Nutrition for Trail Running
December 5, 2023
To be a great runner starts with consistency. You have to slowly build your milage up and at some point in your running journey, you will need to have a strategic approach to your nutrition for trail running. For the longer efforts your breakfast won’t be enough to sustain you. You will need to find other ways to stay fueled during your run for longer duration efforts. This is where honing in on your nutrition and finding what works best for your body is important. Throughout this blog post I will provide you with nutrition strategies for trail running that are both research based and things that I have personally learned while trail running and working with other endurance athletes as a Sports Dietitian.
Common Challenges in Nutrition for Tail Running
There are a handful of common challenges that runners bump up against when they are starting to figure out how they would like to fuel for longer duration runs.
Under Fueling
There you are, out in the wild trotting along a trail 5 miles in to your jaunt when a hunger pain hits. You ate half a piece of toast this morning and didn’t bring any snacks along the way because you’re trying to lose weight by running more and eating less. You politely ignore the cue from your body and continue on down the path. As your casual 12 mile long run turns into a slow death march of a crawl, you wonder “why?”–even though you have been running more, you seem to be performing worse. Well my friend, this is a sign from above that you are drastically under fueled and can better focus on your nutrition for trail running.
Under fueling is the number one issue I see in my practice as a sports dietitian. This can be due to low caloric intake throughout the day and/or prior to your run. Paying attention to your body’s cues such as increased hunger, cravings, fatigue during the day or during a workout, fading at the end of your workout, irritability, irregularity or loss of the menstrual cycle, feeling cold when those around you are fine, or lack of motivation are just a few physical signs that you are under fueling.
If you feel you maybe under fueling, start by incorporating an additional 300-500 calories to your day with an additional snack or extra serving at breakfast or lunch. You could also bring in liquid calories such as a smoothie or fruited kefir if you find you become full easily. If you still don’t see any improvements after adding more calories on a daily basis, get in touch with a sports dietician for support.
Gut Issues While Trail Running
Gastrointestinal (GI) distress is a major complaint for runners when it comes to their nutrition while trail running because they bounce and jostle their GI tract while running trails/in general. An upset stomach can arise from a variety of things such as the preworkout meal or snack being:
- too high fat – slows down digestion and sits heavy
- too large of a meal or snack prior to exercise
- too acidic (i.e. tomato sauce)
- too high in fiber – expedites digestive transit (i.e. gotta poo on the run!)
- poor hydration – slows digestion
It can take time and consistent training for your gut to accept and hold down food prior to and during your run. I encourage my athletes to keep a log of the foods they consume and how their workouts feel with that fuel. You really want to practice fueling during your training consistently so that come race day, all you have to do is focus on running as fast and far as you can! If you have done a good job keeping a log and finding foods that work well for your body, you can easily start to build your winning formula from there.
Hydration
Hydration strategies can be very simple or quite complex when it comes to optimizing your nutrition strategy for trail running. Variables that impact hydration needs during your run depend on your sweat rate, environmental temperature and humidity, altitude and your electrolyte balance. If you are a heavy or salty sweater, are exercising at high altitudes or in hot and very humid or very dry climates, your need for water and electrolytes will be higher.
During the day you can easily assess your hydration status by checking the color of your urine which should be pale yellow or occasionally clear. If you are consistently having clear urine and having to visit the restroom every hour, you maybe over hydrating which can be dangerous– particularly in hot and humid conditions. If your urine is the shade of apple juice or darker you are very dehydrated and need to drink water immediately. Upon rising, your urine will typically be its darkest as you have become naturally dehydrated overnight while you slept. A general rule of thumb is to drink half your weight in fluid ounces of water per day. If you are currently not meeting this standard then that is a great place to start.
Do you consistently have salt deposits on your hat or clothing from your sweat? This is a sign that you are a salty sweater and may require a higher salt intake to help replenish your stores. If you’re a salty sweater and already have a high salt intake but are still having trouble balancing your electrolytes – let’s talk! Your diet could potentially need a bit of recalibrating. Are you a water bottle toting hydration king or queen, but still not sure if you are hydrating appropriately? If so, we can certainly do a sweat test with you to develop a personalized hydration plan for you.
Nutrition for Trail Running Fueling Sources
I had a D1 runner I was working with who found he would start his run (typically 7-10 miles) strong, fade in the middle miles of his run, and then his energy would bounce back in the last mile or two. Upon reviewing his diet, I saw that he would enjoy a high fat breakfast of eggs, sausage and avocado toast prior to his run. While he had a stomach of steel, his digestive tract still had to process that meal.
The higher fat and protein content of his pre workout meal slowed down his digestion to the point that his body was still processing it as he was running. It takes longer for your body to breakdown fat and protein than carbohydrates. Your main fuel source for runs of 90 minutes or less is heavily dependent on having adequate carbohydrates on board. Simply shifting his pre workout meal to higher carbohydrate and lower fat options like oatmeal or yogurt and granola helped to drastically improve his energy during runs!
