

Longer efforts burn more calories and thus require more fuel. While long runs may sometimes be run at an easy pace, they are longer efforts. To help you determine exactly how much, you can use our running calorie calculator, which we share below. Just be sure to practice a normal day of healthy eating (which should be a daily habit), keeping in mind that any bit of exercise does increase your overall nutritional needs for that day. There are no major nutritional needs to worry about after an easy run. We want to prevent this as much as possible. However, if daily carbohydrate or energy intake is low or you exercise for longer than 60 minutes without eating before or during the exercise, protein may be used to meet energy demands. Protein is usually spared from being used as an energy source as long as adequate carbohydrates and fats are available. During these runs you will be burning a combination of carbohydrate and fat, with a greater reliance a fat which is good for maintaining glycogen stores. These are exactly what the sound- easy efforts. Nutritional demands for different types of runs Easy/recovery runs

Not every athlete will have the same workout schedule or types of workouts, but thinking about the length and intensity of your workout will help you determine your nutritional needs. Sometimes easy run pace, sometimes faster running includedĬontinuous run or longer intervals (e.g. This may vary depending on what training block I am in, but most of the workouts I do fall into one of these categories:ġ-2 minutes slower than my ½ marathon pace By knowing which energy system(s) we are using in our workouts, we can have a better idea of what our body may need for optimum recovery.Ī typical training regimen for me consists of one tempo workout, one VO2 max workout, one long run, and four easy/recovery runs. In my blog last week I introduced the science behind energy metabolism and hopefully painted a picture of fuel use during different types of exercise. Your current nutritional status and physical fitness.The length and intensity of the workout.Recovery (both physical and nutritional) is a critical part of an athlete’s training but nutritional needs for recovery vary depending on a number of factors: What you eat after a hard workout affects your recovery and your ability to be ready for your next workout.
