Nutrition Issues in
Underperforming Runners

By Nancy Clark, MS, RD, CSSD

Time and again, I hear runners say, "Nutrition is my missing link. I have my training down, but my eating needs help."

They express this concern when they fail to get desired results from their workouts.

Photo courtesy of stevendepolo

These busy people, who range from casual joggers to competitive marathoners, are eating at the wrong times, choosing the wrong balance of carbohydrates, protein and fat, drinking too little fluids, and consuming inadequate iron.

The question arises: How much better could these runners run? The answer is: Lots better! The following article highlights some common missing food links, and provides solutions that can help you to avoid these pitfalls.

Power of Food
Eating Enough
Eating the Right Amount
Fat
Fueling before you Exercise
Beneficial Protein Intake
Iron
Post-run Food
Recovering
Rest days
Adequate Fluids
Sodium
The Sports Dietitian

Missing link #1: Respect for the Power of Food
“You know, Nancy, too many athletes show up for training but they don't show up for meals. They might as well not show up for training...”

These words, spoken by a winning Boston College hockey coach, are true, indeed. Instead of rushing to practice, only to show up poorly fueled, you'd be better off taking 10 minutes from your training time to fuel properly and be able to get more from your workout. Plan ahead.

Missing link #2: Eating Enough During the Active Part of the Day
The same runners who show up under fueled for training are generally the ones who under eat nourishing meals by day, only to overeat “junk” by night. This pattern fails to support an optimal sports diet—nor long-term health. Why do so many runners under eat during the active part of their day?

• Some claim they are “too busy.” Wrong. If they can find time to train, they can find time to fuel for training.
• Other runners are purposefully restricting their food intake at breakfast and lunch, with hopes of losing weight. In a survey of 425 female collegiate athletes (some of whom were runners), the vast majority wanted to lose five pounds.

After dinner, get out of the kitchen and away from food, brush your teeth after dinner, go to bed early, and lose weight when you are sleeping, instead of when you are trying to run.

Note: If you want to lose weight, you should not severely under eat. Rather, create just a small 100 to 200-calorie deficit. Little changes at the end of the day—like eating just 2 to 4 fewer Oreos—can knock off 100 to 200 calories a day and theoretically lead to 10 to 20 pounds of fat loss a year.

Missing link #3: Eating the Right Amount of Calories at evenly sized, evenly scheduled meals.
Too many runners eat in a crescendo, with the biggest meal in the evening. The better plan is to divide your calories evenly throughout the day, eating every 4 hours, so you are always in the process of fueling-up or re-fueling. Here’s an example of a 2,400-calorie fueling plan for a female runner :

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Missing link #4: Eating an Appropriate Amount of Fat
Runners who eat too much fat (butter, oil, salad dressing, fried foods) displace the carbs they need to optimally fuel their muscles. That is, if you fill up on cheese and oil in the fettuccini Alfredo, you are not filling up on the carb-rich pasta. You’ll end up with “dead legs.”

Runners who eat too little fat fail to replenish fat stored within the muscles that supports endurance performance. A study with runners who ate a very low (16%) fat diet for a month reports they had 14% less endurance compared to when they ate a moderate (31% fat) diet.

Their self-selected diets were supposed to offer equal calories, but the runners with the moderate-fat diet actually ate not only more fat but also more calories. Yet, the extra calories did not make them fatter. That’s because the runners had been under eating on the low fat diet and conserving energy; they lost their ability to perform well. (2)

Conclusion: Including some healthful dietary fat in addition to adequate carbs and calories offers important fuel that gets stored within the muscles and can improve endurance performance. Enjoy some peanut butter on the bagel, olive oil on the salad, nuts for snacks, salmon for dinner.

Missing link #5: Fueling before you Exercise
If you think you have “no time” to eat before your workout, think again. Eating 100 to 300 calories of a pre-exercise snack even five minutes prior to running enhances performance, assuming:

1. you will be running at a pace you can maintain for more than 30 minutes and
2. you can tolerate pre-run food.

• If you run in the morning, enjoy a banana before your workout, and then afterwards refuel with the rest of your breakfast, such as a bagel and a yogurt.
• If you run at lunch, eat half a sandwich before your run and then enjoy the rest of your lunch afterwards.
• For afternoon or afterwork sessions, enjoy a granola bar or some graham crackers pre-run, and then refuel with chocolate milk.

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A survey of collegiate athletes indicates 20% of the female volleyball and basketball players were anemic, as were 50% (yikes!) of the soccer team. (6) Anemia is particularly common among women who have heavy menstrual blood losses, but eat neither red meat nor iron-enriched breakfast cereal.

