5 Golden Rules of Good Running Nutrition

For a lot of people, food should be nutritional, elaborate and focused on making your taste buds go mmmmm. But for runners, food is so much more than simple nutrition — food is fuel, and knowing what to eat and when is guaranteed to make you healthier, fitter and faster.

Whether you’re new to running, preparing for your first marathon or a PB specialist with a wall of medals that glistens in the sunlight, getting your nutrition right is essential for fuelling your best performance. In that sense, good running nutrition is about eating right before, during and after your runs, hydrating the optimum amount as you pound the pavement and changing how you fuel for different distances. And at the end of it all, the right nutrition will help replenish your energy levels and speed up those all-important recovery times.

That’s why we’ve teamed up with Science in Sport to develop a nutrition guide specifically designed for runners. Whether you’re simply training through the winter to maintain your fitness levels or you’re gearing up for another race season, this guide will teach you how to fuel yourself before, during and after your runs.

Pre-Run Fuelling

Before you lace up your shoes and take on a run, it’s essential to fuel your body with foods that will have a positive effect on both your health and performance, without slowing you down. As a golden rule, that means avoiding foods that are high in either fibre or fat before you pound the pavement as these food groups tend to be harder to digest.

Instead, you should aim to eat ‘slow release’ carbs around 2 to 3 hours before you begin your run, something like porridge or pasta, which will gradually release energy over a longer timeframe. On top of that, if you’re planning to push yourself hard on your run, look to top up your glycogen (energy) stores between 30 and 60 minutes before with a high carb snack to give you the energy you need.

Good pre-run snacks with 50g of carbohydrates: two bananas, two low-fibre granola bars, a flapjack, 75g of dried fruit like apricots, or an energy bar

Pre-Run Hydration

Making up around 55% of your body weight, water is your body’s most vital nutrient. It’s as simple as that. What’s more, this water also helps almost all of your body processes to occur. As such, it’s important you’re drinking enough water throughout the day, somewhere between 2 to 3 litres on rest days and almost 5 litres on run days, including a pint of water an hour before you set off on your run.

But water is just one ingredient. That’s because, as well as losing water while you run, your body also loses a bunch of essential salts through your sweat. As such, we recommend hydrating with a drink high in electrolytes, especially if you’re getting ready to take on a longer run, or your usual run but on a hot day. That’s where SIS comes in. From their electrolyte tablets  to their pre-made drinks, they will replace all the salts you’ll lose during your upcoming run.

Mid-Run Fuelling

A common trend among runners, especially those new to running longer distances, is a misunderstanding about fuelling your energy levels mid-run, something we can’t stress the importance of enough.

As a general rule, it is crucial you keep your energy levels topped up when running longer distances, typically anything that takes you beyond the 90 minute mark. For this type of fuelling, we recommend carrying additional carbohydrates on you as you run, whether they are sugary sweets or energy gels. As for what is optimum, most SIS energy gels provide around 20-25g of carbs, so we recommend aiming for about 2 or 3 of these per hour of long-distance running. That said, everyone is different, so experiment with different amounts until you find what works best for you.

Mid-Run Hydration

Drinking on the run is crucial, especially when running 10K or further, not least because hydrating mid-run will actually help replenish lost fluids and help you to scale the dreaded ‘wall’. However, it is worth noting that drinking on the run is a skill worth practising, whether you’re running for fitness or preparing for a race. What’s more, if you plan on hydrating with a carbo drink, make sure you test them out in your practice runs.

As for how much water or electrolyte fluid you should take on mid-run, the exact amount will depend on numerous factors, including your body weight, type and the current climate. As a golden rule of thumb, though, try to drink between 400ml and 800ml of water per hour you run, drinking little and often to prevent any bloating or lactic acid build up. Of course, on particularly hot days or if you’re taking on an extremely long run, we recommend swapping the water for either an electrolyte tablet or drink to replace your body’s lost salts.