We're continuing my Fuel Your Run blog series by exploring what to eat before a long run, which is any run >60-90 minutes. These nutrition strategies also apply to anyone doing an endurance acitivty, including triathletes, cyclists, swimmers, Peloton enthusiasts, and others. There may be some logistical differences, but the fueling principles remain the same.
So many athletes I work with struggle to fuel adequately before long runs, and I get it. You don't want to wake up even earlier on a weekend to eat and digest more, or maybe you're worried about having stomach issues during your run and so you eat minimally. Thankfully, these are solvable problems, and they're well-worth solving if you care about your health and performance.
In this blog post, I'm going to cover:
If you missed my last blog post on how to fuel a short run, including general tips on what to eat and drink before ANY workout, I'll be building on these concepts today. And if you want this content summarized in a FREE 4-page download, join my monthly newsletter!
You need to eat more carbs before a long run
You need to eat more carbs before a long run compared to a shorter run. That is because carbs (glucose) are the preferred fuel source for your working muscles, but your carb stores (glycogen) are limited in the body.
For longer runs (>60min), and especially once you go over 90 minutes, you drastically lower your carb stores if you don't eating anything during the run. Eating well beforehand while also taking on additional carbs during the session helps your energy stores last longer, and prevents you from blowing up during your run and feeling like hot garbage after.
For shorter runs (<60min), it's important to consume adequate carbs for overall health as well as for performance in that session, but you're not depleting your carb stores in such a short period of time.
It's not just the meal right before a long run that you have to consider when it comes to carbs. If you're doing a 2+ hour run, for example, you should also eat more carbs at dinner the night before. This blog post on everyday eating for endurance athletes provides more information on how to adjust your carb and other nutrient intake to different types of activities and training phases.
If you're training for an endurance event, you must practice what you plan to eat for dinner the night before and on race morning. Keep in mind what you like and tolerate but also logistical things like what will be available when figuring out what to eat. If you don't have access to a kitchen, for example, you need to plan accordingly.
Guidelines on what to eat and drink before a long run
Here are some research-based guidelines for carbs, protein, and fluid that you can practice before you head out on your next run >60 minutes.
If you're looking for a general goal to target, try to eat 60-90g of carbs 1-3 hours before you start your run. My post on what to eat before a short run includes many different food examples to help you figure out what 60-90g of carbs looks like.
You can individualize this recommendation by calculating 1-2g carbs per kg bodyweight, and consume this amount of carbs 1-2 hours before you begin. With this equation, the minimum amount of carbs you should eat is your bodyweight in pounds divided by 2.2, as that gives kg and you shouldn't be consuming below 1g/kg of carbs.
Along with the carbs, aim to have a small amount of protein (e.g. 8-10g). This prevents you from getting hungry during your run, and also gives you a jumpstart on the recovery process. If you're cycling or doing another non-running sport, you may find that you want or need more than 10g of protein here. Refer back to my last blog post for examples of popular pre-exercise carbs plus proteins that will help you reach these goals.
You also need adequate fluids so that you can start your run well-hydrated. First, make sure you're meeting baseline daily hydration needs by taking your weight in pounds and dividing by 2, to give ounces per day. Then, account for what you lose in sweat by measuring your sweat rate.
A general fluid goal before a long run is to drink 16-24oz of fluid 1-3 hours before you start, and remember that this includes coffee, tea, water, juice, sports drink etc. You may need more fluid if you are a heavy sweater. Include electrolytes if it's warm out or you're a heavy and/or salty sweater, as this will improve your hydration status and help get more carbs in. Read Hydration for Endurance Athletes for more info on this topic.
Lastly, a very common and useful strategy before a long run is to have a final top-up of fuel 5-15min before you start. This should be about 20-30g of carbs, so a gel, chews, sports drink, or something along those lines are great options.
