You can follow a great training program, not miss a workout, and increase your mileage gradually, but if you eat a crappy diet day in and day out, your leaving opportunity for greater improvement on the figurative training table! Nutrition is not just something for race day, rather its something that should be considered everyday. You should be just as intentional with your daily diet as you are with your training schedule. Runners who leave their diet to chance are missing the opportunity to further capitalize on their training and they’re also setting themselves up for a higher risk of injury.

Here’s Why a Healthy Diet is Your Secret Weapon

Consider this: we put a lot of focus on what we will eat the day before and on race day. And if we’re running a marathon we’ve most likely even practiced a hydration and nutrition strategy. These tactics help insure we are properly fueled to run our race and finish strong. Similarly, we should put the same nutritional emphasis on preparing for our daily training runs.

Training runs are designed to help our bodies adapt to increased speed and to build endurance. You want to set yourself up for success in your workouts and get the most benefit from them that you can. If you’re running on empty, that won’t happen. However, being adequately fueled ensures that your body will have what it needs to perform.

Recovery is another reason to be intentional with your daily diet. When you eat a balanced diet of whole foods, it supplies your body with nutrients you need to recover quicker and get stronger from your workouts. You may not realize it, but running puts a lot of stress on your body. When you are training hard it is more important that ever to eat foods that allow your body to repair and to heal. The soreness you may feel after a hard workout or a long run will dissipate much quicker. Say good bye to ibuprofen! 

Understand this: if your body does not get the nutrients it needs, its first obligation is to keep your vital organs functioning. Recovering from running will come second. Throw in a little stress from your work day and you’re setting yourself up for injury or a weakened immune system. You’ll be much more likely to catch the latest cold or virus! I’m pretty sure you don’t want that set back when you are training for your next race!

Next week I’ll be talking about how to be intentional with your diet so that you consistently meet your nutritional needs. However if you don’t want to wait until next week, I created this free guide to help you get started. Click Here to download your guide to Meals on the Run: How to Make Eating Healthy Simple and Easy.