Well done for the start towards the women’s mini marathon. Although starting points may vary, we can safely say that all participating women want to enjoy their run and training as much as possible beforehand. Diet can help with this. Good and appropriate nutrition for your training can help maximize your motivation to train, minimize the effort of running and speed up the recovery process. So what are the first steps?
hydration
I understand that this can be a boring topic simply because you’ve probably heard it over and over again. Nonetheless, it cannot distract from the fact that it is the most important element of sports nutrition. Even if you’re a little dehydrated, your running will suffer. For example, you may find that it takes more effort to run at a certain speed than to run at the same speed with enough fluids.
There are many ways to estimate how much fluid you need each day. However, a simple calculation is 25-35ml for every kg you weigh. For example, if you weigh 70 kg, that would be 1750-2450 ml per day. We all need different amounts, so it’s best to keep adjusting this number by observing your urine and letting that guide you. Aim for light-colored urine that needs to be peed every few hours and a good flow when you go! Electrolytes are a must when you are hot or sweating profusely. If the exercise lasts more than 1 hour, consider a carbohydrate-based liquid with electrolytes.
How should you eat when training for a race?
It’s important to explain sports nutrition in a way that sounds simple and is easy to understand. Here is my best performance in two points.
1 We must aim to get enough protein at every meal. The amount we need doesn’t change too much from day to day or meal to meal. So it’s the constant. It stays the same all the time.
2 The two food groups that change from meal to meal are carbohydrates and fats. In the meal you eat before or after your workout, you should aim to eat more carbohydrates and less fat. In the meals you eat when you’re not exercising or haven’t exercised, you need to eat fewer carbohydrates and more fat.
Now let me explain in more detail why…
carbohydrate
Carbohydrate requirements depend on how tall we are and how far we move. This is similar to a car. A big car has a bigger tank and uses more gas. It also burns more gas the farther you go, the faster you go and the more often you drive. Our body is similar. When we’re running and out of breath, carbohydrates fuel this exercise. Therefore carbohydrates are our fuel and we store it in our muscles which are the tank. The farther you run, the faster you run, and the more you run, the more carbs you burn. However, we also need carbs to feed our brains. For this reason, it’s generally a good idea to include some whole grain carbohydrates in our meals, with a bit more before and after a workout.
fat
When we go for a run, we don’t want a lot of food in our tummy. We want to digest it before the run so the blood isn’t diverted to our stomach for digestion. This means that most of our blood is pumped to our muscles to power our movement. If we still have food in our stomach while running, we can end up feeling pretty nauseous. The stomach is a reservoir, so we don’t want that muscular pouch holding a lot of food as we hop up and down during the running motion. Also, after our run, we don’t want food to stay in our stomach for too long, as we want it to be digested and delivered to our tissues for recovery as quickly as possible. For this reason, before and after our run, we want to avoid eating foods that slow down digestion, such as excess fat. Therefore, the meal should contain a little more carbohydrates to provide energy and fuel from our movement, with less fat. To ensure we’re getting enough fat throughout the day, meals eaten at times when you’re not exercising can be lower in carbohydrates and higher in fat.
Omega-3 fats are found in oily fish like salmon
proteins
As mentioned above, protein requirements are often calculated per meal. Our muscles are constantly breaking down and rebuilding. However, this process speeds up when we exercise. That’s a good thing, because our muscles want to be more and more tuned to what they are used for. In this case, they need to get better and better at running 10km! Protein serves as a reminder for muscles to rebuild. When we eat enough protein, our muscles are prompted to rebuild at their fastest pace for a few hours. Protein also provides the building blocks they need to rebuild.
When calculating your protein needs, a rough guideline is to divide your weight by four. For example, if you weigh 80kg, you need 20g of protein per meal. If you’re older or getting your protein from a plant in this meal, you may need a little more. As a very general guide, you need about 15 to 30 grams of protein at each of your meals. Please refer to the table below to guide you.
Do I need supplements?
Most people need to take a vitamin D supplement. All women of childbearing age must take a folic acid supplement. There are other nutrients that women may be deficient in, including iodine (found in dairy and fish) and omega-3 fats (found in oily fish). In addition, about 40 percent of women of childbearing age are at risk of iron deficiency anemia. So if you are a menstruating woman of childbearing potential it may be preferable to take a multivitamin, multimineral and omega-3 supplement unless your diet is varied, in which case vitamin D and folic acid will suffice.
I train three to four times a week: should I eat more on the training days?
How much you eat depends on your goals. Many women need about 2,000 calories of food every day. You could burn 500 to 700 calories in one workout. As a general rule, it’s probably preferable not to count calories or macronutrients. Instead, focus on what your body is telling you. When you exercise, you may be hungrier and just eat more naturally.
What should I eat before a morning run?
Running in the fastest condition is not necessary for most women. Some athletes do this to adjust their bodies so they can burn more fat while running. However, for 10km runs, this adjustment is not required. Also, a woman’s body is usually better able to do this than a man’s body, so there’s no need to train it to the same extent. Aside from training adjustments, what to eat before a morning run is very individual. Water and sometimes caffeine are often needed. However, please note that the food you eat before you run out the door is unlikely to be digested in time to be used during your run. If you’re going for a long run in the morning, a big carb-focused dinner is probably a good idea.
Should I bring food or gels for a long run?
Although daily carb needs are related to body size, the carbs needed during a run are the same for everyone, regardless of body size. Most people can easily digest 30 grams of carbohydrates per hour while running. By training the gut and mixing the types of sugars consumed, people can tolerate 60 to 90 grams per hour. However, if you can run 10km in less than 60 minutes, you probably don’t need to consume carbs or water during the run. However, if you prefer to take on something and it makes you feel better, then by all means don’t let the general guidance to the population stop you. If it takes you more than 60 minutes to do the 10km, bring a snack because between the jigs and reels before the race it’s probably a long time since breakfast and you might get a little hungry.
Milk is a great post-run nutritional source
What should I eat after a long run?
After you’ve walked a long distance, a recovery drink is a good idea. Nature’s recovery drink is milk as it has been scientifically proven to rehydrate, fuel and repair the body. Milk is more hydrating than water because it contains both electrolytes and water, it helps replenish your muscle stores of carbohydrates, and it’s a natural source of whey and casein protein, which are great for muscle repair. If you’ve walked quite a distance or for a long time, or if you’re just hungry, combine it with fruit for more recovery benefits.
https://www.independent.ie/life/health-wellbeing/womens-mini-marathon/fuelling-your-body-for-the-big-challenge-41413175.html Fuel your body for the big challenge