Today I want to talk about something important: FOOD!
I love food. I’m sure you do, too. Runners know that food is our fuel, our comfort, and the key to maximizing our recovery.
And if you can get your nutrition right, you’d feel powerful on every run, reach your goal weight, and you’d get maximum energy and recovery from every meal.
Just imagine what that means: you’d wake up energized, hit your goal paces with ease, and be able to recover faster than ever.
But I’ll admit, it’s easier said than done. With so much conflicting advice out there… how do you know exactly what to do (and what not to do)?
Fortunately, journalist Sally Tamarkin (I’ve worked with her several times over the years and am always impressed by her process) has published a very helpful piece on BuzzFeed to weed out the myths about food, weight loss, and fueling:
13 Weight Loss Myths You Should Stop Believing Yesterday
Even if you don’t need or want to lose weight right now, this is an excellent research-based article about food – not just weight loss.
And you’ll also notice that some of the same themes come up in this Q&A I did with Anne last year:
Notice the trend: if countless Registered Dietitians are all saying the same thing, shouldn’t we listen to the experts? I think so!
What can better nutrition choices do for your running?
We know that food is critical for success with running (and not just any food). Avoid the myths in the article above and you’ll be in a much better position to take advantage of your training.
If you avoid these myths, you’ll be able to run and recover faster.
And today, I’m going to prove that.
Meet Monte: a middle-aged runner who wanted to run his first marathon. But he didn’t want to just finish, he wanted to finish strong.
See, Monte is a medical volunteer at the NYC Marathon so he knows how important fueling can be for the marathon.
While he had done a few half marathons, he had never run a marathon before. Monte told me his nutrition was “haphazard” so he really wanted to get both pre-race and race fueling right for his marathon.
He used Strength Running’s nutrition guidance to fine-tune his diet and the results are extraordinary:
- His nutrition felt more “focused” than ever before and “fine-tuned” to his specific goal of running a marathon
- Avoided the many pitfalls during the infamous marathon taper
- He knew exactly how to eat the night before, morning of, and during the marathon itself
- Reached his goal weight 8 weeks before the race
And as for his finish time? Monte ran an impressive 3:51 for his first marathon ever. He told me:
I felt good at the end, even running faster mile splits during the last 3-4 miles. Fueling, just as you recommended, worked well and I did not hit the wall.
Two weeks after the race, I’m back to my goal weight (after an 8 lbs post race excursion 😉
Not only do I love how Monte felt great at the end of the marathon, but that he allowed himself some indulgence after the race!
Note: my Nutrition for Runners partner Anne Mauney MPH, RD actually recommend the practice of shunning perfection. Eating well is hard enough – let’s not try to be perfect!
How to Dial in Your Nutrition Like Monte
Now let’s relate this all back to YOU. This is the most important feedback I got from Monte:
The program helped me focus on what I needed to do and avoid all the mistakes and misconceptions.
Here you’ll see the most important issues are two-fold:
- Understand what to focus on
- Understand what to avoid
It’s not enough to have endless information – you need the RIGHT information without any of the WRONG information.
Far too many runners think, “I can just find some tips online…” and then spend weeks sifting through every nutrition theory ever concocted.
The worst part?
Paralysis by analysis. Information overload. There’s so much conflicting advice that you don’t do anything!
Rather than diving into the Google Hole of Doom, get our curated advice that:
- Will not mislead you into thinking you need fancy food, a scale, or calculator to eat well
- Includes no inaccurate or ineffective diet tips that simply waste your time
- Instead… exclusively focuses on what really works
Get started and sign up here and I’ll send you two free audio seminars with Anne and I answering your toughest nutrition questions.
And I’ll also include our Registered Dietitian-approved shopping list in a few days 🙂
They’re my gift to you for taking the first step to recovering faster, boosting your energy, and racing a lot faster!
