Posted in Run and tagged run, run training, nutrition, marathons

Emma Barraclough, Product Development Manager at For Goodness Shakes, explains how having a well-planned approach to your nutrition will help to give you the confidence that you can tackle the marathon.

The winter to spring period is a great time to really build up your marathon training if you are targeting a spring or early summer marathon. The earlier sunrises make it easier to get outside in the mornings, and as the weather starts changing into spring it makes getting outside that little bit nicer.

Ensuring your kit works well for you is essential, and this is a great time to find your favourites that work and allow you to train at your best. As well as your shoes and clothes, this includes your nutrition which is hugely important for getting the most out of training and ensuring your body is in the best condition it can be at all times, all the way up to race day! Make sure you have enough macronutrients in your everyday diet to fuel and repair your body – carbs, protein and healthy fats all have their place in this. Also maintain a good level of vitamins and minerals through fruit, vegetables, nuts and varied food sources.

Staying well hydrated is the key focus during training, especially if you do some of your sessions indoors on the treadmill. Keeping a bottle of water on your desk at work is a good practice to get into so that you can continually drink all day. Using electrolytes such as For Goodness Shakes Nectar Hydro Tabs (20 tabs) tabs in your bottle during training helps to make sure you maintain a good fluid balance by replacing the key salts lost as you sweat. 

As your training load increases your demand for protein will also increase. We continually turn protein over in the body naturally everyday, and this turnover increases with increased training volume. As your runs extend in length, you also run the risk of breaking down your lean muscle mass for energy if you end up in a large energy deficit. Taking in some high quality protein immediately after your training runs helps you to avoid this, and provides a pool of amino acids to help rebuild any damaged muscles. Carbohydrates are also very important, as they form the most accessible energy sources for your muscles – your glycogen stores. Recovery shakes such as For Goodness Shakes Recovery Drink contain complete proteins which provide all the amino acids your body requires, and also contain rapidly digested carbohydrates to help replenish your glycogen stores. For Goodness Shakes Recovery Drink are also made with key vitamins and minerals to help support energy release.

A ready to drink shake like For Goodness Shakes Recovery Drink provides you with a convenient format that tastes great and you can enjoy straight from the fridge or your kit bag within the ideal 30 minute window post-training. This is when your body responds best to food and nutrients – your muscles absorb them quicker immediately after exercise, and therefore repair and restock themselves quicker, so that you are ready to go again in your next session.

About the author

NChamanian's picture
Nassrin Chamanian
Published on: 01 Nov 2018

Pretty OK at bikes. Enthusiasm outstrips ability.