Aug 3 in General Discussion
How To Fuel For Your Marathon
There is a common misunderstanding about fueling for your half or full marathon.
Most runners only think about what to eat before and during their race.
But the reality is that’s only 10% of it.
The other 90% is what you eat Monday through Sunday for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
And that’s what I want to talk about today.
Food is fuel.
If you aren’t well fueled, then you will crash and burn at the end of your race.
Think of running a marathon like getting in your car and driving to a different state.
The first thing you do when you get into your car is you check to see how much gasoline you have.
If you are out of gas, then you will only be able to drive down the street or to a different city.
It’s the same thing with running a marathon.
If you aren’t well fueled, then you will run out of “Gas” before you cross the finish line.
Also known as Hitting The Wall.
So what should you eat throughout the week?
I break down foods into two groups, empty calories and high-performing foods.
Empty calories are food that provide no nutritional value.
Like cereal, pop tarts, desserts, bread, etc.
High performing foods are nutrient dense.
Like eggs, oatmeal, fish, chicken, potatoes, etc.
You want 80% of your meals to be high-performing foods.
So if you eat 21 meals a week, 17 of those meals are clean and healthy.
Which then leads us to how much to eat.
And that can be broken down into four separate numbers.
#1 - The amount of protein
#2- Number of carbs
#3 - Healthy Fats
#4 - And calories
The two numbers I focus on the most is #1 - the amount of protein and #4 - the number of calories.
Now you’re probably wondering why I don’t track carbs, even though they are your primary source of fuel.
It’s because of the way I construct my meals.
Every meal I have contains a quality source of protein and carbs.
And what I have found over the years is that having a source of carbs for each meal is enough to fuel your body for a workout.
Now the general guidelines for how much protein to eat is 0.8 to 1.0 grams of protein per bodyweight.
To keep the math simple, if you’re 100 pounds, you want to eat 80 to 100 grams of protein per day.
For calories you want to eat at least as many calories as you burn. But I recommend eating in a calorie surplus of 200 - 500 calories each day.
And the easiest way to measure this is by weighing yourself.
If you are losing weight, then you are in a calorie deficit, which means you are not eating enough.
If your weight stays the same, then you are neutral, which is fine.
And if you’re gaining weight, then you are eating in a calorie surplus, which is what I recommend.
(If you want to lose weight while training for your race without affecting your performance, reply to this email and I will make a post on it.)
Now the reason I recommend being in a little bit of a calorie surplus is because you have to re-feed your body.
Your body needs excess calories to build muscle and to recover efficiently.
And so if you are under eating, you are slowing down the muscle growth and recovery process.
Which means if you are training every day, then it increases the chances of you getting injured.
So to sum this all up into one sentence, eat a high protein diet.
Share this with your running friends who aren’t vegans lol
Tony
P.s. If you want to work directly with my team and I so that you successfully run your half or full marathon. Click here to check out the details.
P.s.s. If you need a training plan for your upcoming half or full marathon. Click here to check out The Marathon Training Starter Kit.
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How To Fuel For Your Marathon
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