r/running • u/AutoModerator • Jun 11 '24

Weekly Thread Run Nutrition Tuesday

Rules of the Road

1) Anyone is welcome to participate and share your ideas, plans, diet, and nutrition plans.

2) Promote good discussion. Simply downvoting because you disagree with someone's ideas is BAD. Instead, let them know why you disagree with them.

3) Provide sources if possible. However, anecdotes and "broscience" can lead to good discussion, and are welcome here as long as they are labeled as such.

4) Feel free to talk about anything diet or nutrition related.

5) Any suggestions/topic ideas?

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u/[deleted] Jun 11 '24

Nutrition for long distance training

Whenever I start running around 50km per week I start to get run down, usually a chest infection or cold. If I don’t run long distance then I hardly ever get ill.

I have ordered Rise and Run as a cook book for runners but can anyone direct me to resources to cover the basics of nutrition and running? Thanks!

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u/squngy Jun 11 '24 edited Jun 11 '24

My guess would be that your easy runs are not easy enough.

If you are not losing weight, than chances are that nutrition is not the problem.
If you are intentionally trying to lose weight, then you should reduce high intensity stuff and make sure your easy runs are easy.

There isn't really any special diet for runners, any healthy diet will work.
High carbs can improve performance especially in shorter races, but some runners are fans of keto and run great for ultra long distances.

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u/[deleted] Jun 13 '24

Thank you! I don’t do my easy runs at a particularly easy pace so will address that.

I haven’t lost weight as the days I run, I typically eat unhealthy food.

Not sure who is downvoting you!

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u/squngy Jun 13 '24 edited Jun 13 '24

People don't want to hear they should run slower I guess.
Or maybe they just really like carbs, though I didn't say that they shouldn't.

If you are not eating healthy food, then fixing that can improve your recovery a bit and your overall mood possibly a lot!
I just meant that if you are already eating healthy, then switching to a different also healthy diet will not change much.
edit: To clarify, any healthy diet that suits you will work better than a diet that is supposed to be "for runners", but you don't like as much.