Diet for Marathon Runners - Basic Needs

As a marathon runner you need to get your basic diet right before you begin to work on your training and competition diet.

You should eat a wide variety from each of the food groups to ensure you get the nutrients your body needs. In doing this you will also have interesting and satisfying meals.

Food group	Minimum serves each day	Example of a serving size	Good source of:
Breads and cereals	eat at least 6 servings	1 roll	carohydrate
		1 muffin	fibre
		1 medium slice bread	B vitamins (except B12)
		1 cup breakfast cereal	vitamin E
		1/2 cup oatmeal	calcium
		1 cup cooked rice or pasta	iron
		2 plain cookies	zinc

Food group	Minimum serves each day	Example of a serving size	Good source of:
Fruit and vegetables	eat at least of 2 servings of fruit and 3 servings of vegetables	1 medium fruit (eg: apple, orange, pear, peach, banana)	carohydrate fibre
		2 small fruit (eg: plums)	vitamin A
		1 cup fruit juice	vitamin C (dried fruit are not as good a source of vit C as raw fruit)
		1/4 cup dried fruit (eg: raisins, apricots)
		1/2 cup raw, cooked or canned fruit or veges	folate magnesium
		1 medium cooked potato or kumara	potassium

Food group	Minimum serves each day	Example of a serving size	Good source of:
Milk, milk products and milk substitutes	have at least 2 servings	1 glass milk	protein
		1 pot of yoghurt	calcium
		2 slices cheese	carbohydrate (milk and yoghurt)
		2 scoops ice cream
		3 tablespoons cottage cheese	vitamins, especially B2 and B12
		1 glass soy milk	other minerals

Food group	Minimum serves each day	Example of a serving size	Good source of:
Lean meats, poultry, fish, eggs, nuts, pulses	eat at least 1 serve	2 slices cooked meat	protein
		3/4 cup mince or stew	iron
		1 medium steak	fat (saturated)
		2 drumsticks or 1 chicken leg	carbohydrate (dried beans/peas)
		1 medium fillet fish
		1 egg	vitamins B1, B12, niacin
		1/3 cup nuts or seeds	minerals - zinc, copper
		3/4 cup cooked dried beans	magnesium, potassium
		1/2 cup tofu	selenium

Food group	Minimum serves each day	Example of a serving size	Good source of:
Fluids	drink at least 8 cups	water or other fluids

Are you meeting your basic nutritional requirements?

Rule up a chart under the headings;

• Breads and cereal (recommended serves – 6)

• Vegetables and fruits (recommended serves – 2 fruit & 3 vege)

• Milk, dairy products and milk substitutes (recommended serves – 2)

• Meat and meat substitutes (recommended serves – 1)

• Fluids (recommended serves – 8 cups)

Record what you eat for a day in the food groups. Tally the number of serves you had from each food group and compare with the recommended serves.

If you have not met the recommended servings you need to begin by trying to meet these basic diet requirements. Supplements are not the answer! Often when marathon runners reach for supplements they choose supplements that are not appropriate for their needs anyway. Marathon runners sometimes forget that the goodness they try to get from supplements has been scientifically proven to be of most benefit when found in its natural form in food.

Write down one goal that you will work on over the next week to improve your baseline nutrition. For example: ‘My goal this week is to increase my daily servings of vegetables from one to three.’

Write down your ideas for a meal plan that will enable to you meet your nutritional goals.