{"id":19134,"date":"2025-06-12T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scienceinsport.com\/sports-nutrition\/?p=19134"},"modified":"2025-06-12T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T00:00:00","slug":"top-10-tips-for-female-endurance-runners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scienceinsport.com\/sports-nutrition\/top-10-tips-for-female-endurance-runners\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 10 tips for female endurance runners"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
<\/span>\"Eilish
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Top 10 tips for female endurance runners
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\n Written By<\/span>\n

SiS Team <\/h3>\n

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Whether you’re a competitive runner or finding your feet for the first time, it’s important to enjoy your running journey. We’ve put together 10 top tips to help all female runners get the most out of their training and races.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. SET REALISTIC GOALS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Developing goals can help keep you motivated throughout training, improve performance, achieve optimal results and help avoid injury. Realistic goals are based around whether they are manageable and achievable in your current circumstance (e.g. work life). For example, run training 5 days a week if you have a family, full time job and\/or prone to injury could be seen as an unrealistic goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    2. CONSUME SUFFICIENT ENERGY THROUGHOUT THE DAY <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Nutritional deficiencies negatively effects both performance and health. Throughout your day, focus on carbohydrates to fuel your days and training, but not neglecting your protein to support muscle recovery and healthy fats to help with hormonal balance. Additionally, female athletes should consider their menstrual cycle phase when planning their nutrition.\u00a0For example, you may need more protein\/fats during the luteal phase, when you expend more energy and have higher protein metabolism and fat burning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Female endurance runners expend ~3000 kcal per day. This can be altered depending on; training volume\/intensity, general physical activity levels and the athletes\u2019 body weight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    3. THINK ABOUT VITAMINS AND MINERALS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Micronutrients are made up of vitamins and minerals, and phytonutrients. Whilst they may not seem as key as your macronutrient intake, when you bring it all together into a succinct nutrition plan it can help drive optimal performance. In endurance athletes, waiting for deficiencies to show up can have a huge impact on performance and significantly affect the success of the athlete whilst competing.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Focus on supplements to support your endurance training, such as\u00a0multivitamins<\/a>, collagen<\/a>, omega-3<\/a>, iron, calcium, vitamin D and magnesium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    4. PRIORITISE SLEEP, REST AND RECOVERY <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Getting enough recovery and sleep is an essential element of training adaptation. Whenever you\u2019re not training, emphasis should be placed on refuelling (e.g. post training recovery shakes <\/a>and consuming high protein\/carbohydrate foods) and rest. Getting 8+ hours of high-quality sleep is crucial for recovery. Supplements such as Rest+<\/a>, can support recovery and help aid sleepy quality and quantity. Learn more about strategies to enhance sleep duration and quality here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    5. CROSS TRAINING<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Endurance sports can be very physically demanding on the body and overuse type injuries are common. Cross-training activities (such as swimming or cycling) are a great low-impact alternative to build strength, reduce the risk of injury, whilst maintaining your cardiovascular fitness. Additionally, if you become injured, cross-training can be used whilst rehabilitating that injury so fitness levels are maintained. Learn more about the benefits of cross-training here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    6. KNOW YOUR CARBOHYDRATES <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Do you know the difference between when to consume glucose (e.g. maltodextrin) and\/or fructose?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The beneficial effects of additional fructose only occur when the glucose transporters are saturated, therefore fructose (e.g. BETA Fuel gels<\/a>) should be consumed when an individual\u2019s carbohydrate intake is over 60-70 g per hour and when exercise is prolonged (i.e. over 2.5-3h). Individuals who compete in shorter events (i.e. 1-2h) and consume less than 60-70g\/h of CHO, should consume single source carbohydrates (i.e. glucose), such as the GO isotonic energy gel<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    7. TEST OUT YOUR FUELLING STRATEGY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Every athlete is unique, so it\u2019s important to tailor your fuelling plan to suit your specific needs and preferences. During training, experiment with different foods and fuelling strategies to understand what works best for your body and how much you can consume per hour. You may require to build up your tolerance to allow your body to adapt to fuelling on the go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    8. PREPARE FOR RACE DAY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    As race day performance is fuelled predominantly through carbohydrate, saturating your muscle and liver glycogen stores prior to a race should be a key priority. Guidelines recommend female athlete to consume 10-12 g\/kg of body weight of carbohydrate on the day before a race. Carbohydrate-rich foods should be consumed throughout the day, having a larger bowl of pasta at dinner will not meet the recommended intake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    9. STICK TO A PLAN<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Remember nothing new on race day! By now you should have had weeks to figure out what your plan is for race day. This may include; your fuelling plan, pacing strategy, race day kit and race shoes. Controlling the controllables is imperative to maximising performance and resulting in personal success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    10. DON’T FORGET HYDRATION<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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      Female athletes should ingest 400-800ml of fluids per hour of exercise, with the exact amount depending on your sweat rate. The aim is to not lose over 2% of your body weight during your training session. If you are training in hot environments or have a high sweat rate, consider increasing your fluid intake and add electrolytes<\/a> to your drink. Electrolytes, especially with high sodium levels, will enhance water retention and help with maintaining an electrolyte balance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      11. ENJOY IT!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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        \n
        Written By<\/div>\n
        \n
        SiS Team <\/span><\/div>\n
        \n
        SiS Team <\/div>\n
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        Supplying world-class knowledge, elite insights, and product recommendations to provide optimal performance solutions for all athletes across a wide variety of endurance sports.<\/div>\n
        \n More articles by author<\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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