Two lectures this month explains why I have been in hiding for most of the month. That and a crazy er schedule.  Here goes....how do we fuel as an athlete and specifically as a runner? This obviously differs as the event goes from very short track events to ultra marathons,. This talk was designed for the middle to longer distance athlete from the 10k runner to the marathon runner in mind. 

When I say this: I mean your diet should be planned around your workout. As you will see later, you can calculate roughly how many calories you need each day based upon your activity and ideal weight. There are more accurate ways to determine this from resting metabolic rate measurements to heart rate monitors and so on. But we will stick with the rough idea here. If you can determine these two things, you can plan you caloric intake and macro nutrient proportions around you activity for the day. For many of those this is in the morning but this can also be lunch time, dinner time, or even several times a day for those in multi sport. The plan is to consume most of your carbohydrates around that activity period as determined by your activity level and add in a little protein when needed for muscle recovery. This is then split into the before, during, and after periods. 

The during period occurs during the activity and event and usually just included simple carbohydrates and electrolytes. During longer events, a little protein has been shown to reduce muscle breakdown ie at least 90 minutes or longer and likely in 2+ to 3+ hour events. For those competing in ultra endurance events, consumption of complex carbohydrates and starches is often necessary but not covered in this post. The after period is the start of the recovery of the event and is key in building muscle glycogen stores as well as starting the process of hydration. This is usually split into two periods: immediately after or within 30 minutes and the post activity meal up to two hours after the event. Again, simple carbohydrates are often easier to consume immediately after a high intensity workout and are likely digested better. 

For example: let's take a 130 lb woman on a moderate activity day exercising for two hours with some interval training such as mile track repeats. Her goal would likely be to consume at least 70-96g of protein per day, 47 g of fat per day, and anywhere from 236 to 360 g of carbohydrate that day. Again, this is a rough estimate and might vary with athlete and individual goals and workouts. 
I did have some questions about weight loss in the athlete but will actually focus on that in an upcoming lecture so please either listen to the podcast or try to attend that lecture when it is approved by Natural Grocers.

Hydration is another key topic. As we all know, it can be really tricky to arrive at an activity just hydrated enough. Too much as you might miss your start waiting in line at the porta potties or have that dreaded sloshing occur in your stomach. Too little and you might not even finish the race or event due to cramping or other symptoms of dehydration. Guidelines to live by are do what is working on the workout that most resembles your race. Weigh yourself before and after to see how much fluid you are losing. If you are gaining fluid you may be over hydrating or taking in the wrong concentration of fluid. Also watch your urine output for color and amount. No urine after a workout is a bad sign as well as very dark urine since you may be dehydration.  Pay attention to how much you sweat and how much residual salt you find on your clothing after workouts. This might indicate you need to increase your salt intake.

What works for one person will likely not work for another. Use your workouts as your prep for your races. Remember nothing is steady state and training and nutrition has to vacillate around your goals for the season with proper training periods as well as recovery periods. I hope you enjoyed this blog post and please listen to the podcast for additional information.