Managing nutritional requirements for healthy half-marathon training?

MachiavelliNZ · January 2015

Hi there,
I'm currently in the process of doing half-marathon training. Until now, my primary goal had been weight loss and it's going well. I have been losing aggressively and so I have become moderately accustomed to a low calorie diet (net 1500 cals at the moment due to the recent suggested MFP minimum but I was eating net of 1200 a little while).

Now that my runs are getting longer it has occurred to me that the calories burned, and therefore the amount of calories that I will want to eat back, is going to go through the roof. As an example, my food goal today began at 1500 cals but I gained back 1200 exercise calories. How on earth do runners do it when they start to get up to half-marathon or marathon distances? Am I just going to have to force myself to eat like an absolute monster? How unhealthy would it be for my training and my body if I consistently failed to eat back my exercise calories (bear in mind that I'm already at an aggressive deficit of approx 1kg/wk weight loss).

Any tips about nutrition for distance runners or advice about keeping healthy and strong while doing this kind of thing would be much appreciated.

SuggaD · January 2015

I find it hard to eat back all my exercise calories. It's not an exact science but you should be eating some back. I use long run, long cycle days to indulge in things I wouldn't eat regularly. For example, I hit a buffet, have a large dessert, huge stack of pancakes, a pizza, big burrito, ect.

chunkytfg · January 2015

Don't take this the wrong way but if you're in need of weight loss then at one point or another you didn't need to force yourself to eat those calories so it shouldn't really be a problem to find ways to consume them should you choose.

Personally I just go on feel. Normal days where i'm not doing my long runs I just eat normally making sure I hit roughly my daily allowance and on the thursday evening and friday before my long run staurday and long bike sunday I will eat more to make sure my body is properly fuelled.

annette_15 · January 2015

I dunno... I ate 2300 calories of pretty healthy food today and had no problem with it lol. You just have to plan for it

MachiavelliNZ · January 2015

chunkytfg wrote: »

if you're in need of weight loss then at one point or another you didn't need to force yourself to eat those calories

Yes but 3000 calories of good food that I am supposed to be eating is a lot harder to figure out how to tackle than just stuffing chocolate in my face until I've hit my calorie count.

You have a profile pic of a runner. Is that you? If so, what do you eat on days where you run high numbers of miles? What are your favourite recovery foods?

SuggaD wrote: »

I hit a buffet, have a large dessert, huge stack of pancakes, a pizza, big burrito, ect.

Is it really that simple though? Fitness buffs talk about trying to aim for "good fats" and having lean meats and raw foods. I mean, if all it takes is for me to eat an entire pizza I'm down for that... but that seems like the wrong track?

SuggaD · January 2015

MachiavelliNZ wrote: »

chunkytfg wrote: »

if you're in need of weight loss then at one point or another you didn't need to force yourself to eat those calories

Yes but 3000 calories of good food that I am supposed to be eating is a lot harder to figure out how to tackle than just stuffing chocolate in my face until I've hit my calorie count.

You have a profile pic of a runner. Is that you? If so, what do you eat on days where you run high numbers of miles? What are your favourite recovery foods?

SuggaD wrote: »

I hit a buffet, have a large dessert, huge stack of pancakes, a pizza, big burrito, ect.

Is it really that simple though? Fitness buffs talk about trying to aim for "good fats" and having lean meats and raw foods. I mean, if all it takes is for me to eat an entire pizza I'm down for that... but that seems like the wrong track?

Pizza is pretty healthy, in my opinion. When I have a tough ride coming up, it is actually a must for me. The night before, I'll find a great little pizza place and order a medium veggie pie w/ grilled chicken and eat the entire thing (love the stares I get, lol). The next day, beastmode. For running, plenty of carbs the night before and after the run, I eat out. Ran 15K today and after the run, went to IHOP. Ordered healthy (oatmeal w/ skim milk and banana, Chicken fajita egg white omelet w/o sour cream, coffee w/ half and half), but still around 800 calories, which isn't a typical meal for me. Ate out again for lunch. Again ordered fairly healthy, but higher calorie foods than I'd eat normally. Extra calories gone.

I and most people would consider me a very healthy eater, and I still eat lots of pizza and dessert foods. I just make much better choices than I used to and I bake most of my own treats. You'll need to fuel your long runs, and refuel your body afterwards for optimal performance, which is my ultimate goal. So eat the calories back, but I recommend making pretty good choices as to how you use those extra calories.

MachiavelliNZ · January 2015

Wow thanks, SuggaD, that was a really helpful breakdown of what you do and great advice. I think I'm starting to get the picture.

tkillion810 · January 2015

My goal is and has been to eat for performance and recovery. With that in mind, I time my higher carb meals prior to my runs, aiming for about 65% of my day to be carbs. I always follow my long runs (anything over 60 mins) with a recovery shake. My recovery shakes are not low in calorie, but they contains what my body needs to recover quickly and get back out there the next day. An example would be a cherry berry recovery shake - tart cherry juice (not concentrate), frozen banana, some kale leaves destemmed, Vega sport protein, coconut water, frozen blueberries, frozen strawberries. You can also add hemp hearts, chia seeds, raw cacao powder or maca powder to vary it up. Doing this I have no problem eating back my exercise calories.

acheben · January 2015

I'm a runner and I try to net about 1500 cals per day on average. Feel free to look at my diary or friend me.

I tend to drink some reduced fat chocolate milk after my longer runs and I usually plan and eat more calorie dense food on run days. If I don't eat back most of my exercise cals the day of my run, I usually eat them during the rest of the week.

Managing nutritional requirements for healthy half-marathon training?

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