Solution: If you feel needlessly tired, get your blood tested by your doctor, and be sure to get your serum ferritin measured. To help prevent anemia, strive to eat an iron-rich diet—

• red meat, or iron-rich alternatives (dark-meat chicken or turkey, salmon, tuna)
• iron-fortified cereals (Wheaties, Raisin Bran, Total) To enhance iron absorption, include with each meal a source of vitamin C, such as orange juice, berries, broccoli, tomato and other fruits and vegetables.

Missing link #9: Recovering with both carbs + protein
Recovery foods should offer a foundation of carbs with protein as the accompaniment. A reasonable target is about 240 calories of carbs (60 g carb) and about 80 calories (20 g) of protein.

Some popular choices include Greek yogurt with honey, chocolate milk, cereal with milk, and pasta with meat sauce. You need not buy engineered recovery foods; standard fare works fine.

Note that recovery foods can be eaten pre-exercise. That is, a pre-run yogurt gets digested into amino acids and glucose; those food components will be ready and waiting to be put into use when you stop exercising.

In a 10-week study with recreational body builders, those who consumed a protein-carb supplement both immediately before and right after the mid-afternoon strength training session gained 2.3 pounds more muscle and 7 pounds more in strength (as measured by bench press), compared to the group without the pre- and post-exercise fuel. (7)

Runners who do double workouts really need to rapidly refuel with a proper recovery diet. A six-week study with swimmers reports those who did two workouts (morning and afternoon) sprinted slower than those who swam only in the afternoon (8). If nutrition is your missing link, don’t even think about double workouts.

Solution: You may not feel hungry for solid foods after a hard run, but you are likely thirsty. A fruit smoothie (made with yogurt) is excellent for recovery, as is a chug of chocolate milk. Both contain carbs to refuel, and protein to build/repair muscles and reduce muscle soreness.

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Missing link #10: Rest days for muscles to refuel
Rest is an important part of a training program; muscles need time to refuel and heal. Depleted muscles may need more than 24 hours to replace glycogen stores.

Hence, rest days with little or no exercise enhance a training program. Runners who want to lose weight commonly hesitate to take a rest day; they fear they will “get fat.” These runners need to understand:

1. On a rest day, they will feel just as hungry because the muscles need food to refuel.
2. They will gain (water) weight. For each one ounce of glycogen, the muscles store about three ounces water. This water gets released during exercise; it is beneficial.

Missing link #11: Adequate Fluids
Runners who stay well hydrated can train harder and perform better. For each one percent of body weight lost via sweat, your heart has to beat three to five more times per minute (9); this creates needless fatigue!

Solution: If you are well hydrated, you will need to urinate every two to four hours, and your urine will be a light color.

If you are sweat heavily, you really should learn how much sweat you lose (and thereby need to replace) during a workout. Do this my weighing yourself naked before and after a one-hour run. For each pound (16 oz) of sweat lost per hour, you should drink at least 16 to 24 ounces of fluid.

Missing link #12: Sodium before exercise in the heat
Research with trained cyclists reports they rode 20 minutes longer to exhaustion (99 vs. 79 minutes) in 90°F (32° C) heat when they drank a pre-ride beverage with about 1,000 vs. 150 mg sodium. They drank no fluids while riding. (10)

Solution: If you train and compete in the heat, you should consume salty foods beforehand. This holds water in your body and reduces your risk of becoming dehydrated.

Missing link #13: The Sports Dietitian (RD, CSSD)
Serious athletes generally have a support crew that includes a coach, sports psychologist, medical doctor, physical therapist and massage therapist. But to their detriment, some fail to have a sports dietitian on their team. Don’t let that be your case.

Solution: To get the most from your workouts, use the referral network at www.SCANdpg.org to find a local registered dietitian who is a Board Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics (RD CSSD). This professional can help you—

• resolve your struggles with “no time” to eat properly,
• find pre-exercise fuel that reduces stomach problems and “transit trouble”
• attain your desired weight and percent body fat.
• transform disordered eating into effective fueling.

Copyright: Nancy Clark, MS, RD, CSSD
Nancy Clark's new Sports Nutrition Guidebook (2008), Food Guide for Marathoners, and Cyclist’s Food Guide are available at her website www.nancyclarkrd.com.

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8. Costill, D.L., R. Thomas, R.A. Robergs, et al. 1991. Adaptations to swimming training: Influence of training volume. Med Sci Sports Exerc 23(3):371-377.
9. Casa D., L. Armstrong, S. Montain, et al. 2000. National Athletic Trainers’ Association position statement: Fluid replacement for athletes. J Athletic Training 35(2):212-224.
10. Sims, S.T., L. van Vliet, J. Cotter, and N. Rehrer. 2007. Sodium loading aids fluid balance and reduces physiological strain of trained men exercising in the heat. Med Sci Sports Exerc 39(1):123-130.