How to nail your nutrition for ultra marathon running

Trail and ultramarathon running comes with its own set of challenges. The trails can be technical, you have to carry food and fluid sources with you (make friends with the vest!) and conditions in training can be unique with wind, heat and altitude influencing your run! Let’s break down trail running nutrition into three parts – pre training, during training and recovery nutrition.

Before Training:

Start with a meal containing carbohydrate and protein at least 2 hours ahead of your session. If you are new to eating before training or experience stomach issues while training, start with smaller meals further out from your session.

Examples of easy pre training meals:

• Crumpets with nut butter and banana (can add honey or maple syrup)
• Oats with Greek yoghurt, banana and honey
• Toast with peanut butter and a side of yoghurt and fruit

You could also include a high carbohydrate snack ~60 minutes before your session to top up your fuel needs. This strategy can be really useful especially if your main meal before a session is lunch time and you plan on training after work. Some examples could include:

• Banana and yoghurt pouch
• Handful of dried fruit and cheese/crackers
• Piece of toast with honey

During Training:

During your training you will need to take on nutrition. Your carbohydrate requirements per hour of exercise varies between individuals and may need to increase over the course of a longer session. An example of estimates are:

• 1-3 hours of running – 30-60g per hour
• 3-6 hours of running – 60-90g per hour

Your gut needs to learn to tolerate fuelling while moving, so start with 30g per hour if you are new to fuelling and built up to 60-90g per hour over 6 weeks or so. Gels are popular among runners because the are, with a little practice, easy to consume, light to carry and a source of quick acting carbohydrate with a gel impacting blood glucose levels within 20 minutes of consumption. However, some people do not tolerate gels well, don’t enjoy the taste or experience flavour fatigue over the course of a longer event which may impact on your fuelling strategy. Here are some other options of fuelling sources you may like to experiment with:

20-30g per hour of exercise looks like:

• 1 x gel
• 3 x sports chews (such as Gu blocks)
• Sachet of supermarket electrolyte
• White bread sandwich with fruit jam
• 4-5 party mix lollies
• Medium banana
• Handful of banana chips

It is also important to note that during training sessions or events >6 hours your digestion may be impaired and whole food options such as sandwiches, bananas and pancakes might be more difficult to tolerate. Like anything with running it is important to practice any fuelling strategy in training focusing on:

• Your individual carbohydrate tolerance and needs
• What food or supplement options work best for you
• Your ability to eat on the move!

Protein and fats during training:

Ultra marathon and trail training sessions are all about endurance. What makes these races unique is the time on feet and this impacts fuelling. If you are training for more than 4 hours you might find that carbohydrate only fuel sources leave you still feeling hungry as you are missing meals or snacks you would have usually. As an example if you were training from 9:00am  - 2:00pm then you would be missing opportunity for your usual lunch. If you find that you are feeling hungry you can take on small amounts of protein whilst training such as:

• Nut butter – used in sandwiches
• Sports fuel drinks – some contain protein
• Baby food pouches that contain protein sources such protein containing grains like oats or quinoa

Be mindful that your body doesn’t use protein or fat as a fuel source while you are running, just carbohydrates, so you don’t have a need for protein unless you are feeling hungry while training. There is no evidence that taking on protein during an endurance session improves performance, but it may improve recovery.

General Fuelling Tips:

I encourage you to start fuelling early, and frequently! By following your training plan you should be able to estimate your fuelling needs for a session and distribute them evenly through out each hour of training. Spreading out your fuelling over each 30-60 minute block helps to ensure a steady supply of fuel to your muscles but also helps to reduce your risk of stomach upsets.

It goes without saying but do practice eating on the move. Think practically of how you will carry food and fluid. Cut pieces of food into small pieces to make eating on the move easier (such as sandwich quarters, pieces of granola bar, pancakes chopped into bite sized pieces.

Alarm setting reminders to fuel on your sports watch can be a helpful reminder to fuel at regular intervals. It can be easy to be caught up in the act of running when you get your flow going, especially with those epic trail views!

Hydration:

Much like fuelling, hydration needs are unique to the individual, event and training conditions. Aiming for 500-700mls per hour is ideal and start to take sips early and often, starting 10-15 minutes into the run if you can. Drinking from a hydration pack can take practice. Many runners wonder if they need electrolytes or if they can hydrate with water alone. If you are running for more than 2 hours then electrolytes are recommended to help:

• Replace sodium loss
• Avoid hyponatremia (low sodium levels caused by excessive drinking).
• Contribute to carbohydrate intake if your electrolyte solution contains glucose
• Reduce risk of cramps
• Reduce risk of digestion issues
• Improve tolerance of gels and other quick acting carbohydrates

Post training: recovery nutrition

Many runners focus on fuelling during a session but forget and neglect recovery nutrition. The goals of recovery nutrition are to:

• Rehydrate
• Repair muscles, tendons and tissues involved in running
• Replace glycogen stores lost or used in training

You can meet the above objectives by including:

• Hydration
• Protein – aiming for 20-30g in your recovery meal
• Carbohydrate foods

Often appetite can be impacted by training for such long periods of time so something quick and easy can be more tempting than a large meal such as:

• Flavoured milk + banana OR
• Smoothie – using protein base liquid such as soy or cow’s milk, adding carbohydrate sources like dates, banana or oats

Evidence suggests optimising recovery nutrition within 60 minutes of completing training is ideal for reducing DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) and given training in trails usually involves commuting to the start of a trail it might be some time before you are home or have access to whole foods. Again this is where simple ideas like flavoured milks can be ideal (note there are plenty of dairy free options available nowadays also!).