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Showing posts with the label run nutrition

Will Fasted Running Make You Faster?

Just because you can run fasted doesn’t mean you should.  The ongoing debate "to fast or not to fast" sparks passionate discussions within the running community, with proponents highlighting benefits like improved fat adaptation and weight loss, while opponents raise concerns about performance, health, and weight gain. Pro ultrarunner @kilianjornet has publicly discussed occasional use of fasting before easy, low-intensity runs to understand how his body adapts to running with depleted glycogen (carb) stores. Meanwhile, other elite ultrarunners, like @mountainroche attribute the “high carb revolution” as the primary catalyst for the increasing rate at which endurance running records are being broken.So, what’s the real story behind fasted running, and is it a strategy worth considering for your training? Check out my full article at Outside Run .

7-day meal plan for marathon runners

Do you intentionally change how you eat throughout the day depending on your workout(s) for the day?  When an athlete works with me on daily and sport nutrition, the above is a question that I often ask when athletes expresses their struggles with injury, health issues, fatigue, and a performance decline.  Checking off those hard-earned miles is only one element in preparing your body for an endurance event.  Often underestimated—yet vital for success—is daily nutrition. For many athletes, busy schedules and a rushed lifestyle alongside training can make it difficult to eat enough of the right foods, at the right times to support your active lifestyle. Even with the best intentions, if you end up tired or hangry, good intentions can easily give way to fast food or mindless snacking.  Marathon training challenges your body daily in a variety of ways, so your diet must change to support these different stressors.  In my recent  Outside Run article , I go...

Triathletes should not fuel like runners

  Although we have a tremendous amount of research on sport nutrition strategies to optimize performance in runners, there's very little research on long distance triathlon.  It's impossible to isolate one variable in a triathlon-focused experiment. For example, with so many different environmental, physical, mental, terrain, pacing, fitness and physiological factors contributing to performance in a 70.3 or 140.6 mile event, it's impossible for research to create specific sport nutrition guidelines for swimming, biking and running when there are so many unpredictable and uncontrollable variables. We must recognize that running off the bike for 13 or 26 miles in a half or full distance triathlon (respectively) is very different than running a stand alone half marathon or marathon. For example, a stand alone endurance runner will start the race is cool or cold conditions, first thing in the morning with a body that is glycogen loaded and well-hydrated. Marathon races are oft...

Simple sport nutrition tweaks for hot weather training - run

RUN I feel many triathletes need a constant reminder that they are not runners. Certainly, runners do not need to be reminded that they are not triathletes. Runners absorb a completely training stress than the multisport athlete. Furthermore, the race day effort of a triathlete is based on the race distance, which determines what time of the day a triathlete runs and what type of mechanical fatigue the triathlete brings to the run. Thus, the pacing and fueling strategy for run training and running are very different than the single sport athlete. (Note - even for runners, I still find it valuable to set up aid stations or bring nutrition and hydration with you during long runs) For the triathletes, you can not think like a runner when you train for triathlons. For example, if you are doing a brick run, you can not think of your run off the bike as "only" a 20-minute run. I see it all the time - a triathlete is out on his/her bike for 3, 4, 5+ hours and then ...