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Nutritional Strategy for Female Athletes Running a Marathon

Written By

Science in Sport Team

5 minutes

Nutrition plays a key role in supporting athletic performance and optimal health. This is particularly important for female athletes where under fuelling was found to be prevalent across a range of sports1,2, including marathon runners3.

Women that have a low energy and carbohydrate intake can often see negative impacts on their sporting performance and post-exercise recovery. It also increases the risk of injury and can have a detrimental effect on health, including bone health and menstrual function4. Having a solid understanding of sports nutrition and being able to implement the below 5 key principles daily can play a key role in supporting both the performance and the health of female marathon runners.

1.  EAT ENOUGH

Consuming sufficient energy throughout the day to support day-to-day life and training requirements represents the foundation of every female runner’s diet. This is often unmet by female endurance athletes. Concerns related to body weight and composition can drive this low energy and carbohydrate intake in female athletes, driven by the mantra that the lower the body weighs, the better the performance. This view is too simplistic and can lead to nutritional deficiencies that can have drastic negative effects both on performance and on health.

Female endurance runners expend ~3000 kcal per day 5, the amount influenced however by the volume and intensity of training performed, physical activity levels outside of training, as well as the body weight of the athlete. Female marathon runners should adjust this based on their individual needs and training demands.

Some tips for ensuring an optimal daily energy intake:

  • Create a routine where you eat three main meals and 1-2 snacks at similar times each day. Avoid skipping meals.
  • Consume a carbohydrate-rich meal or snack before your training session.
  • Prioritize nutrition as part of your post-training recovery. E.g. REGO Clear
  • Adjust your carbohydrate intake based on the demands of your training. For example, a longer run sessions will require more energy / carbohydrates that day.
  • Include foods rich in unsaturated fats such as omega 3 fatty acids in your diet or supplement with Omega 3 tablets.

2.  FUEL YOUR TRAINING SESSIONS

FUELLING PRE-TRAINING

Current nutrition guidelines recommend consuming between 1-4g per kg of body weight of carbohydrates in your pre-training meal6. This meal should be consumed 1-4 hours before your training session.

A high carbohydrate meal ~3g per kg of body weight should be consumed 2-3 hours before hard training sessions; and meals/snacks containing less than 1kg of body weight of carbohydrate should be consumed ~1h prior to training and are better suited to lower intensity training sessions.

Examples of pre-training meals:

APPROPRIATE TIMEKG OF BODY WEIGHT CAROBHYDRATEMEAL
2-3h before training~2g300ml of milk/almond milk, 100g of oats, handful of blueberries and one teaspoon of honey
2-3h before training~2g100g of dry penne pasta, 30g of tomato sauce, handful of spinach, 100g grilled chicken breast
1h before training1-1.5gSmoothie made with: 250ml milk/almond milk, two large spoons of Greek or plant-based yoghurt, one banana, 2-3 strawberries and one teaspoon of honey
<1h before training1-1.5gHigh carbohydrate snack – e.g. GO Energy Bake, GO Energy Bar

FUELLING DURING TRAINING

Consuming carbohydrates during your training session can enhance both your physical and mental performance6. The total amount of carbohydrate required depends on the duration of your session:

  • Training session lasting up to 1 hour: Up to 30g carbohydrate per hour
  • Training sessions lasting between 1-2.5 hours: 30-60g carbohydrate per hour
  • Training sessions lasting more than 2.5 hours: 60-90g carbohydrate per hour

You can use a variety of carbohydrate sources to fuel your training sessions, such as energy gels, energy chews, sports drinks, cereal bars and dried fruits. Practice with different sources and increase your carbohydrate intake gradually so that your stomach can get used to digesting food while you exercise, this will help with limiting gastrointestinal distress during exercise.

SUFFICIENT FLUIDS

Sweat rates vary substantially between athletes, your focus should be on ensuring that you don’t lose over 2% of your body weight during your training session. Female athletes should ingest 400-800ml per hour of exercise4, with the exact amount depending on your sweat rate. If you are training in hot environments, consider increasing your fluid intake and add electrolytes to your drink. Electrolytes (especially high sodium levels) will enhance water retention and help with maintaining an electrolyte balance.

3.  DON’T NEGLECT YOUR RECOVERY

Post session nutrition plays a key role in promoting training adaptations and accelerating your recovery. Start replenishing your energy stores (muscle glycogen) by consuming carbohydrates early after your training session is completed 7. To restore your muscle glycogen stores, focus on consuming ~1g.kg of body weight of carbohydrate immediately after exercise, as well as in the next 2-3 hours.

A serving of at least 20g of protein is required to promote a positive protein balance and support muscle recovery after exercise7. The consumption of protein and carbohydrates immediately after and 2 hours post exercise improved markers of bone turnover8, a key aspect given the importance of bone health in female marathon runners. This can be represented by a recovery drink such as REGO Rapid Recovery which contains both carbohydrates and protein.

Following this initial snack, your post-training meal can then be consumed 2-3 hours after your training session and should contain carbohydrate-rich sources paired with 20-40g of protein. For example:

  • 100g dry penne pasta, 15g pesto, 125g grilled chicken breast, handful of spinach, 15g grated parmesan cheese
  • 100g uncooked rice, 125g oven-baked salmon, 150g grilled asparagus
  • Two medium size baked sweet potatoes, 150g grilled halloumi cheese, 150g grilled broccoli

Additionally, you should start consuming fluids as soon as your training session is complete, aiming to drink 1.5L of fluids for every kg of body weight lost in that session. Electrolytes such as HYDRO+ can also be added to your drink to enhance water retention and accelerate the rehydration process. This is particularly important if you have a second training session on that day.

