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When it comes to how often you fuel during a Shoes & Gear, Health - Injuries to keep your body performing at its best, it can feel overwhelming to decide what to eat before a race—especially if you’re new to hitting the starting line, feel nervous about snagging a PR, or just want to perform your best.
Fueling properly—whether you’re running a 5K or marathon—can take some trial and error, and it’s easy to get lost in all the information out there about what will work best.
Eating right doesn’t have to be complicated, though. Here, we have the basics on what to eat before a race, no matter the distance. You’ll find general fueling rules, Best Energy Gels for Runners.
How should you eat before any race distance?
Running Shoes - Gear Nancy Clark’s Sports Nutrition Guidebook, suggests focusing on adding more carb-rich foods, such as fruits, veggies, and grains, into your diet during this time. She also suggests eating those foods shortly after exercise (say, shortly after your shake-out run), so your muscles have enough time to store them as glycogen.
Making simple swaps to your usual meals will help you get more carbs in your day. For example, have oatmeal for breakfast instead of eggs, a sandwich at lunch instead of a salad, or adding a side of rice at dinner. If you already eat carb-based meals, you can simply increase the portion size of the carbs or add an additional carb source like a piece of fruit or bread/toast.
Allison Koch, R.D.N., sports dietitian and certified run coach, says many runners make the mistake of not fueling enough before a race. Just like the day-before meal plan, the main goal the morning of your race is to fuel up with relatively simple carbs that settle well and are tolerated by your body during a run. “The farther you’re going, the more you’ll need,” Koch says. Oatmeal with fruit or a bagel with your favorite nut butter Clark suggests having a bowl of.
A little protein in the mix is a good idea, but try to keep it to no more than 15 to 20 grams, which you could get from protein powder, nut butter, milk, or yogurt. (Keep in mind, “protein builds and repairs muscles, but carbs fuels muscles,” Clark says.)
While fruit like berries might help fill you up, don’t overdo it, Koch says. You want to keep fiber and fat—both slow-to-digest nutrients—to a minimum the morning of races to avoid stomach issues.
Also, that prerace meal isn’t just important for your muscles, but it’s also important for your mind.
“Blood sugar is what feeds your brain. If you have low blood sugar and the brain is not fed well, it will say ‘this is not fun and I don’t feel like running,’” Clark says. “The brain controls your whole body. So, the goal is to prevent blood sugar from dropping and start the race being well fueled and maintain that during the race.”
How do you eat during races?
If you’ll be running for 30 to 60 minutes (say, if you’re doing a 5K Test Out These Tips and Products for Midrace Fueling 10K), you likely don’t need any mid-race nutrition. But for those longer distances, such as half and full marathons, plus foods and products for tailoring your nutrition plan to your specific race distance calories mid-race to keep your body performing at its best.
Can Intermittent Fasting Help You Lose Weight during the race, Koch suggests looking for products that include about 25 to 30 grams of carbs per serving. Then, if you’re running for over an hour, make sure you consume about 30 to 60 grams of carbs every hour.
It’s actually easier to get the mix of carbs from gels or gummies, as more natural foods often contain limited forms of sugar and can be difficult to carry and ingest during a race.
Keep in mind the best way to feel good on race day—with boosted energy and without stomach issues—or, in some cases, a and stick to it during the race, she says, knowing youll add another fuel stop as you hit the. That means trying different breakfasts or prerun snacks, as well as eating the foods you’ll eat while running. Then use those tests to create your race-day plan.
“When runners have a plan, they do a better job of fueling, instead of just listening to the body when it’s thirsty or hungry,” Clark says.
Also, don’t forget hydration. “You wanted to enter the race well hydrated,” Clark says. If you wake up and your pee is dark in color, that’s a good indicator to start drinking more. And if it’s a super hot day, add some salt to your prerun hydration, too.
A tip: Check the race site ahead of the big day, so you know where the water stations are and what fuel they have available so you can plan what you bring accordingly, Clark says. Check during training and you could even try the fuel they offer, so you’re ready to take it when you get to the start.
