Time Your Food, Staying Hydrated and Common Myths

When you eat often matters just as much as what you eat.

Before A Run

For short runs under an hour in length, don't worry too much about what you eat beforehand, especially if you'll be running at a moderate pace.

For long runs, studies have shown that eating easily digestible carbohydrates in the hour before exercise generally enables athletes to work our longer. If they cause you gastrointestinal distress, limit foods that are high in fiber, especially cereals with added fiber, in the 24 to 48 hours before a run more than an hour in length.

Running can exacerbate any digestive problems you already have, so if you have gastrointestinal distress even when you aren't running, see a doctor. During prolonged physical exertion - runs more than an hour in length - blood is directed away from the digestive tract, making digestion even harder for the body.

If you are training for a marathon, plan at least one long training run at the same time as the marathon's start time. This will allow you time to figure out when and what to eat on race day. The New York City Marathon, for example, has a notoriously late start time, with some runners not crossing the starting line until 11 a.m. Making matters worse, the New York City Marathon also always corresponds with the end of the daylight saving time - meaning that participants are starting their race when it's almost time for lunch. If you are running this race, you will most likely need to eat a larger breakfast or pack more snacks that you would for a race with a 9 a.m. start.

During A Run

When you are planning a run shorter than 45 minutes in length, a bottle of water should be all you need. You likely don't need to bring any food with you because your body should be equipped with enough glycogen to sustain you for that length of a run. However, if you are planning for a longer run, you should bring some nutrition along the way; carbohydrates and fluids. Most sports drinks have both.

You can also carry pre-packaged sports gels or energy chews for a long-run carbohydrate intake. These products are almost all simple carbohydrates, making them easy to digest, and they're explicitly designed to be easily carried in a pouch or pocket. If you prefer a more natural fuel source, try a banana. Whatever you do, drink a lot of water when you use solid food as your fuel source to help your body absorb it quickly.

If you are new to fueling during a long run, try this: Eat and drink something every four miles (or often if the course is difficult and hilly). If this leaves you feeling sapped, sick or both, try eating more often or try to eat a little more each time.

On race day, bring the drink, sports gels and food you found worked best. Races may not offer exactly what you prefer, and they often use powder-based mixes for sports drinks that may be watered down.

After A Run

What you eat after a short run doesn't matter much, but after an intense or long run, eat immediately. As i explained earlier, insulin levels are high after intense exercise to deliver glycogen back to muscle cells. Consuming carbohydrates immediately after a strenuous workout, at a level of at least one gram per kilogram of body weight, is therefore essential to restoring the glycogen you've burned and help your muscles recover. Wait even a few hours to eat and your ability to replenish that fuel drops by half. It's also crucial that you take in some protein because it helps keep insulin levels high, allowing your muscles more time to recover.

One of the best post-workout snacks? Chocolate milk. But you can also try whole-fat yogurt and fruit, a smoothie or a peanut butter and banana sandwich.

After your post-workout snack, hop into the shower and cool off. But try to eat a real meal within two hours while your body is still working to recover itself.

Staying Hydrated

Drink to thirst. Don't overdo it.

Water

Many runners are concerned that they are not drinking enough water. The best tip for staying hydrated during a run? Drink when your thirsty. You can carry a regular-size water bottle in one hand when you run or you can plan a route around a few water fountains.

For recommendations on how to best carry your water, for single, handheld bottles to multi bottle options, check out The Sweethome's guide on running gear.

Drink Up

Concerned you are not drinking enough? Check your sweat rate. Weight yourself before and after a long run and calculate the difference to determine how much weight you lost in fluid. Then, make sure to take in that many ounces of fluids during the next run.

As the weather changes, so too does your sweat rate, so adjust your fluids appropriately as the weather gets hotter or cooler.

Quick tip: If you didn't pee during your long run, you should feel the need to use the bathroom within the first 30 minutes after finishing. If you haven't, you may be dehydrated and should drink more during your runs.

Too Much Water

You can drink too much. Hyponatremia occurs when someone consumes so much fluid that his or her body can't rid itself of the surplus through sweating or urination. As a result, water levels rise in the bloodstream and sodium levels, diluted, fall. Osmosis then draws water from the blood into the surrounding cells of the body to equalise sodium levels there, and those cells begin to swell like water balloons. If this process occurs in the brain, it can be lethal.

