Diet

Thought I should look into diet as I am convinced that this plays an important role in training for a Marathon. Here is what I found....

Regular snacking:
Research shows that eating little and often throughout the day is a sure way to avoid low blood sugar levels and tiredness by the time you get home for your run.
Eat high-carbohydrate low fat snacks (Dry breakfast cereal, plain popcorn, bagels, low-fat crispbreads, bananas and other fruit). These are the best fuel. Avoid: high-fat snacks (crisps and chocolate).

Main Meals:
Proper meals are where carbo-loading really counts. Pasta is best but rice, baked potatoes, lentils, muesli and even baked beans are excellent high-carbohydrate foods. Also need protein, minerals, fibre and energy

Water water:
Water is the body’s most important nutrient (50-60% of bodyweight). Drink throughout the day, with a pint of water (or a sports drink) an hour before you run, and half a pint for every 30 minutes of running. On days when you run you should aim to consume five litres during the day, twice as much as is necessary on rest days.

Carbo-load for recovery
Immediately after a hard run refuel your body with high-carbohydrate food or drink. The first four hours after strenuous exercise is a crucial time for taking on new glycogen to replace whats lost. Stock up every 15 minutes or so because this maintains higher blood glucose and insulin concentrations, which in turn makes greater absorption into the muscles possible. Recent research suggests that including around 25 per cent protein in your recovery food will optimise the recovery of your muscles.