the mouth and walking to start drinking. It will be too late then.