What is in a Proper Marathon Training Diet

Most people tend to fol­low dif­fer­ent fit­ness and nutri­tion fads when it comes to reach­ing max train­ing and com­pe­ti­tion poten­tial. How­ever, this could end up plac­ing you in a tight spot when the deadline for your marathon is approach­ing sooner than you thought, and your body is not phys­i­cally pre­pared to endure the intense run ahead of you.

Fol­low­ing a good marathon train­ing plan plays a role in how you per­form, but remem­ber that with­out a good marathon train­ing diet all that train­ing may be wasted.

Eat Plenty of Nutri­tious Food

No per­son is able to fol­low one set caloric intake since it depends on body fat, height, and weight pri­mar­ily, but you can fol­low sim­ple guide­lines on what you should be eat­ing.

You want to eat food and plenty of calo­ries that fit your lifestyle and train­ing pro­gram. The fol­low­ing are the three macronu­tri­ents that you are to focus on when glanc­ing at where your calo­ries are com­ing from:

• Car­bo­hy­drates
• Pro­teins
• Dietary Fats

Your marathon train­ing diet should con­sist largely of these sim­ple nutri­ents and need to be watched care­fully if you wish to at com­plete your next marathon.

An impor­tant part of your marathon nutri­tion plan is Car­bo­hy­drates.

Carbs are used by your metab­o­lism for energy and stored within your mus­cles and liver in the form of glyco­gen. Glyco­gen is how the body stores glu­cose for later use. This glyco­gen slowly gets used up depend­ing on the type of activ­ity you are per­form­ing, and in terms of marathon run­ners, the usual glyco­gen deple­tion time frame is when you are 13.1 miles into a marathon.

This num­ber will come in handy shortly, but in the mean­time know that carbs make up the larger por­tion of your diet.

Beware of low-​​carb diets.

Research has shown that low-​​carb diets actu­ally hin­der a marathon run­ners dis­tance and com­ple­tion time. The body sim­ply needs the glyco­gen lev­els needed before dip­ping into your fats for energy.

Car­bo­hy­drates to eat:

• Whole Grains
• Quinoa
• Brown Rice
• Bar­ley
• Wheat Berries

Pro­tein is a neces­sity and should never be taken away from your diet. This nutri­ent is the build­ing blocks of life, and is known for assist­ing with the pro­duc­tion of mus­cles, bones, car­ti­lage, and lig­a­ments. Pro­tein is also great for mak­ing your body feel fuller through­out the day since it digests slowly. Pro­tein also assists with mus­cle recov­ery, which is impor­tant for all active peo­ple since you cause micro­scopic mus­cle tis­sue tears while run­ning and lift­ing weights.

Good sources of protein:

•  Lean Beef
• Turkey Breast
• Chicken Breast
• Salmon
• Beans
• Eggs

 Marathon nutri­tion also focuses on dietary fats. These are the kind of fats that are healthy and keep your organs in top con­di­tion. The other use for them is as a sec­ondary source for your metab­o­lism to pro­duce energy after glyco­gen lev­els have depleted.

Your marathon train­ing diet will rely heav­ily on this nutri­ent dur­ing the sec­ond phase of the com­pe­ti­tion (after the first 13.1 miles), and if you want to make it through the race then start think­ing about con­sum­ing some of the foods below:

• Olives and Olive Oils
• Avo­ca­dos
• Cheese
• Greek Yogurt
• Nuts
• Whole Milk

Marathon Train­ing Diet before the Big Day

10 days prior to your marathon, you need to switch to a dif­fer­ent food intake where 65% of your calo­ries come from dietary fats. Con­sume plenty of the food listed above and you will able to increase your run time 4.5% faster than you would have on a nor­mal carb-​​loading diet. Three days before your marathon the time comes to switch to a carb-​​loading phase, which would be 65% of calo­ries com­ing from nutri­tious car­bo­hy­drates instead of fats.

Using this type of diet allows your body to use glyco­gen lev­els up to around 22–26 miles, but that only applies to you if your run­ning is in good form and energy effi­cient. Water is of course some­thing that you should be drink­ing through­out the entire day, and an esti­mated amount would be 2 ounces of water per pound in your body. If you have had pre­vi­ous med­ical con­di­tions, please seek expert advice prior to chang­ing your eat­ing habits dras­ti­cally to this marathon train­ing diet.

Author Bio:

Andrew D. Kahler is the founder of Authority outdoor, where he and him associates blog about Outdoor experiences, tips & tricks that will help you have an exciting adventure.

————————————–