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Summary
On episode 487 of 40+ Fitness, Coach Allan and running coach Rachel Everett finish their two-part series on nutrition for runners, breaking race-day fueling into a sugar-burner strategy and a keto strategy.
They cover what and when to eat before a race, roughly how many calories and carbs to take in per hour while running, and why testing your fueling plan in training matters far more than any single pre-race meal.
The episode closes with answers to listener questions on losing weight while training for an endurance race and on managing hydration and electrolytes as a heavy sweater.
Links
- https://40plusfitness.com
Key Takeaways
- Pre-race food should be low-fat, low-volume, and eaten well ahead of the start. The RRCA suggests a small snack of complex carbs with a little protein, like half a bagel with peanut butter, 30 to 60 minutes before a shorter run or two to three hours before a longer one, so digestion doesn’t compete with blood flow to the legs.
- Traditional “carb loading” the night before a race is mostly a myth. What actually matters is eating well the whole week leading into the race; the race-eve meal just needs to be familiar, easy to digest, and not so large it disrupts sleep.
- During a race, aim to replace about 25 to 35 percent of burned calories per hour. That works out to roughly 100 to 120 calories, mostly from about 30 grams of easily digestible carbs found in a single gel, chew, or gummy serving.
- Test every fueling product in training, never for the first time on race day. Gels and chews vary widely in texture and taste, and how your stomach handles a product at mile six can be completely different from how it handles it at mile 20.
- Keto-adapted runners can often go long distances on very little food. Rachel has run 15 miles on just an electrolyte drink with clean carbs, and the body can convert fat and protein into glucose as glycogen runs low, though this is highly individual and under-studied.
- A cooked-and-cooled potato becomes a resistant starch that fuels without spiking blood sugar. Allan uses refrigerated potatoes rolled in salt as a cheap, easy-to-carry alternative to commercial keto fueling products.
- After the race, hydrate first, then focus on protein. Thirst can masquerade as hunger right after a hard effort, and protein is what actually rebuilds the muscle you just broke down.
- Endurance training can support weight loss, but a post-run hunger spike can erase the deficit. Severe calorie or nutrient restriction while training also risks REDS (relative energy deficiency in sport) and lost menstrual cycles in female athletes, so nutrient-dense eating matters more than cutting calories aggressively.
- Never try anything new on race day. Whatever fueling and hydration strategy worked in training, carb-based or keto, fasted or fed, is the plan to stick with when the race actually starts.
“It’s more important for you to take care of yourself than it is for you to PR.”
Coach Allan Misner
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