The most important factor affecting your running performance is HYDRATION.
Start your day with a glass of water first thing in the morning and another last thing at night and work out ways to stay hydrated all day long. It’s okay to sip, sip through the day-if you’re a runner you need it. Increase your intake of fruit and veg. You can read about the foods containing lots of water here.
Make sure to hydrate really well for 3-4 days before a race and ditch the alcohol during this time.
Don’t forget if you’re travelling to run in sunny climes (which is popular now) that the flight will dehydrate you-then you have to factor in spending time in the sun in the days leading up to your race downing endless coffees etc. Hydrate. It’s SO important to your performance.
The colour of your pee is still the best gauge of hydration-you’re aiming for a light straw colour.
Caffeine
You may find that drinking a cup of coffee before a run or race has a positive effect. Caffeine can certainly make you more alert and give a mini boost to your desire to run hard. Experiment. Many gels now contain caffeine.
But it does have its drawbacks.
Caffeine is a diuretic and can increase the urge to urinate, obviously not great for us runners! Some people experience other gastrointestinal issues. As anyone who’s downed endless coffees through the day can attest-it can definitely have a laxative potential.
Bottom line is-give it a go. It may work for you … or not.
NUTRITION
The better you want to be, the better your nutrition needs to be.
With your nutrition and especially food intake during races then experiment, experiment, experiment. This is massively important.
Day to day simply eat real food. Real food is whole, single-ingredient food. It is mostly unprocessed, free of chemical additives, and rich in nutrients.
A good quick check is:
3 things on your plate=3 ingredients on your plate
So… a baked potato, fish and corn= potato, fish and corn. Nothing more.
I love the book Food Rules by Michael Pollan who famously said: If your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize it as food, then neither should you.
One common go-to pro breakfast is porridge with frozen berries and banana or peanut butter plus toast.
Carb loading
Carbohydrate loading, commonly referred to as carb-loading, is a strategy used by endurance athletes to maximise the storage of glycogen (or energy) in the muscles and liver so it’s ready and waiting for the effort to come.
The best foods for carb loading are potatoes, fruits, vegetables and whole grains but-again-you need to test and find out what works for YOU. If you love pasta then by all means try that. Some people find it too stodgy. Bottom line is-it’s best to focus on familiar foods during carb loading. Unusual foods could upset your stomach and impair your performance.
And when you do up the carbs-do this around 3 days before a race. Never the night before. You will still be digesting it as you line up on the start line making you sluggish and lethargic.
Remember, it’s really important that you don’t try anything new during a race. Always trial everything first. Your stomach will be super sensitive when you’re exercising and eating a gel or food you’re unaccustomed to can quickly end your race.
As I mentioned before, it’s becoming increasingly popular to travel to races and even fly overseas. If this sounds like you then go online and check the types of food available in the restaurants near your destination so you can get used to eating similar foods at home before you go.
For the first hour of exercise, you don’t need to eat anything. Your body stores enough for this period of time. If it’s a long race then take some food or a gel after an hour and following that many people find that eating small amounts every 30-45 minutes is kinder to their stomach than a larger quantity once an hour.
Post run
Take protein in some form within 20-30 minutes of exercise. The recommended amount to take is linked to your body weight and there are plenty of tables you can access online. An online running coach suggested this to me and it’s what I go by: 0.14–0.23 grams of protein per pound of body weight (0.3–0.5 grams/kg).
Personally, I like to add protein powder to a shake and I take 20-25g. This Blueberry Protein Shake is a real favourite of mine. It tastes like Blueberry Cheesecake…
- 200ml milk (dairy free if you wish)
- 2tbsp yoghurt (dairy free if you wish)
- 100g blueberries (I use frozen)
- One scoop (or 20g) vanilla protein powder
Whizz it all together (add a little extra milk if it’s too thick and blend again).
If you do like shakes then give protein recovery powder a go. Mark recommended Elite Whey Protein as a good quality post recovery protein powder which works for him.
In my next post I’ll be sharing injury prevention tips from the Run Camp 🙂