Ready, Set, Run!

Get the most out of your training regime with our nutritional must-dos

- Louise Pyne

From repairing muscle tissue to keeping energy levels topped up, food can make or break a runner’s routine, so it pays to tweak your diet. Fuelling up with the right foods at the right time will help to increase speed, stamina and recovery time, while eating the wrong type of fuel can mean you run out of steam quickly. ‘The food you eat can help or hinder you when you are building up your routine, so choose foods to aid muscle recovery and protect your joints,’ advises nutritionist and personal trainer Chloe Bowler (chloebowler.com). We’ve listed our top rules to help you avoid any nutritional errors, which could be fatal for your run.

KEEP UP THE PACE

6 steps to the perfect runner’s diet

1. Time your snacks

Timing is important, especially for running, as you don’t want an upset tummy. Make sure to avoid suspect foods such as dairy or fibrous vegetables, which can be difficult to digest. ‘Get into a habit of eating an hour before you run or exercise, and adjust it by trial and error’, advises Chloe. If you’ve eaten a heavy meal you may need to wait up to three hours to ensure proper digestion, so it’s a far better idea to grab a light snack, such as oatcakes and nut butter or an energy bar, before pounding the pavements.

Having a snack will top up your carbohydrate stores so you have adequate energy to get going but, at the same time, going for an occasional run on an empty stomach (around once a week), could help to improve performance. Running in a fasted state is thought to increase the activity of mitochondria (enzymes that catalyse the combustion of fat), allowing your muscles to produce more energy. Another bonus is that running on an empty stomach also means that your body uses its fat stores as its primary source of fuel, which could help you burn fat.