The correct nutrition of a trail runner or an ultra runner is composed of a high quantity of carbohydrates equal to 65-70% of the total calories ingested during the day. The percentage of carbohydrates drops to 55% when the athlete is not training and increases to 75% before and after a long-running session. Proteins should not exceed the amount of 1.5g/kg of body weight, including a correct supplementation of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) to be evaluated by a professional nutritionist, avoiding DIY. Furthermore, lipids should represent at most 20-25% of the total energy. If you do not train every day, you will have to keep your calories under control. The accumulation of adipose tissue and overweight, in fact, induce an inevitable slowdown in running pace and a greater predisposition to injuries to the lower limb joints when running downhill.
Here’s a MINI-GUIDE to help you to organize meals and nutrition based on your workouts:
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Digital Strategic Marketing Director – certified Innovation Manager – in multinational companies, she is still today the only Italian female athlete to have ran 900 km and 55,000m D+ in the mountains in a single stage race (Transpyrenea 2016, 3rd women overall). She counts numerous Podiums and international Victories on races over 100k. She holds a SNaQ CONI certification as a Trail Running Coach, Athletic Trainer and in Nutrition and Sports Supplementation. Since 2014 she is President and sports executive of innovative technology startups and companies, including Trail Running Movement and Digital Sport 360. She trains elite trail running athletes and she teaches in trail running coach certification courses. She is an author of sports articles on training, nutrition and supplementation in trail running and running, both in Italian and in English and Spanish. She manages relationships and collaborations with Federations and Race Organizers.