If you want to improve your running results, then eating well is not only desirable but essential to achieving your goals. However, I want to note that the nutrition system described in this article will not suit those for whom the main goal in running is to lose weight. For them, the nutritional method is somewhat different, and we will talk about it in other articles.
General principles of runner nutrition
A runner's diet should be about 75 to 80 percent carbohydrates. First of all, such food includes various cereals, buckwheat, rice, rolled oats. Also potatoes and pasta. Carbohydrates are the best source of energy, so a lack of them will definitely affect your training results.
Another 10-15 percent of the total diet will be proteins. Their main task is to restore the body. As well as replenishment of essential enzymes, which are actively used by the body when running.
The remaining 10 percent goes to fat. They are found in almost any food. Therefore, it makes no sense to specially consume fatty foods, and in large quantities it is also harmful. Again, fat takes a long time to be digested, due to which the training time can be decently delayed. If slow carbohydrates are digested for one and a half to two hours, in rare cases 3. Then fats will be digested for 3-4 hours. Protein also takes a long time to digest, but it makes no sense to use it before training. Therefore, problems in this regard should not arise.
Runner's breakfast
A runner's breakfast should be your richest meal. But there are a couple of nuances here.
First, if you run early in the morning, for example, before work, then you will not be able to fully eat before running. Otherwise, the food will simply not have time to digest. For more information about what, how and when to eat before running, read the article of the same name:Basic principles of nutrition before a run
Therefore, your breakfast will be after the run. That is, before running, either eat something light or drink sweet tea or coffee. Eat a full meal after running.
Your breakfast should be mostly slow carbs. That is, buckwheat or rice porridge, potatoes or pasta would be an excellent option.
Secondly, if you have time to eat a full meal, wait until everything is digested and only then go to workout, then eat before workout no later than one and a half to two hours. In this case, you need to eat after training. That is, it will be a kind of second breakfast. Only it shouldn't be full - a light, slow-carb snack. Accordingly, in this case, before training, eat, for example, a plate of porridge. And after training, tea with a bun.
Runner's lunch
At lunch, you can eat a liquid soup to improve digestion. You can basically any soup. Also for lunch, in addition to soup, you need to eat pasta or porridge. To have energy for training.
Runner's Dinner
It's best to run before dinner. Since dinner is the meal that will consume most of the protein, it is better to eat after exercise than wait 3 hours for the protein to digest.
That is, before running, also sweet tea or coffee, you can with a bun. And after training, a full dinner.
If this is not possible, then try to have at least 2 hours after dinner before training.
Dinner, as I wrote, will be partially protein. That is, the same slow carbohydrates, only with the addition of food containing a lot of protein. First of all, it is, of course, meat, fish and dairy products. If you don't eat animal products, then you need to look for a source of protein in vegetables.
Other nutritional features of the runner
Ideally, a runner should have 5 meals. Breakfast, lunch, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner. Not everyone can follow such a regime, so it will be quite normal if you can eat 3 times a day.
Remember that carbohydrates are stored in the body as well as fats. So if you can't eat in the morning before your workout, then a heavier dinner will allow you to run on stored carbs even if you don't eat anything just before the race.
The property of carbohydrates to be stored in the liver and muscles is used by marathon runners who store carbohydrates before the competition, arranging a carbohydrate load for several days before the start.
