Obviously any good quality half marathon
training guide will prepare you physically and mentally, but what many will
miss out is possibly one of the most important factors responsible for providing you with the
energy you need and the building blocks to repair damaged muscle fibres... the right
nutrition!
As your training progresses, so too does
the demand for the right kinds of foods and nutrients, especially on your more challenging running
days.
Check out these
5 nutritional golden rules that every half marathon training guide should
contain...
Leave A Gap Between Eating And
Running
One of the worst feelings you can have
especially when doing a longer run is when your stomach feels bloated and uncomfortable. This
happens when you’re last meal is still being broken down and absorbed. There’s nothing worse than
feeling sickly or that you need the toilet half way through a 10 miler!
Get Enough Water
This can be quite a challenge to know how much
you need. The simple way is to just sip small amounts regularly throughout your run. The more
scientific way is to weigh yourself before and then again after your run. For every pound you lose,
you need to replace with half a litre of fluid. So if you’ve been out for a 30 minute run and you
weigh half a pound less, you need to drink quarter of a litre of fluid during your next 30 minute
run.
Carb Up Before
Your Long Runs
Running regularly increases your body’s need
for carbohydrates. If you don’t get enough stored in the muscles, your performance
may well suffer. It’s a good idea to have a high carbohydrate meal 2-3 hours before you
run.
Eat Plenty Of
Fresh Fruit And Veg
When you demand more from your body the way
regular running does, you need to ensure that you are providing it with enough of all nutrients,
but especially vitamins and minerals. You can easily do this by ensuring that you are getting your
minimum of 5 portions a day.
Boost Your Recovery
Research has proven time and again that eating
within 20 minutes of exercising has a massive effect on your ability to recover and recharge
afterwards. At this time the body is far more responsive to the foods you eat. You need to ensure
that the meal you consume provides you with both carbohydrates to refuel the muscles and protein to
repair and regenerate the damaged muscle cells.
A few good choices could be rice and chicken, a
peanut butter sandwich, pasta with tuna or just a glass of milk and a few oat
cakes.
Get yourself a good half marathon training
guide to help you get your nutrition just right as well as your training and the effects on
your fitness and recovery levels will be dramatic.
If you want to know more about training for a
half marathon, then my new half marathon running guide ‘Half Marathon Training For
Beginners' is an excellent choice...
You’ll find it a great resource to help you
plan your training but also it's a fantastic reference guide for the times when you
need inspiration and new ideas to make your workouts more interesting.
If you think
you’d be a better runner if you knew...
-
What to eat and
when
-
How, why and
when to train so you get fitter, stronger and more confident
-
What to do
to avoid picking up niggling injuries
-
How to build up to
race day distance in the shortest amount of time
Then you
need ‘Half Marathon Training for Beginners’ – A half marathon training
schedule which gets you results – FAST.
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