By RUNGRL Staff

If you’ve ever trained for a distance race like a marathon, half marathon or other extended race, you know the crucial role that nutrition can play in not only your race-day performance, but in the weeks and months of training ahead of the race as well.

Balancing the changing demands of your body to support your training requires forethought and planning. But what about those who find joy in the everyday cadence of running, without the pressure of training for a specific race? What nutrition considerations should should you have if you just LIKE to run regularly?

Exploring your approach to nutrition can help you meet your fueling needs as a consistent runner, and could even help you uncover some undiscovered areas where you need adjustments.

Understanding Your Running Baseline

For consistent runners, understanding your body's baseline needs is a foundational first step. Factors like your daily mileage, workout intensity, and overall well-being play a role in shaping your nutritional requirements.

For example, if you’re already someone who skips breakfast, isn’t big on hydration, and is lacking in important nutrients like iron or potassium, those gaps in your diet will be exacerbated by adding regular running to the mix. This is particularly true for Black women, who historically have been shown to have a prevalence of anemia or iron deficiency, comparied to their Caucasian counterparts.

Nutritional areas like these are places where runners should be leaning in and often increasing the intake in their diets, so if you’re already lacking in these areas, you can end up dangerously behind, to where it can affect not only how you feel while running, but in your daily life as well.

Consulting with a nutritionist or healthcare professional can provide personalized insights into maintaining a balanced diet that aligns with your consistent running routine.

Prioritize Sustainable Energy

Running means that you’re burning more energy. Anyone who knows a runner knows that we are always, ALWAYS hungry. That’s because consistent running demands a sustained well of energy. While whole foods remain at the forefront, focus on incorporating complex carbohydrates that provide a gradual release of energy. Opt for whole grains, legumes, and starchy vegetables to fuel your runs and sustain vitality throughout the day.

Johns Hopkins Medicine explains, “Distance runners need more carbs than people who aren’t training. Under-eating carbohydrates can be hard on your body and affect your recovery after your run. Here’s why: Running uses both glucose in the blood and your stores of glycogen. Glucose is the form of sugar that circulates in the bloodstream, and glycogen is the sugar stored in your liver and muscles that acts as the primary fuel for endurance exercise.”

Eating enough carbs helps these energy stores stay ready to support your regular running habits. This means, essentially, that you want to be building these stores up regularly, not only right before or after your runs.

Listen Intuitively to Your Body

Regular runners often develop a unique connection with their bodies. You learn to notice differences in how you feel–when you had a great run, or if you ran out of gas sooner than usual, etc. Listen closely to your body's signals, adjusting your nutrition to match the ebb and flow of your running schedule.

If you engage in shorter, more frequent runs, your approach to meals and snacks can reflect the need for sustained energy throughout the day. If you’re running after work, for example, pack a healthy snack to make sure you’re not skipping out on the right nutrition before you head out after a long work day.

Flexibility in Timing

Unlike the structured training blocks of race-focused runners, consistent runners often have more flexibility in their workout timing. Many find keeping a routine similar to a race training schedule helpful, to get your body used to a regular timing of meals. However, if that’s not your style, embrace your meal “freedom” by adjusting your meal timing to suit your daily rhythm. Whether it's a pre-dawn jog or an evening sunset run, tailor your nutrition to complement your preferred running schedule.

Whatever your preferred timing, the key is to not skip out on important fueling.

Prioritize Nutrient Density

While micronutrients are always crucial, consistent runners may benefit from a heightened focus on nutrient-dense foods. These foods pack a powerful punch of vitamins and minerals, supporting overall health and aiding in recovery after your frequent runs.

We talked about carbs, but runners need proteins as well. Abbott, host of the World Marathon Majors, reminds distance runners that “protein is just as important for distance runners as it is for weightlifters — aiding in tissue repair, exercise recovery, injury prevention, immune function and the production of oxygen-carrying red blood cells.”

Ashley Ludlow, MS, RD, a member of Abbott's nutrition sales team as well as a Road Runners Club of America certified running coach, and triathlete and marathoner, recommends on the Abbott website that runners consume “between 0.5 to .9 grams of protein per pound of body weight each day. For a runner weighing about 150 pounds, that's 75 to 135 grams of protein a day.”

That’s a lot of protein, particularly for those not used to consuming that much per day. That means planning ahead to map out meals and make sure you’re getting enough to sustain you each day, even when you’re busy. Again, a nutritionist can help with dietary recommendations, supplement suggestions and more to get you on the right track.

Mindful Enjoyment of Treats

As you maintain a regular running routine, it’s so important allow yourself the pleasure of occasional treats. Remember that while a sweet reward is always nice to have after a long run, it’s important not to get into the mindset that you have to “earn” your treats. With all the calculating of nutrients, if you find yourself obsessing over calories or other macros, it might be time to pause.

You deserve that ice cream or cookie, whether you decided to run one mile or 10. So, savor it! Just make sure that you’ve gotten in all the other important nutrients as well. The key is mindful enjoyment—savoring the flavors within the context of a balanced nutrition plan.

In the world of consistent running, every step is a testament to your commitment to health and wellbeing. Tailoring your nutrition to the regular beat of your runs is a journey of self-discovery that can bring the harmony your body needs–even as a ‘regular’, non-race-training runner.

Embrace the unique needs of a runner’s body, and let your nutrition fuel not just your runs, but the vibrant and dynamic life you lead.

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