For professional runners, a nutrition strategy for training, racing, and recovery can make all the difference between making the podium and not finishing the race. For the rest of the field, nutrition greatly impacts how you feel during training and racing and is often neglected.  

Running does strange things to our bodies, because the blood flow diverts towards the muscles and away from the digestive system; leaving it somewhat dysfunctional.  

With the constant ‘jiggling around’, many runners could find themselves feeling nauseous or worse. They may end up having to revisit their race strategy, take extra time at aid stations, or even drop from the race.  

Weirdly, foods that may have worked well throughout your training can suddenly feel like the last thing on earth you want to eat. Or, the things you never normally would eat start to taste like nectar!

The first key lesson I learned for training and racing ultras is making sure I have enough fuel to account for my energy expenditure. Most watches or many apps now tell you how many calories you've burned from exercise. Remember this is on top of your normal calorie burn, just for existing. These trackers are not always super accurate, but they help me visualise effort versus energy expenditure during a training session or race. 

Primarily, my concern is maintaining a healthy and balanced diet. So when planning my nutrition strategy, I ensure I've plenty of carbohydrates (for energy stores), proteins (for muscle replenishment) and fats (to help the body absorb vitamins). I'll also incorporate plenty of fruit and vegetables, because fibre helps maintain a healthy gut along with other important vitamins and minerals.  

The exact proportions these should be eaten in do vary from person to person and the point of the training cycle. For me, at least half of my fuel is carbohydrate with the remaining split between fat and protein. Feeling fatigued or losing weight could mean the overall calorie intake is too low.  

As running leads to increased sweat production, I'll ensure I consume enough salts throughout training. Many foods have a high enough content naturally, but when racing in warmer climates, salt tablets could help avoid cramp.  

When considering specifically what to eat while training, remember to practice your race strategy fuelling. There will be less surprises if all the foods you eat have been tried and tested in advance.  

Some questions to consider are: 

What will be available at aid stations?

I find there’s no point carrying items that will be available to you anyway. Lots of races will list what provisions they have. 

Sweet or savoury?

I enjoy a mix of sweet and savoury. Even now, I tend to find aid stations can be quite sweet-heavy. This is good for a pick-me-up, but I enjoy both sweet and savoury for a longer-term fuelling strategy.  

What textures?

When considering what to carry, I'll mix flavours and textures. I generally avoid eating highly fatty or spicey food before or during running, but even this may be less relevant if that’s how you normally eat - everyone is different.

What’s the most weight-efficient way of carrying calories?

Consider powders to add to water. For example, gels are generally a good weight to calorie ratio. High calorie per weight foods such as dried meats, or crisps are also worth looking into. 

What’s the most cost-effective way of carrying calories?

Sometimes, gels and powders can be pricey. This means many of us are reluctant to rely too much on them in training and save them for race day. This is a dangerous strategy, as some gels are known to cause digestive issues and can be very sickly. Make sure you’ve tested every product before race day. 

What about the amount of packaging?

I generally find carrying a reusable sandwich bag great for storing a mix of foods and means you don’t have to eat things in their entirety. Often a bite of a sandwich is enough, rather than eating the whole thing. Foods like bananas come in natural packaging; or, you'll find some new bars made with an edible beeswax wrap. 

How easy is the food to eat on-the-go?

Some gels just end up in a sticky mess all over your hands, and subsequently your running pack. Make sure you test this out.

It’s also worth carrying a ‘bin’ with you. I use dog waste bags and then empty them at checkpoints in a race, or when I’m near a bin on a training run.  

When to eat?

I test the best times to eat foods while on-the-go; there's going uphill (harder to breath anyway, but a naturally slower pace) or downhill. I'll also create a more specific timing schedule.

I'll always ensure I eat before feeling hungry, and before I hit the wall. Once energy reserves are depleted it can take 30 minutes after eating to regain energy. So, I eat well in advance before NEEDING the energy.  

I pack gels, a mix of caffeine and non, peperami (yes yes I know, but something about the salty, fatty combo hits the spot for me when running) baby food fruit sachets (pureed fruit such as apple and banana, easy to eat on the go, refreshing, easy to eat only half of and I can pretty much always stomach them).

I'll also take crisps with the air squashed out the packets and tape put back over the hole to reduce the packet size. All these things are easy to carry and lightweight. At the checkpoint I look for fresh fruit - melon is fantastic - in addition to cheese and dried meats.

If I've packed a drop bag, I’ll bring something like a pain au raisin, ginger cake (good against nausea) and a slice of pizza. Food is personal, but if it works for you then you’re doing something right.  

Don’t be afraid to stick to ‘normal’ foods like sandwiches. I saw recently The North Face pro runner Elsey Davies, using mashed potato with ketchup in a soft flask (apparently you need to remove the nozzle to get it out) — so get creative! If it works for you, then stick with it.