Running a marathon places significant demands on your body. Unfortunately, many runners underestimate the importance of a well-planned diet. A healthy training diet can maximize your performance and significantly increase your chances of crossing the finish line successfully. This article provides a comprehensive guide to marathon preparation, covering essential foods, optimal macronutrient ratios, meal timing, and race-day nutrition strategies.
The Importance of a Healthy Diet for Marathoners
The first step in marathon preparation is ensuring you consume enough calories to support your increased activity level. Insufficient fueling can lead to muscle loss, increased risk of illness, stress, and poor sleep. According to the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN), athletes engaged in moderate to intense training (two to three hours per day, five to six days a week) may need to consume between 2,000 and 7,000 calories daily. To meet these elevated caloric needs, it's advisable to eat three meals and multiple snacks throughout the day.
Prioritize nutrient-dense foods during training. While it might be tempting to reach for junk food to meet calorie goals, a diet of soda and donuts will not optimize your performance. Instead, focus on a balanced diet that includes whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean protein, and healthy fats.
Leveraging Macronutrients for Optimal Performance
Macronutrients-carbohydrates, proteins, and fats-are all potential energy sources for the body, but carbohydrates and fats are the preferred fuels for endurance activities. Therefore, highly active individuals and athletes typically require higher amounts of carbohydrates and fats compared to less active people.
Carbohydrates: The Primary Fuel
Carbohydrates are the most crucial macronutrient for marathon runners, providing the energy needed to reach the finish line. The ISSN recommends that athletes following intense training schedules consume between 5 and 8 grams of carbohydrates per kilogram of body weight per day. Complex carbohydrates are made up of longer chains of sugar molecules called polysaccharides, which means they digest more slowly and provide steady, sustained energy, exactly what you need for endurance training and recovery. These carbs are nutrient-dense and often rich in fiber, helping to keep blood sugar stable and fueling your body over the long haul.
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Simple carbohydrates are fast-digesting sugars (fructose, glucose, and lactose) that provide quick bursts of energy, perfect for before a run, during long efforts, or immediately after a hard workout when your muscles are craving fuel. These carbs are ideal when you need energy in a hurry without upsetting your stomach.
Protein: Essential for Recovery and Repair
Protein is also vital for marathon runners, with the ISSN recommending an intake of 1.4 to 1.8 grams per kilogram of body weight per day. Protein aids in recovery, injury prevention, and the maintenance of lean muscle mass. It should be consumed throughout the day, particularly after runs, to help muscles recover.
Fats: A Necessary Component
Fat should also be part of a healthy marathon runner diet. The ISSN suggests that fat should comprise around 30% of total calories, but this can be increased if necessary to meet overall calorie needs. Dietary fats contain nine kcals per gram. Fat is the body’s preferred fuel source for resting conditions and low-intensity training, such as zone 2 workouts and long runs.
Building Your Marathon Training Diet: A Step-by-Step Approach
Preparing for a marathon involves creating both a running training plan and a solid nutrition plan.
Determine Caloric Needs: Start by calculating how much you will be running and estimating your caloric needs accordingly. If you won't be running more than two hours a day, you may not need to increase your calories significantly.
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Listen to Your Body: Pay attention to your body's signals. Eat when you're hungry, and if you feel sluggish during a run, try to identify the cause. It could be due to insufficient calorie intake or poor food choices.
Create a Meal Plan: Develop a meal plan that aligns with your training schedule. Meals should be balanced, including whole grains, protein, fat, fruits, and vegetables. Meal timing is also crucial.
Time Your Meals Strategically: Eat a full meal about three to four hours before your run. Consume a small snack of carbohydrates and protein one to two hours before your workout. After your run, consume a meal high in protein and carbohydrates within 45 minutes to promote muscle recovery.
Maximizing Nutrition: Sample Meal Plans
Here's a sample marathon training diet plan to help you reach your goals:
- Breakfast: Eggs, whole wheat toast, half an avocado, and a banana.
- Morning Snack: Apple with peanut butter.
- Lunch: Quinoa bowl with black beans, chicken, assorted vegetables, salsa, and cheese.