Don't gulp down bottles of water before a run, thinking it will prevent you from getting thirsty. Drinking excessive amounts of fluid will not prevent you from cramping or prevent heat-related illnesses - those ailments generally stem from simply pushing yourself too hard. Drink when your body feels thirsty, and don't overdo it.

Common Food Myths

Here's the truth behind common beliefs about food and running

Myth: You will lose weight when you run.

Fact: Running is not an ideal weight-loss strategy. In fact, weight gain is common for people who have just started to run. Running will cause your body to release hormones that will increase your appetite because your body is craving fuel.

If you are concerned about weight gain, or trying to lose weight by running, keep an eye on your scale. If you see your weight tipping higher, keep track of the calories you are eating in comparison to those you burn during your runs. Though it's tempting, don't start overeating just because you are exercising more.

Stick with three meals filled with protein and carbohydrates spaced throughout the day. Don't skip meals, it will leave you starving at night and may lead you to overeat.

If you find yourself hungry between meals, have small, nutritious snacks on hand to stave off cravings - some chocolate-covered nuts, an apple or a few carrots.

Myth: Carb-loading is essential before a race.

Fact: Carb-loading - eating a meal heavy in pasta and bread - is so engrained in running culture that a lot of races will organise pasta dinners the night before the big event. Carb-loading is based on a reasonable assumption: carbs provide power, and you need power during a race. However, eating too many carbs will cause weight gain because when muscles pack in glycogen, they also add water - and therefore weight, giving you more to carry around on your race.

The scientifically proven way to use carbs to help your performance is to eat a lot of them a full day before a race. Carbs eaten days earlier or for breakfast before a race do not seem to impact performance.

Myth: Low-carb, high-fats diets are a proven way to improve performance.

Fact: Recently, serious runners have begun to try fueling with a low-carb and high-fat diet. This approach forces the body to use fat as its fuel source instead of glycogen (which is the fuel created from carbs). We have more fat stores in our body than glycogen, so the theory goes that with this diet you can go further without needing to restore your fuel supply. This eating plan caught on first with the ultra marathon community and is tickling down to shorter races.

One study of serious athletes showed that exercising strenuously in the afternoon, depriving yourself of carbohydrates afterwards, training gently the next morning and then swallowing a mound of pancakes might be a useful way to improve endurance and performance. But there is scant science showing that this type of diet enhances performance in the average athlete.

Myth: You can't run and be vegan.

Fact: Scott Jurek, who has won the Spartathlon, Hardrock 100, Badwater 135 and Western States 100 and once held the Appalachian Trial thru-hike record, is a vegan ultra runner, so it certainly can be done. It takes planning and food know-how to be sure you are getting enough vitamins and minerals to perform well.

You do have to be diligent about protein intake if you're vegan, you can't eat a quarter of that cake of tofu. You need to eat the whole thing. It's not that there aren't good sources of vegan protein. But it's not as bioavailable as meat. So you need to have more.

To replace the protein in three ounces of chicken, for example, you should eat one and a third cups of black beans or one and a half cups of chickpeas.

The other concern for vegan (and vegetarian) athletes is the consumption of B12, which is found in animal products.

B12 is important for endurance athletes, since it affects red blood cells production. Another potential problem: iron.

Some of these nutrients can be added to a vegan diet through the foods we talk about below, but if you're not performing how you want to on a vegan - or vegetarian diet - you may want to have your B12 and iron levels tested to see if a supplement can help - but don't just start popping iron pills because you feel sluggish because you could overdo it.

Make sure you incorporate soy, nuts, seeds, legumes and to increase your intake of protein. Fortified cereals and soy milk can also contain protein, B12 and iron.

Myth: You need pre-packaged energy products to run.

Fact: If goos, gels and sports drinks turn your stomach, you prefer less-processed products or even if you just want to save money, you can make your own fuel. It'll take some testing and culinary skills, but it's possible (and the only option people had before running fuel became a business).

Nature has made it's own energy foods in the form of raisins, dates or dried cherries. You can make your own sports drink with water, salt and sugar or create your own energy gels by pureeing and combining things like bananas, honey, peanut butter, lemon juice, agave nectar, coconut water and salt.

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