How do you create a fueling plan for race day?
One word: practice. You’ll only know if something works for you if you try it before race day. So put nutrition on your training plan and see how you perform with different foods and products. Also, practice the timing—you might feel better eating something every 30 minutes instead of every 15 minutes during a race like a half marathon.
“People want to make a plan, practice it, know what works, and believe in it,” Clark says. “Part of your training is training your digestive tract.”
Koch agrees, saying, “just like competitive eaters train their guts to take on large quantities, runners have to train their guts during training. If you don’t think you can take on nutrition, you just have to train.”
What do I eat before running a 5K or 10K race?
Because these distances are shorter—likely around an hour or less—you probably don’t need to take in nutrition during the race. But that means your nutrition before and after becomes super important. Like with any race, focus on relatively simple carbs beforehand, Koch says. And eat 75 minutes to two hours before you start.
“You can probably get away with less food than you would for a half or full marathon,” she adds.
Obviously running takes priority when it comes to hard-effort 5K, long training runs cereal before you go to bed. As long as you fill up on carbs the day before, you should be okay to perform without eating a meal before the race. But you’ll definitely want to test this in training.
What do I eat before running a half marathon?
All About 75 Hard half marathon, Heres Exactly What to Eat Before a Half Marathon long training runs? Some people fuel up every 30 to 45 minutes (15 to 20 if you’re going for water or a sports drink), while others might go for water or a sports drink every two miles and gels or gummies every five miles, Koch says, as a loose plan.
“Practice that during your long runs and stick to it during the race,” she says, knowing you’ll add another fuel stop as you hit the 13.1 distance.
What do I eat before running a marathon?
and can be difficult to carry and ingest during a race marathon, you’ll have a few hours between the time you wake up and when you actually start racing. If that’s the case for you, you’ll probably want to have two meals before you begin running, Clark says. That might mean eating oatmeal when you wake up and then a PB&J or energy bars, gels, or gummies as you wait at the start. (Again, try to practice this as best as you can before your How to Use Gels in Training and Racing.)
It can seem complicated to lay out a plan for how to fuel for a marathon, but Koch gives a general guideline: Take a sip of water (or sports drink) every mile. And after the first 30 minutes, aim for at least 30 grams of carbs every 30 to 60 minutes.
While it might be okay to skip some stations, you might want to carry some backup sports drink or gels with you. “You can always throw one out, but you probably can’t grab another,” Koch says.
To avoid stomach issues, make sure you take those gels or gummies with a few sips of water, rather than a sports drink. Koch suggests testing out new products before your short training runs to see how they feel, too.
Mallory Creveling is an ACE-certified personal trainer and RRCA-certified run coach, who also holds multiple other fitness certifications and regularly stays on top of her continuing education in the field. She has more than a decade of experience covering fitness, health, and nutrition for a wide range of publications, and she has nearly 10 years of experience as a trainer and fitness instructor. Mallory stays on top of the latest science in wellness, has worked with some of the best experts in their medical fields, and regularly interviews researchers, trainers, athletes, and more to find the best advice for readers looking to improve their performance and well-being.
As a freelance writer, Mallory's work appeared in Women's Health, Self, Men's Journal, Reader's Digest, and more. She has also held staff editorial positions at Family Circle and Shape magazines, as well as DailyBurn.com. A former New Yorker/Brooklynite, she's now based in Easton, Pennsylvania.
Dr. Namrita Brooke is a full-time endurance sport coach and sport nutritionist advising active individuals and amateurs to professional athletes. She is also an adjunct professor in the Department of Movement Sciences and Health at University of West Florida. Professionally, she also serves on the Board of Editors of the Sports Nutrition Care Manual and remains involved in nutrition and exercise-related research, student mentorship, and coach development. Namrita's personal athletic experience ranges from ultra-endurance mountain biking to off-road triathlon, cross-country mountain bike racing, gravel cycling, duathlon, cyclocross, running, and trail running. Her research background includes hydration and sports drink research, and the interaction of nutrition, physical activity, and the brain.
