Last week we live-tweeted Alicia Shay’s Nutrition for Runners Q&A during Week 1 of our Run SMART Retreats. For those who couldn’t make it we’ve recapped some of our favorite tweets below. We learn something new every year from this talk and wanted to share some of the valuable information that Alicia shared with the group. Hope you can join us next year and to keep the conversation going weigh in on our Nutrition for Runners Urtak at the bottom of this post.
Quick note: these tweets were just a quick summary of Alicia’s answers in the context of a conversation she was having with our attendees.Supplements
AS: If you blindly take supplements you are putting expensive urine in the toilet. Work w/your doctor.
Recovery
AS: Shay advises to watch how much gluten you eat-it’s acidic in your muscles & inflammatory.
AS: We know so much from science but we forget to listen to our bodies.
AS: Excess alcohol consumption slows down recovery.
AS: “It’s running. It hurts.” (allow body to adapt to hard training instead of inhibiting it w/antioxidant overload & ice baths)
AS: Large brunch after long run/big workout bad idea. Working body & digestive system to exhaustion at same time.
Hydration
AS: Bodies keep electrolyte balance in control. If you’re craving salt you need it.
AS: Electrolytes: normal daily training, you don’t need them. Save them for very extreme efforts.
Eat Clean
AS: Most sustainable practice is 10% of time allow yourself to eat something you really want (a treat).
AS: Keep sugar intake to 30 grams a day. Most runners go far beyond that. Watch sugar in ingredients & don’t over-do fruit.
AS: Less ingredients in a food, the better. If you can’t pronounce an ingredient, don’t eat it.
AS: Butter in moderation is fine–margarine is evil.
AS: Very important to get lean, quality protein. If going to spend money on high quality food, buy organic meat.
AS: One of the most important foods to buy organic is dairy.
AS: No.1 thing is focusing on a lot of veggies, Shay says. No pill can match the nutrients-mix raw & cooked.
Race Fueling
AS: Night before race, carb loading is not a good idea.
AS: Generally research shows increase slightly carb intake 2 days before marathon through snacks.
AS: Nutrient timing is important-if want to burn fat don’t eat large meals with large spaces of time between.
AS: In marathons your body has plenty of storage you don’t need to over-do fuel.
Alicia Shay is a Run SMART Coach and Nutrition Consultant for The Run SMART Project. You can check out Alicia’s Nutrition for Runners consulting service here.