Understanding the composition of the food you eat and when you eat before your run can make a big difference on your energy levels both during your workout and during your day. The high carbohydrate, low fiber and fat foods that help you power through a long run can cause energy spikes and crashes during your day at the office. Learning to shift your nutrition to reflect your desired outcome is incredibly powerful to fine tuning your physical and mental performance.
Nutrition Strategy for Trail Running
Pre Run
For short or long duration efforts, having “gas in the tank” will help to give your workout more pop and will allow you to go that extra mile! In general, if you are working out for less than 30 minutes, you can do that workout fasted in the morning with enough glycogen still stored in your muscles from dinner the night before. For efforts of 45 minutes or longer, you’ll want to incorporate a pre workout snack or meal. Deciding how much food to incorporate prior to your workout depends on the time of day and your hunger levels that day.
To help fuel your run you should aim for at least 60 grams of carbohydrates in your pre workout meal or snack to help top off your energy stores. This may look like: toast with jelly, a large banana with peanut butter, yogurt and granola, oatmeal with dried fruit and honey, 4-5 dates or a handful of dried mango slices. You’ll want options that are moderate to relatively low in fiber as this will reduce digestive transit time, provide you with quick digesting energy and lower your chances of having to make a pit stop mid run.
During Run Nutrition
Mid-run fueling can be an art of eating on the fly or one of the draws of trail running as we periodically stop and enjoy a “snack time” mid effort. Trail running enthusiasts love toting along child-sized backpacks stocked with hydration packs, a variety of snacks, electrolytes, and the occasional bandaid, sunscreen, or TP – depending on who is hucking it. I highlyrecommend finding a great pack to take with you. You can spend $30-300 dollars on a pack (I got mine for $30 and love it) to stash your squirrel snacks. What matters is that it fits well, has easy to access pockets, and doesn’t rub you the wrong way.
- Aim for 60-90 grams of carbohydrates for each hour
- Start at the 45 min mark and top off every 20-30 mins
- I recommend starting with small at 45-60 grams per hour if you are new to fueling and build up from there slowly
- Take periodic sips of water to stay hydrated
- Enjoy whole food options early in the run and more sports products (gus/gels/isotonic sports drinks) later in the run as your digestion can downshift with longer duration efforts.
Great snacks to try are dried mangoes or dates, paydays, gummy bears or worms, granola bars (I like clifbars for 15+ milers), gus, gels. Find options that work best for you. Some runners have a hard time tolerating real food at first but after training with it regularly you can build up. Again, keep a log so you can remember what you tried and what worked well for you. You don’t need to have the latest and greatest sports gu or gel to run fast and far!
Post Run
After a long trail run, you might very well find yourself pretty far off the beaten path with no cafes or stores in sight. Be sure to pack a post workout meal to help you recover quickly from your run. Your body just worked really hard to take you to all those grand places on the trails – reward it! My favorite post run meals are yogurt with muesli tart cherry juice and fresh fruit, egg cups and crackers, or a smoothie packed in a thermos. Our group loves to have a mini tailgate after, so bring fresh fruit or homemade muffins to share and you will certainly win over the hearts of your fellow runners. 😄
Building A Stronger Plan with Your Nutrition for Trail Running
All in all, what is important is that you get out there! Having a plan and being prepared with water and snacks will make your trail running journey exceptionally more fun and allow you to go further in your endurance explorations. I love hearing all about your trial running stories and answering questions you have along the way! Feel free to tag or chat with me on instagram @elevated.nutrition. I look forward to seeing you out on the trails!
If you want help formulating a nutrition plan to support your trail running and race day strategy, book a complimentary call to talk with me.
LIVE Video Webinar
Wednesday, December 13th at 4 PM PST
Looking for expert advice, guides to advance your nutrition for trail running, day to day fueling strategies and more? Come join the Trail Running Nutrition Workshop with Sports Dietitian Eleanor Baker where you will learn how to fuel you trail running not only before, during and after runs but also how to shift your daily nutrition based on your training loads.
Walk away from this engaging workshop understanding how to identify signs and symptoms that indicate where your nutrition can be improved and learn the nutrition tools you need to do so. Use this workshop to ask Eleanor questions that you have around nutrition to fuel your longest and fastest runs!
Signs Fueling Can Be Improved
- fatigue, fading energy during runs, poor recovery after run, feeling sluggish
- sick regularly, inflammation or tendon injuries, bruise easily
- body composition not responding as expected
- plateau in performance or decreased performance despite working out more
- digestive distress during runs – runners trots, cramps, acid reflux, flavor fatigue
What You Will Learn
- how to fuel for different training phases
- how to optimize your nutrition during the run
- strategies to effectively recover quickly
Resources Available
- Document with pre, during and post workout nutrition education and examples
Eleanor Baker MS, RD, CSSD
Hello! My name is Eleanor and I am a Registered Dietitian (RD) and Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics (CSSD), founder of Elevated Nutrition and Wellness and the Sports Nutrition Consultant for UC Santa Barbara Athletics. Since 2016, I have helped athletes and active individuals fuel smarter, recover faster, and heal through simple and sustainable nutrition and lifestyle interventions. I combine my clinical expertise with a personalized, high-performance approach to help clients achieve lasting results so they can live happier and healthier lifestyles.