Eating to fuel your runs

What you eat can go a long way towards developing great running habits. If you eat right, you'll be able to fun faster or longer, or both. While running does require a significant amount of energy (for example, my watch tells me I burn more than 500 calories when I run 10k), the energy you need depends on how hard you are running.

Protein, vitamins and minerals help you run harder

An easy run during which you can still manage a conversation relatively easily will keep you in your aerobic range, where you burn more fat than anything else. A faster run that's pushing towards and into your anaerobic range will use far more carbs. Nevertheless, you also need to make sure you are getting enough protein, vitamins and minerals overall in your diet, all of which help optimize your performance. This Runner's World article goes into greater depth.

Protein provides many of the amino acids your muscles need to build stronger, vitamins help fight oxidation and inflammation caused by hard exercise and minerals build your bones and help with muscle function, including your heart. Sweating makes it all the more important to ensure you are getting enough minerals.

This Nutrition for Running article has more women-specific nutrition information.

Junk food and alcohol hold you back

Consuming carb-rich sports drinks or snacks is generally not needed for exercise up to an hour in length. And if your goal is to lose weight, it could actually backfire, interfering with your body's fat-burning.

Overall, keep junk food to a minimum, and alcohol, too. Several studies show more than small amounts of alcohol can impair your running potential as well as harm your overall health. Here's an excellent article on the topic.

Remember to drink water

And of course, don't forget that water is even more important when you're running, especially in hot weather. If you're not training for a long race, you don't need expensive sports drinks, just make sure you're getting enough potassium, magnesium and calcium from your food. See our article on hydration for more on this.

Plan your running fuel ahead

Knowing what you are going to eat after your run can help you resist that box of cookies or bag of chips in the cupboard. So plan ahead; do your grocery shopping with your running meals and snacks in mind. It can become a positive cycle: the better you eat, the better you run, and the more you run, the better you eat (hopefully!).

So the next time you head out for your grocery shopping, think about how you're going to fuel up with healthy carbs, fruit and veggies, and lean protein. But a reward at the end of the week for achieving your goal won't hurt.