Hello Runner,
Welcome back to your weekly moment of endurance nutrition!
Happy Weekend!
How are you doing today? I hope you're doing great!
This week, I am writing directly from São Paulo, Brazil (For those who don't know, I'm Brazilian and I was born in São Paulo). I arrived last week to visit family, go to a friend's wedding, sort out some paperwork, and rest a bit.
I'm still working, studying, and training. I'm trying to maintain the routine I have in Barcelona as much as possible, but I'm also taking advantage of the opportunity to eat the foods we don't have in Europe.
As soon as I arrived here, the jet lag hit me hard, but now I've got used to the time of day and life starting earlier than in Spain.
Getting back to running in the intense heat isn't easy for me, but there's no other way. I had to slow my pace down and keep hydrated to finish the week's training. And it's just fine.
This week’s topic is everyday snacks vs performance snacks.
I still see many runners, especially beginners, who don't know what to eat as a snack and end up confused about it.
The main strategy for avoiding mistakes or confusion when type of snack you should choose is to base yourself on timing.
Timing these foods can make a significant difference to your overall performance. Here's the explanation.
SNACK STRATEGY
Everyday snacks - 2-3 hours before training
You need to look for balance here, and also need to time your everyday snack away from your training times. They should include:
Protein
Carbs
Fats
For these everyday snacks , you want to try and keep them outside of your training windows to avoid gut upset and so you don’t feel heavy / sick during your training sessions.
Performance Snacks - 1-2 hours before training
Prioritize carbs for energy, and keep your protein and fat moderate. For those who have not trained their gut and experience gut upset during training, you may want to keep this simpler in carbs. They should include:
High GI carbs
Lower fat and protein
Pre-training primers - ~ 30 min before training
The focus is solely on high GI carbs. This is so the sugar can get into your bloodstream as quickly as possible and give you an extra ‘pick me up’ to boost your performance. They should include:
High GI carbs -> 20-40g of simple, easy-to-digest carbohydrates.
Practicing these strategies during training and before competition will help you reach your peak performance and avoid GI issues.
Remember that nutritional strategies are very individual, and you don't always have to eat all the snacks (mentioned above) before training. Everything will depend on your training routine, your schedule, the type of sport you do, your personal tastes, your culture, etc.
Track of the week 🎧️
New feature in the newsletter! Each week I'll suggest a track, either to listen to during a workout, to reflect on life, to listen to when you're in traffic, etc... you name it!
To start with, I've chosen the track Liquid Spirit - Claptone Remix by Gregory Porter, Claptone.
Wishing you a great weekend and week ahead!
Here’s to health and good runs⚡️
Ana Paula Alonso