Understanding how to optimise your nutrition for running is essential for performing your best in a half, full or ultra marathon. While you can get away with a haphazard approach in shorter runs, nutrition can the factor which turns a great race into a disaster from the 10km point.

The biggest training mistake people make is not practicing their nutrition for running. Like any performance, you should have a complete dress rehearsal before the event. For runners this means trialling clothing, accessories, and fuelling strategies on your training runs.

Start your run properly hydrated, a good sign is pale, straw-coloured pee.

On race day and also on your long run training days the food you eat and drink before exercising will help you to:

• fuel and hydrate your body for the session,
• train harder for longer, and
• avoid getting hungry during the session

Ideally you should aim to have a meal 3-4 hours before your workout or a small snack 1-2 hours beforehand. Everyone is different with what they like to eat and what agrees with their stomach. However, in general, your pre-run meal or snack should be:

• rich in carbohydrates to top-up your fuel stores
• low in fibre, especially if you have a sensitive tummy
• easy to digest– avoid foods high in fat as these are slow to digest

Some of my favourite options are:

• a small bowl of wholegrain cereal or oats with yoghurt and fruit
• sourdough toast with sliced banana and nut butter
• Raisin toast with honey
• Fruit smoothie

If your session lasts less than an hour, you can rely on stored muscle glycogen — just focus on hydration. Water is enough for most, though electrolyte drinks help in warmer conditions.

Once you go beyond 75 minutes, you’ll need 30–60 g of carbohydrates per hour to sustain performance. This helps maintain blood glucose, fuel your muscles and brain, and delay fatigue.

Start fuelling early — within the first hour of running — even if you don’t feel tired yet. Consistent fuelling helps prevent that dreaded “wall” later on.

Training tips:

1. Mix your carb sources — gels, chews, and drinks — to avoid flavour fatigue.

2. Train your gut by practising with gels on every long run over 14 km.

3. Stick to a consistent fuelling schedule — don’t wait until you’re empty.

Just like you train your legs, you need to train your nutrition.
Use your long runs to experiment with pre-run meals, gel timing, and hydration strategies.

About 4–6 weeks before your race, do a full trial — eat the same dinner, breakfast, gels, and supplements you plan for race day. This ensures no surprises on the course.

If you’re testing caffeine or beetroot supplements, include them here too so your body knows what to expect.

The goals of the recovery nutrition are to:

• Refuel and rehydrate the body
• Promote muscle repair and growth
• Boost adaptation from the training session
• Support the immune function

Rehydrating should begin soon after finishing your run. The first hour is key for restocking carbohydrates and repairing muscles. However, repair will continue over the next 12-24 hours. Use your next meal after your run for recovery nutrition. Or have a small snack to kick-start the recovery process, then use your next main meal to complete your recovery.

Post workout foods should be:

• Rich in quality carbohydrate to replenish muscle fuel stores
• Contain some lean protein to promote muscle repair
• ·Include a source of fluid and electrolytes to rehydrate effectively

The body only has a limited supply of carbohydrate in the muscles and liver. Since carbohydrate is main source of fuel for the body during high intensity exercise, muscle fuel stores should be topped up over in the 24-36 hours before competition to enhance performance.

In the few days before your race carbohydrate loading will make a big impact. Carb loading isn’t about a big bowl of pasta the night before your event – instead it focuses on replacing protein, fibre and fat with carbohydrate sources. You should be targeting between 8-12 grams of carbohydrate per kilo of body weight over the carb load period. So a 60 kg runner would need to consume between 480 and 720 grams of carbs over the day. As a guide 2 slices of white toast contain about 50 grams of carbs. If it’s your first time carb loading I’d suggest sticking to the lower end of the range.

The carbs you choose should be low in fibre to reduce the chances of getting an upset stomach during the race. This is the time to choose white bread, rice or pasta over wholemeal. You can go back to your quinoa after the event. You can also enjoy some of the foods you might not normally eat such as a crumpet with honey.

Here’s some detailed guidance including a meal plan covering carbohydrate loading.

Experiment with different fuelling options in training so you can find a solution that works for you. Remember – nothing new on race day! Have a fabulous run and let us know how you go!

Source: Sports Dietitians Australia

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