As Marathon season beckons- Training gets underway in earnest. One thing which is not in doubt is the level of commitment and effort put into the training, a very important aspect of any marathon or long run, however one aspect I do see overlooked time and time again is Diet / Nutrition! 

The training for the marathon can be gruelling, and let’s face it the vast majority of the runners don’t have the luxury of a dietician / nutritionist, a coach, and aren’t afforded sufficient time to rest and recover. Unfortunately these royalties only extend to the professional athletes. The early starts, the late night runs, the weekend runs; these all take their toll on our bodies - and without sufficient good nutrition in our diets our bodies can suffer quite badly from this, both physically and mentally! 

 When it comes to foods for training you’ll want all macros covered, macros being Protein, Fat, Carbs and plenty of good fibre as well, these will all help with giving you an abundance of energy for those long sessions, as well as help with the recovery process after each one. Be aware your muscle glycogen stores will deplete after each session, and after the race itself – it’s important you restore these stores in order for your body to recover sufficiently and support you for another training run a day or two days later.  The majority won’t be hitting sub 3hrs in a marathon, so you’ve got to think about drip feeding your body with energy constantly during the training sessions and the race, i.e. slow releasing carbohydrates are ideal for this. 

 What exactly do “slow releasing” carbs do - slow releasing carbohydrates take the body longer to breakdown and convert into energy, they are often referred to as a “complex carbohydrate. What this basically means is your body will get the benefit of this “slow release” of energy over an extended period - perfect for the those long runs or training runs.  We all have busy day jobs, and maybe can’t afford to sit down and prep our meals for each session - so let’s take oats as an example as a quick, simple and easy pre or post training snack to have and help with your training, we’ll take a look at the Nutritional Breakdown:- For Example, in a bag of porridge oats, the following nutritional values apply per 100g;

• Carbohydrates:    62g
• Protein:               11.1g
• Fat:                     6.3g
• Fibre:                   9g 

All macros are covered and you’ve got an abundance of energy ready to be slowly released into your body.

Don’t underestimate the power of the humble and simple oat, it’s among the healthiest grain on earth - full of vitamins, minerals, fire and antioxidants, and can also aid in weight loss, lower blood sugar levels and aid in a reduced risk of heart disease.