Have you ever toed the start line feeling like you couldn’t have prepared yourself more just to cross the finish line with a less than stellar performance? Perhaps it was stomach pains, a calf cramp, or the lovely experience of “hitting a wall” mid-race. More often than not, these issues are caused by nutrition mistakes that runners make daily. Dialing in your nutrition tactics can be the missing piece for that PR you are looking for. Here are the five most common nutrition mistakes runners make:
1. Fasted training Whether running first thing in the morning or after a busy day, it can be tempting to skip a pre-run snack or meal. Sometimes it can be difficult to force down any semblance of food that early in the morning. It can also be challenging to trust that food won’t cause bloating or GI issues at the end of a day. However, eating a pre-run snack or meal is key to optimizing performance. Athletes that train under fueled encounter elevated cortisol levels, increased fatigue, diminished recovery rates and systemic inflammation when fasted training is practiced chronically (particularly high intensity training). In a fasted state, the amount of muscle protein that breaks down doubles. This can lead to a decreased metabolic rate, reduced strength, injury and overall poor performance. While the timing of the meal depends on the duration of the run, it is important to prioritize carbs. If an athlete goes into a workout session without proper carbohydrate stores, the glycogen reserves that muscles use to operate at a high effeciency will be depleted. The classic “bonking” feeling is not too far behind. While there can be a time and place for fasted training (or training in low glycogen state), implementing this strategy for every training session, especially high intensity sessions, will most likely lead to sub-par performance when it matters most.
2. Poor post-run fueling Refueling after a run is just as important, if not more important, than fueling beforehand. Although running can sometimes suppress an athlete’s appetite, eating within 30-60 minutes of a run is vital to improving performance. When athletes skip a post-run meal or snack it can make it difficult for the body to recover and rebuild muscle. An athlete misses out on some of the benefits of the workout by delaying refueling. Improper post-run fueling can also cause heightened muscle soreness and fatigue. Getting in a quick snack or meal with adequate carbs and protein is the best thing an athlete can do to get the “gains” from a workout.
3. Neglecting hydration Dehydration can cause lasting fatigue, increased perception of effort during exercise, inadequate recovery, and poor temperature regulation. The volume of liquids an athlete should be drinking per day to stay hydrated varies from runner to runner. This number is affected by genetic and environmental factors that make up each individual athlete’s sweat loss and fluid needs. To stay adequately hydrated an athlete should be consuming water throughout the day. “Panic hydrating” in which an athlete drinks a large volume of water before a run to try to “catch up” on consumption goals will result in that nasty sloshing feeling in the stomach. A good rule of thumb for assessing hydration status is to see if there are acute changes in body weight (more than 1-2 pounds), if dark urine and low urine volume is noticed, and if thirst is present. According to Shirreffs et al., if 2 or more of these symptoms are present, dehydration is likely. It is important to assess hydration at least 4 hours prior to exercise. If you think you might be underhydrated, the American College of Sports Medicine recommends slowly drinking 2.3-3.2 ml per pound of body weight at least 4 hours before exercise. If you still haven’t urinated or if it’s dark, you can slowly drink another 1.4-2.3 ml per pound of body weight about 2 hours before starting exercise. Choosing a beverage with sodium or consuming water along with a salty snack (like pretzels) will help with retaining the fluids you have consumed. If you have early morning exercise, ensure that your fluid intake the afternoon and evening the night before is adequate and drink a cup of water upon waking. An athlete that loses just 2% of his/her body weight from dehydration may begin to experience impaired performance, so staying on top of hydration is crucial to maximizing athletic potential.
4. Inadequate caloric intake Under fueling, whether it be intentional or unintentional, can wreak havoc on the body as well as any hopes of crushing PRs. An imbalance between caloric consumption and caloric expenditure can create a state of low-energy availability (LEA) in athletes. In these situations, performance will suffer as well as the athlete’s body. It is estimated that 22-58% of endurance athletes have LEA. The prevalence of LEA is likely due to common myths in the world of running such as “lighter equals faster.” It is true that for a short period deemed the “honeymoon phase”, lighter may equal faster. However, eventually every athlete will reach a point of diminishing returns in which the consequences will outweigh the short-lived benefits. Some consequences of under fueling include chronic fatigue, frequent injuries, GI distress, and an inability to recover after a run. Under fueling for a long period of time can lead to Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S) which encompasses a variety of symptoms including hormonal alterations, decreased bone heath, a suppressed immune system, and risk of nutritional deficiencies. The best way to combat under fueling is to eat a variety of nutrient-dense and balanced foods frequently throughout the day.
5. Replicating what others do It is very common for athletes to model their diets off elite athletes that have had great success. Elite athletes often use their social media as a platform for “what I eat in a day” posts that portray the food that is consumed day-to-day by the influencer. It can be very easy for aspiring runners to fall victim to a game of comparison. However, most of the time these videos are not accurate nor realistic depictions of what said athlete eats in a day. They often promote poor eating habits such as restriction or avoidance of food groups. The notion that “if you eat like this, you will perform like this” can be harmful both physically and emotionally to a vulnerable athlete. In the rare occasion where these types of posts are truthful, it is important to remember that there is no “one size fits all” diet for runners. Each individual runner’s diet should be built around their own physiology, genetics, and caloric expenditure. The truth is an athlete could follow an influencer’s diet to a “T” and they still would look different and perform differently than the influencer. While viewing these videos is not inherently bad, it is important to take the video’s content with a grain of salt as an effective tactic to prevent idealizing another person’s diet. By fostering a more individualized approach to nutrition, athletes will be making the right food choices for them.
Whether you are a beginner runner or an elite athlete, these five common mistakes continue to hinder athletic performances of all levels. Nutrition, if used correctly, is one of the most powerful tools a runner has. And with great power, comes great responsibility.
Works Cited
American College of Sports Medicine; Sawka MN, Burke LM, Eichner ER, Maughan RJ, Montain SJ, Stachenfeld NS. American College of Sports Medicine position stand. Exercise and fluid replacement. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2007 Feb;39(2):377-90. doi: 10.1249/mss.0b013e31802ca597. PMID: 17277604.
Casa DJ, Cheuvront SN, Galloway SD, Shirreffs SM. Fluid Needs for Training, Competition, and Recovery in Track-and-Field Athletes. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2019 Mar 1;29(2):175-180. doi: 10.1123/ijsnem.2018-0374. Epub 2019 Apr 4. PMID: 30943836.
Henninger K, Pritchett K, Brooke NK, Dambacher L. Low Energy Availability, Disordered Eating, Exercise Dependence, and Fueling Strategies in Trail Runners. Int J Exerc Sci. 2024 Jan 1;16(2):1471-1486. PMID: 38288400; PMCID: PMC10824294.
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