- Pre-Run Snack: Greek yogurt with berries and low-fat granola.
- Post-Run Dinner: Salmon, brown rice, and broccoli with butter.
- Bedtime Snack: Milk, whole-grain cereal, and berries.
Another Sample Meal Plan (Training Day):
- Dinner: Fajitas with chicken or tofu, black beans, brown rice, peppers, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, corn, salsa, and vegan or regular cheese.
Sample Meal Plan (Non-Training Day):
- Dinner: Roasted turkey breast or grilled tofu over quinoa and lemony wilted greens.
Optimizing Race-Day Nutrition
Proper nutrition on race day is the final, crucial step in your marathon training plan. Choosing the wrong foods or deviating from your established routine can negatively impact your performance.
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- Plan Ahead: Develop a race-day nutrition plan in advance. Pack everything you need a few days before the race to avoid forgetting essential items.
- Focus on Key Elements: Prioritize hydration, fast-acting carbohydrates, and sufficient calories to support running 26.2 miles.
- Practice Makes Perfect: The last long run is your final chance to practice race day fueling and pacing. Make sure to include brief walk breaks to simulate slowing down at aid stations or managing heart rate on inclines.
What to Eat Before Running a Marathon
What you choose to eat (or temporarily avoid eating) in the days and hours leading up to your race has the power to make or break your marathon performance. The right balance and amount of nutrients can keep you out of the porta-potty, ensure you don’t bonk on the course, and even speed your recovery afterward.
The Days Before a Marathon: Carb-Loading
You will want to have consumed enough carbohydrates to ensure your glycogen stores are topped off and ready for the race. This is where carb loading comes in. By upping the percentage of carbs in your diet, you’ll be able to stave off fatigue and maintain your pace for longer.
For three days before your marathon, you’ll generally want to bump up your carb intake to about 70-80 percent of your total calories at all your meals and snacks (while still taking in a bit of protein). While pasta and bagels are great options, other excellent choices include peeled potatoes and sweet potatoes, brown or white rice, smoothies, corn, applesauce, pretzels, and quinoa.
Experts generally recommend limiting fat and fiber during this time, which can lead to gastrointestinal (GI) problems like bloating or diarrhea on race day. That means skipping things like croissants and doughnuts, as well as beans and cruciferous veggies, even though some of those are high in carbs. And stick to familiar options that you know your stomach can tolerate.
Hydration is also important, especially on the final day before the race (particularly because your body needs extra water to store all that glycogen). You’ll know you’re drinking enough if you never feel thirsty and your urine has just a light yellow hue. You’ll also probably want to add in some electrolytes with a sports drink or electrolyte packet to help your body absorb and hold onto those fluids.
The Evening Before a Marathon
The night before the marathon, continue to focus on carbs to increase your glycogen stores, but don’t try to overload-eating too much may leave you uncomfortable and bloated. Now is the time to really avoid fat and fiber, and zero in on simple carbs-think: white rice, bread, pasta, or potatoes with a little chicken, white fish, or tofu to help keep you satiated. Also, try to eat dinner early enough to give your body time to digest and store the energy you’ve just consumed.
The Morning of Your Marathon
Get up and have breakfast early enough-ideally, three to four hours before you start the race-so your body will have time to digest what you eat. Stick with the same easy-on-the-stomach carbs (plus a bit of protein) that you’d normally eat before a long run. For example, your pre-marathon meal might look like instant oatmeal and a hard-boiled egg, a bagel with peanut butter and honey, or an English muffin with jam and juice. You might also make a smoothie with yogurt and a banana. Then, just before making your way to the starting line, you can top off your carb stores with a ripe banana, some candy, or an energy gel.
Make sure you’re continuing to hydrate: There’s no need to chug, but you should slowly drink about 0.1 ounces of fluids for every pound of body weight (or 5-7 milliliters per kilogram of body weight) starting at least four hours before the race, according to the American College of Sports Medicine. For example, a 150-pound runner would want to drink about 15 total ounces in those hours before the race. This can come from plain water, an electrolyte drink, and even coffee (as long as you know your body can handle caffeine).
