Good Marathon Nutrition - Essential To Your Success

There is an age old equation that rings true every single time and that is in order to lose weight you need to burn off more calories than you consume. To gain weight you need to consume more calories than you burn off.

Marathon nutrition is a little more complicated than this because you need to consume more calories than you need, but at the same time the likely outcome is that you will end up losing weight?

Because you will be burning off a lot of calories during your training, it is essential to eat more. If you have some weight to lose then this will be a hindrance to your progress and shedding a few pounds will certainly help you to run faster, longer and with less stress on the joints.

But perhaps the most important point here is that your body needs good quality fuel to get the best out of your training.

The ratio of nutrients needs to change for someone who is running regularly. Whereas a typical weight loss programme might require somewhere in the region of 50 – 60 % carbohydrates, a distance runner will need anywhere up to 70% calories from complex carbohydrates.

Carbohydrates are your body’s first choice for fuel, but you also need fats to produce energy and if there aren’t enough being provided in the diet, it will be taken from your body’s own fat stores.

Finally you will need an intake of good quality lean protein to help rebuild and repair damaged cells, caused through training.

An optimal ratio of nutrient intake for marathon nutrition is: -

Carbohydrates - 65%      Protein - 15%      Fats - 20%

Always remember the quality of foods you choose is very important, so try to select foods as near to their natural state as possible with minimal processing. Opt for low fat and low sugar as much as possible and once or twice a week have a treat.

If you’d like to learn more about marathon nutrition, Marathon Training For Beginners’ is an ideal resource, it is also an easy to use marathon training schedule for beginners that want to run a marathon in the shortest possible time. Click here to find out more.

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