Marathon Season Is Approaching: How to Fuel Your Endurance Sessions

As marathon season nears, this DH Training Club blog shifts its focus to endurance-based, cardiovascular work. Nutrition becomes essential for sustaining energy, optimizing performance, and aiding recovery. Whether you're tackling endurance training for the first time or aiming for a PB, this blog outlines how your nutrition outside the gym can boost your performance inside the gym with Dean.

Nutrition for Marathon Training: Fueling Your Endurance

Fuelling for Long-Duration, Low-Intensity Training

Endurance training often involves long, steady-state runs at low intensity. During these sessions, the body primarily uses fat for fuel. This depends on exercise intensity and recent food intake. As intensity or duration increases, the body relies more on carbohydrates (CHO) to maintain performance.

Before the Session: Build Your Energy Reserves

A small carbohydrate-rich snack helps before running. Options include a banana, toast with honey, fruit juice, or jelly sweets. Consuming this snack 30–60 minutes prior can top off glycogen stores without causing digestive discomfort. It's vital to prepare your body adequately for the upcoming challenge.

During the Session: Maintain Your Energy

If your run lasts 90 minutes or longer, aim to consume 30–60g of carbohydrates per hour. You can use energy gels, sports drinks, or whole-food choices like dates or dried fruit. A helpful tip: train your nutritional strategies during exercise. Be patient—too much carbohydrate too soon can cause stomach upset. Understanding your body’s response is key to successful endurance training.

Timing CHO Intake: Stay Ahead of Fatigue

Start refueling before you feel fatigued, typically around the 45-minute mark. Continue this practice at regular intervals (every 20–30 minutes) to maintain steady energy levels. Having a plan in place beforehand removes guesswork and prevents last-minute panic.

Pre-Run Fuelling: Setting the Foundation

What you eat before endurance training impacts your glycogen stores. For longer events, such as half marathons or longer, fuelling becomes crucial the day or two before. For regular endurance training, aim for a meal 2–3 hours before training. Focus on easily digestible carbohydrates, moderate protein, and low fat. Good options include:

• Porridge with banana

• A bagel with fruit jam

• Pasta with pesto

• Risotto

• Noodles

  
  

These provide carbohydrates to fuel higher-intensity endurance training.

Mid-Run Nutrition: Keeping Energy Levels Steady

For endurance sessions over 60–90 minutes, mid-run fuelling is essential. This helps avoid ‘hitting the wall.’ Options range from energy gels and sports drinks, like Lucozade, to natural sources, including dates and pretzels. These are all quick-acting carbohydrate sources. Elite athletes often engage in ‘gut training’ to discover what foods and drinks work best for their performance and digestion.

Hydration is equally important — sip water and electrolytes regularly to prevent dehydration, especially as the weather warms up. Remember, staying hydrated can significantly impact your endurance.

Post-Run Recovery: Refuelling and Repair

After a long endurance session, your muscles need replenishment. Unlike strength training with Dean, endurance training requires a higher carbohydrate intake for recovery. The ideal post-run meal includes a mix of protein and carbohydrates. Look for options like:

• A smoothie

• Chocolate milk

• Lean protein with rice

  
  

Consume carbohydrates as quickly as possible after your session. A useful guideline is 1g of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight. However, if your endurance effort was low-intensity and you're aiming to reduce body fat, delaying carbohydrate intake can prolong fat oxidation. Understanding your body's requirements can aid your recovery.

Exploring Nutrition's Role in Endurance

A shift from our usual strength focus, this blog kicks off a mini-series on how nutrition can support your endurance training. In elite sport, Team Sky (now INEOS) pioneered several training and nutrition strategies to maximize cycling performance. Some of these strategies will be shared on the DH Training Club Instagram page in the coming weeks.

Conclusion: Your Path to Endurance

Hopefully, this blog gives you valuable insights as you take on endurance training. Whether you’re pounding the pavement or getting the gears turning on the bike, remember that nutrition plays a crucial role. Proper fuelling can enhance your performance, leading to faster times and improved stamina. Embrace these strategies and elevate your training.

Remember, as you pursue your endurance goals, nutrition strategies are essential to optimize your success.