During the Marathon
Sports dietitians broadly recommend taking in anywhere from 30-90 grams of carbs per hour, based on the intensity of your race pace, weight, and other variables. Just know that you may need to train your stomach to digest those higher amounts while running (without getting nauseated or gassy), so this is something you’ll want to practice on your weekly long runs. You can get these carbs through energy gels, sports drinks, bananas, raisins or even candy.
Remember: It will take your body a little time to access the carbs from mid-race snacks, so you’ll want to eat them regularly rather than waiting until fatigue sets in. Experts typically recommend having something every 30-45 minutes.
Post-Marathon Meal
Within half an hour of crossing the finish line, you’ll want to eat about 20 grams of protein and 80 grams of carbs. This will help restock your glycogen levels and jumpstart your muscle repair and recovery. If you don’t have an appetite for solid foods just yet, try drinking some chocolate milk or a smoothie.
Once you sit down for a full recovery meal, choose foods that are high in carbs and protein, as well as antioxidants and omega-3 fats. Some dietitian-recommended ideas include pasta with chicken and veggies, a turkey avocado sandwich and fruit, or a baked potato with steak and veggies. Meanwhile, keep drinking ample fluids, including electrolytes. It can take up to 48 hours before your body is able to replenish the glycogen that was used up during the race, so don’t ignore your hunger cues following the race.
What Not to Eat Before a Marathon
Here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Avoid eating too much fat or fiber (and keep protein in moderation) in the day or so before your race. These will slow down your digestion, which isn’t what you want while running a marathon.
- Consider skipping any spicy, greasy, or fried meals, which might irritate your stomach or make you feel sluggish.
- Know that “diet foods” that contain sugar alcohols can lead to bloating or diarrhea, and alcohol can dehydrate you (though certain runners do swear by a glass of wine or beer to relax the night before a race).
- Consider your caffeine tolerance before pouring that big cup of coffee. Although many runners rely on caffeine for a performance boost, others find it dooms them to unwanted mid-race bathroom breaks.
Common Nutrition Mistakes to Avoid
If you’re training for a marathon, here are a few nutritional mistakes to avoid:
- Don’t wait until the week before the marathon to begin thinking about carbs or other nutritional strategies you intend to use for the run. Use your entire training period to test the effects of the foods you eat, including when and how much you eat.
- Don’t wait until you feel tired or hungry during the race to replenish your glycogen stores. Carb up regularly to keep your muscles fueled.
- Don’t just “wing it” when it comes to your pre-race dinner or breakfast. If you’re traveling to a destination marathon, research restaurant options beforehand, or consider bringing tried-and-true favorites like a bagel and peanut butter along with you.
- Don’t neglect electrolytes! While your muscles are using up glycogen, you’re also sweating out electrolytes-especially sodium. If your energy gel (or whatever snack you’re refueling with) doesn’t include sodium, you’ll want to sip a sports drink or electrolyte mix, or even take a salt tablet.
- Don’t try new foods or routines on the day of the marathon. As tasty as those orange slices at your hotel’s breakfast buffet might look, if you don’t already know that your stomach can handle citrus while running, it’s not worth the risk.
Remaining Healthy Throughout Your Training
Remaining healthy throughout your training for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon is the key to crossing the finish line on race day.
- Training: Less is more, so when in doubt, opt out. Take time to stretch and perform range of motion exercises after each run. Foam roll but don’t go too hard or deep and include the whole body, not just the leg that feels tight. Get a massage four to five day out and ask the therapist to use a light to moderate touch to avoid causing tissue damage.
- Nutrition: Stick to foods your body knows, and don’t overdo it on the carbs. Aim for nutrient-dense whole foods such as fruit, veggies, lean meats, and healthy fats. Most of your starchy carbohydrate consumption should be pre/post tune-up runs and not later at night when your body metabolically doesn’t need it.
- Mind/Body: Stay calm and remind yourself that you have done the work. Control the things you can control (your attitude, nutrition, sleep, stress, race-day outfit and shoes, fuel, etc.), and don’t fret about the things that are beyond your control (weather, other competitors, deviations to the course or aid stations, etc.). If it hasn’t happened already, count on phantom bodily aches and pains to rear its ugly head that you swear will sideline you on race day.
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