Visuals are always helpful, so here's an example that follows the above guidelines of 1-2g/kg of carbs + protein + fluids 2 hours before a longer training session. Remember, all of this applies to triathletes, cyclists, swimmers, and other endurance athletes.
In this example, a bagel is about 50-60g of carbs. You add peanut butter for protein plus either honey, jam or banana for more carbs, and you get our fluids from water, tea, coffee and/or sports drink.
I often build sports drink into race morning plans, as it's such an easy way to increase carb intake, especially if appetite is low. Plus, you get your electrolytes and fluids in! This sample meal meal with sports drink can easily reach 110g carbs, which is still less than 2g/kg, just to put it into perspective.
You could also do oatmeal made with milk or soy milk, pancakes or waffles with fruit and syrup, or there are of course many other options. Again, you have to keep in mind what's feasible on competition day, if that is your goal, as well as what you prefer and tolerate.
How to eat for afternoon or evening long runs
If you are running long in the afternoon or evening, you need to make a few adjustments to your meals and snacks throughout the day to make sure you don't have GI issues later on.
For breakfast, eat normally but with a focus on carbs - aim for 1-2g/kg carbs plus 20-40g+ protein (this is general goal, and should be individualized), some fat (not too much), and limit high fiber foods. Drink 8-16oz fluid which can include your coffee, tea, juice, water, or sports drink. If you are a heavy and/or salty sweater, or if it's warm out, this is where adding sports drink is very helpful.
For lunch, eat similarly to breakfast but with slightly fewer carbs (1g/kg is fine). If this is your last meal prior to your long run, make sure that what you're consuming is easy to digest (aka lower fiber and fat). If you're not running, and thus not jostling your stomach as much, you may be able to tolerate some slightly higher fiber foods (eg more fruit/veg, whole grains etc). Tolerance is always very individual!
Depending on the timing of your run, you may need a carb-rich snack 60-90min before you start. Again, aim for 1g/kg carbs, limit fat and fiber, and include 8oz fluid. If you're going soon after lunch (within 1-2 hours), you don't need to do this, but you should include the final top-up of fuel recommended previously.
See below for an example day of meals and snacks prior to an afternoon session.
For breakfast, bagel with banana and PB is still great, but we're adding a good dose of protein as we don't want to be starving in an hour or two. This is where something like a low-fat greek yogurt is great, or you could also do cottage cheese or eggs or whatever else you enjoy. Fluids can come from coffee, tea, juice, sports drink, etc.
For lunch, something simple like a turkey sandwich on white bread is a good choice - or even better, a big white roll as that can get more carbs in, and then pretzels or graham crackers or whatever other simple carbs you enjoy plus fluids.
Snacks can be lower fiber carbs like grahams, fig bars, an energy bar, banana etc - and some sports drink, if desired.
What to do if you're struggling to eat before long runs
If you're struggling to eat anything or eat enough before a long run, don't worry - you'll get there with some practice. The gut is very adaptable to nutrition training, and with enough time and experimentation, the stomach can learn to tolerate larger volumes of foods and fluids, and the intestines can adapt to absorb more carbs. This means improved performance and reduced likelihood and severity of GI issues.
Start with small amounts of easy-to-digest low fat low fiber carbs like sports products (drinks, chews, gels etc), applesauce, graham crackers, white toast, rice cakes etc and slowly work your way up. Start with liquids if you're particularly sensitive. The important thing is to stick to carbs only, be consistent, start with small amounts, track what works and what doesn't, and gradually increase.
Here is a very simple example:
Obviously what this all looks like will vary based on what's specifically going on with you.
Training the gut can't be rushed, and can take many weeks if not months. If you continue to struggle with gut tolerance, then you need to rule out other causes of GI issues (there are many). This is a great reason to seek out the help of a Sports Dietitian, who can work with you closely to figure out the underlying problem and how to solve it!
That wraps up the basics of what to eat before a long run! If you want all of the above in a FREE 4-page digital download, join my monthly newsletter!
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