4.  EFFECTIVE PRE-RACE CARB-LOADING

Carbohydrate loading prior to a marathon can enhance performance. As marathon-performance is fuelled predominantly through carbohydrate, saturating your muscle and liver glycogen stores prior to a race should be a key priority. Both male and female marathon runners often under consume carbohydrates on the day before running a marathon9.

Sports nutrition guidelines recommend consumption 10-12 g.kg of body weight of carbohydrate on the day before a race6. Carbohydrate-rich foods should be consumed throughout the day, therefore just having a larger bowl of pasta at dinner will not meet the recommended intake. Several tips on how you can reach the recommended carbohydrate intake include:

  1. Measure your current carbohydrate intake on the day before the race. This way you will know your starting point and how much you need to change/add.
  2. Have a consistent eating schedule – three main meals, plus high carbohydrate snacks in between.
  3. Include liquid sources of carbohydrates: fruit juices, smoothies and high carbohydrate drinks, e.g. GO Energy or GO Electrolyte
  4. Include a low-fat, high-carbohydrate dessert at dinner such as rice pudding.

5.  FUEL DURING YOUR RACE

Current sports nutrition guidelines recommend an intake of 60-90g per hour of carbohydrate for exercise/competitions lasting over 2.5 hours6. Marathon runners were recently identified to only consume on average 30-40g of carbohydrate per hour during a race9, being substantially under fuelled. Professional endurance athletes consume on average at least 10g per hour more carbohydrate compared to amateur athletes, highlighting the importance of increasing your carbohydrate intake.

Pay attention to your fluid intake during the race. Female athletes tend to have lower sweat rates compared to their male counterparts and are also more prone to hyponatremia4, where the level of sodium in your blood is lower than normal. Female marathon runners should achieve an optimal fluid intake (0.4-0.8 litres per hour), but also consume a mix of electrolytes to maintain electrolytes balance to support their hydration.

Having a well-structured fuelling plan, which has been trialled several times during training, will of course have a key impact on your race performance. This may include consuming a variety of carbohydrate sources including gels, chews and sports drinks 11.

References

  1. Condo, D., Lohman, R., Kelly, M. and Carr, A., 2019. Nutritional intake, sports nutrition knowledge and energy availability in female Australian rules football players. Nutrients, 11(5), 971.
  2. McHaffie, S.J., Langan-Evans, C., Morehen, J.C., Strauss, J.A., Areta, J.L., Rosimus, C., Evans, M., Elliott-Sale, K.J., Cronin, C.J. and Morton, J.P., 2022. Carbohydrate fear, skinfold targets and body image issues: a qualitative analysis of player and stakeholder perceptions of the nutrition culture within elite female soccer. Science and Medicine in Football, 6(5), pp.675-685.
  3. Loucks, A.B., 2007. Low energy availability in the marathon and other endurance sports. Sports Medicine, 37, pp.348-352.
  4. Deldicque, L. and Francaux, M., 2015. Recommendations for healthy nutrition in female endurance runners: An update. Frontiers in Nutrition, 2, p.17.
  5. Yoshida, A., Ishikawa-Takata, K., Tanaka, S., Suzuki, N., Nakae, S., Murata, H., Taguchi, M. and Higuchi, M., 2019. Validity of combination use of activity record and accelerometry to measure free-living total energy expenditure in female endurance runners. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 33(11), pp.2962-2970.
  6. Burke, L.M., Hawley, J.A., Wong, S.H. and Jeukendrup, A.E., 2013. Carbohydrates for training and competition. Food, Nutrition and Sports Performance III, pp.17-27.
  7. Beelen, M., Burke, L.M., Gibala, M.J. and Van Loon, L.J., 2010. Nutritional strategies to promote postexercise recovery. International journal of sport nutrition and exercise metabolism, 20(6), pp.515-532.
  8. Townsend, R., Elliott-Sale, K.J., Currell, K., Tang, J., Fraser, W.D. and Sale, C., 2017. The effect of postexercise carbohydrate and protein ingestion on bone metabolism. Translational Journal of the American College of Sports Medicine, 2(20), pp.129-137.
  9. Sampson, G., Morton, J.P. and Areta, J.L., A broken link: Knowledge of carbohydrate requirements do not predict carbohydrate intake around competition in endurance athletes. European journal of sport science.
  10. Tsintzas, O.K., Williams, C., Singh, R., Wilson, W. and Burrin, J., 1995. Influence of carbohydrate-electrolyte drinks on marathon running performance. European journal of applied physiology and occupational physiology, 70, pp.154-160.
  11. Hearris, M.A., Pugh, J.N., Langan-Evans, C., Mann, S.J., Burke, L., Stellingwerff, T., Gonzalez, J.T. and Morton, J.P., 2022. 13C-glucose-fructose labeling reveals comparable exogenous CHO oxidation during exercise when consuming 120 g/h in fluid, gel, jelly chew, or coingestion. Journal of applied physiology, 132(6), pp.1394-1406.

Written By
Science in Sport Team
Science in Sport Team
Supplying world-class knowledge, elite insights, and product recommendations to provide optimal performance solutions for all athletes across a wide variety of endurance sports.
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