Different sports require different amounts of nutrients. This is all because different variables (i.e. distance covered, speed, strength) are involved. Soccer is a particularly demanding sport because soccer athletes are constantly in a cycle of running, sprinting, and standing.
Read MoreLacrosse is quite a demanding sport, so fueling for lacrosse requires commitment and consistency. Working with a dietitian and having a plan in place for fueling and hydrating will help keep you strong, healthy, and performing optimally.
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In just under two weeks, I will be toeing the line for the 123rd Boston Marathon alongside runners from all over the world. That means that after many months and many miles, we are finally approaching the final phase of marathon training: the taper.
Tapering your marathon training requires a ton of self-control. A lot of marathoners stress out about tapering because they don’t want to lose any fitness before the race. But believe it or not, the opposite is true! If you taper correctly, you’ll actually perform better on race day than if you squeeze in a few extra hard workouts.
As you taper off your training and decrease your training load, you also have to adjust your nutrition plan. When you cut down your mileage during the taper period, you may also need to adjust your food intake a small amount. Makes sense, right? If you’re training significantly less, you don’t need to fuel as if you’re running 50+ miles a week. This can be fairly tricky because you have to be sure to keep up your carbohydrate intake so you can perform your best on race day!
Here are a few tried-and-true nutrition strategies for your next marathon training taper phase!
You’re likely already tuned into your body’s aches and pains, but are you tuned into your hunger/fullness cues? During the tapering phase, tapping into your body’s natural hunger and fullness cues is extremely important. This will help you self-regulate your diet during the taper phase. Regulating your food intake based on your actual hunger instead of eating hundreds of extra calories out of habit from previous weeks of hard training will make a huge difference!
You want to be sure not to reduce your intake too much because that can have a negative impact on performance and overall health! Calories (especially calories from carbs) are still important during your taper phase. The goal is to maintain your base intake of carbs and proteins. Removing too many carbs from your diet so close to the race could potentially leave you with low glycogen stores, so be sure to reach for some more carbohydrate focused snacks such as pretzels or dry cereal, and incorporate starches and grains into your meals.
Showing up to the starting line completely hydrated is essential for optimal performance on race day. To ensure that you’re hydrated on race day, you’ll want to drink extra water throughout the week - not just the day before. The goal is to urinate every 2-3 hours and your urine should be pale yellow. The day before a race, I also like to alternate water bottles, with bottles containing electrolytes (Nuun, Gatorade, or Skratch labs). Sodium helps our bodies to retain water and maintain an electrolyte balance (plus it breaks up some of the monotony for those that get bored with just water!)
Traditionally, athletes carb load with a big bowl of pasta with a side of garlic bread the night before the race. While that works for some athletes, others don’t tolerate this well and might prefer to go another route. This is especially true if your a gluten-free marathon runner! Some alternatives to grain-based products like pasta and bread are rice, potatoes, high-carb fruits, and juices. I like to use Naked Juices to help increase carb intake as well!
Believe it or not, you’ll actually be better off eating a little bit too much than not enough the day before your marathon. While some athletes are worried they’ll “feel too heavy” if they eat too much, it’s also important to eat enough! To prevent feeling too heavy the day of the race, try having your largest meal during lunchtime instead of dinner. This will allow you to digest all of the food well before the gun goes off at the starting line. Another favorite of mine are pancakes with syrup for breakfast or lunch!
February 6, 2019 marked the 33rd annual National Girls & Women in Sports Day (NGWSD). For over 30 years, this celebratory day has empowered women and girls to be active, get involved with sports, and excel in both sports and life. As a Registered Dietitian who works with female athletes on a very regular basis, this day holds a special place in my heart.
In honor of National Girls and Women in Sports Day, I wanted to feature one of today’s most unique and inspiring young female athletes, Antoinette “Toni” Harris. Toni wants to be the the first female NFL player. How cool is that?!
Toni plays free safety for East LA College as one of the first female non-kickers on a college football team. According to USA Today Sports, Toni is considering four different scholarship offers from Bethany College, Adams State University, Graceland University and Kentucky Christian University. Impressive, right? And what makes it even more impressive is that, according to Overtime, she had to overcome a tough childhood and even beat ovarian cancer to get to where she is today.
To top it all off, at only 22 years old, Toni Harris was featured in a commercial during Super Bowl LIII earlier this month. Toyota featured Toni in their new Rav4 Hybrid commercial. You can watch the official commercial here. Overtime, a NYC-based sports network, published an 8-minute feature on Toni Harris on Youtube. Watch it here if you’re looking for some serious inspiration! You can even follow along and watch her reach her goals on Instagram!
We are so lucky to live in a world where girls and women can find confidence and strength, build character, and push past their limits by participating in sports!
If you are a female endurance runner, it’s super important to make sure that you’re getting all of the proper nutrients and calories that you need to be healthy and maximize performance.
Read MoreI don’t know about you, but New Year's resolutions have never really been my thing especially around diet, fitness, or weight loss. That’s not surprising since less than 10% of people actually succeed with their New Year’s resolution. I guess they’re not anyone’s thing!
Read MoreReaching your “racing weight” might not be as important as you think! In fact, it can decrease your performance by depleting your glycogen and water stores, decrease your metabolism, and increase your risk of developing an injury. Let’s all learn a lesson from Allie Kieffer and embrace our bodies the way they are and focus on our performance instead of the number on the scale.
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