Marathon training nutrition

Proper nutrition is one of the key factors in obtaining and maintaining fast and steady running speed. The nutritional concern of an athlete should focus on both short-term energy provision and long-term health and the optimal function of the body. The primary concern for short-term nutrition is providing energy for muscular contraction. For the long term, eating foods that only provide adequate vitamins and minerals help cut down interference with the short-term diet.
Our body cannot move without muscle contraction and for that to happen there has to be a relatively constant supply of chemical energy available to the muscle in the form of ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate). ATP is to the muscle what gasoline is to the car’s engine and in order for the muscles to produce ATP, they needs carbohydrates, fats, or protein. Although all three energy nutrients can be used to produce ATP, as long as there are enough carbohydrates and fats in the diet, protein is not used to make significant amounts ATP. Protein is mainly used for building and repairing muscle and other tissues.
Besides carbohydrates, fats, and protein (Sometimes called energy or caloric nutrients because they provide source of energy that is eventually transformed into ATP), the body also needs vitamins, minerals, and water, which are essential for all the chemical reactions that produce energy. Without adequate amounts of vitamins, minerals, and water, all the carbohydrates, fats and proteins would be almost useless.

Caloric nutrients

As a percentage of total calories consumed:
• Protein should comprise 15 percent of all energy intakes.
• Fats should comprise 20 to 25 percent of all energy intakes.
• Carbohydrates should fill in the remainder as 60 to 65 percent of the total calories.
Ideally, the consumption of protein should remain constant for any given diet, while the levels of carbohydrates and fat should vary inversely. That is to say that the level of fat consumption should drop as carbohydrate intake increases. When the body is required to move more and use more energy, it increases the proportion of carbohydrates used and decreases fat usage. This is because carbohydrates are much easier to break down and result in more ATP generation. Before carbohydrate levels dry up, most long distance running athletes burn close to 70 percent carbohydrates and 30 percent fat during the first hour of activity. A shorter, but faster paced, level of activity can result in as much as 95 percent carbohydrate usage.
When an athlete runs out of carbohydrates, the phenomenon is often described as “hitting the wall”. Normally, an athlete must begin to slow his pace at this point, because the major source of ATP for the body is fat, which is much more difficult to break down and produces ATP much more slowly. Activity does not have to stop at this point, though it psychologically may seem that way. In fact, activity can go on for as long as there is fat in the body, but a slower pace is all the body will be able to produce. With training, advanced athletes and marathon runners can be able to use more fats at higher intensities, which allows the body to conserve carbohydrates and maintain higher levels for much longer periods.

Diet and Weight

The basic key to weight loss that is quite possibly understood by everybody is to reduce caloric intake while increasing caloric expenditure. This is simple but can be very difficult to pull off for the average adult. Athletes understand that consuming larger amounts of carbohydrates and burning them with intense activity allows the body to increase the percentage of caloric expenditure from carbohydrates, which results in a higher metabolism. Conversely, eating a high fat diet will cause the body to use more fats for energy, thereby slowing ATP production overall and making athletic activity more difficult.
• One gram of carbohydrate and protein is equal to four kilocalories of energy.
• One gram of fat is equal to nine kilocalories of energy.
It is important to remember that an increase in exercise and athletic activity will have a stimulating effect on the appetite. Consumption of fats and carbohydrates must be balanced with greater carbohydrate consumption in order to offset this.

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