Being a runner isn’t just about logging miles; it’s about supporting your body with everything it needs to perform at its best. Alongside training, strength work, and recovery, fueling plays a critical role in keeping you strong, energized, and resilient.
Running burns a tremendous amount of energy, and without proper planning, your performance and recovery can suffer. Whether you’re a sprinter, marathoner, or ultrarunner, a balanced diet, smart hydration, and solid nutrition habits are essential for training consistently and racing at your peak.
Most runners pay close attention to what they eat before a workout or on race day, but it’s easy to overlook the role of everyday nutrition.
The truth is, consistent fueling is just as important as pre-run meals or mid-race gels. Without enough energy, your body can’t perform at its best, and you’ll feel fatigued, your immune system may weaken, and your risk of injury increases.
We don’t want that. The good news is, with the proper daily nutrition habits, you can keep your body strong, energized, and ready to crush your goals.
In this guide, we’ll break down why fueling matters, how to balance macronutrients, the importance of hydration, and share a sample runner’s meal plan to help you thrive on and off the course.
Different Runners, Different Needs
Each of us is unique and has different needs. Nutrition and hydration requirements vary depending on factors such as body weight, metabolism, sweat rate, physiological differences, training load, and other individual characteristics.
That said, if possible, visiting a sports nutritionist or registered dietitian is always a great idea to receive the most personalized help possible.
How Much Do I Need to Hydrate?
On average, a runner needs to drink between 2 and 2.5 liters of fluid daily. This doesn’t just need to be water. It can include other drinks such as juice, tea, soda, sports drinks, or really any liquid you consume; just watch the sugar content to avoid overdoing it.
To reach your total, you can even include caffeinated drinks.
A cup of coffee here and there will contribute to your total fluid intake; however, consuming caffeine in excess can have the opposite effect, acting as a diuretic and dehydrating you.
Therefore, you want most of your fluid intake to be water and non-caffeinated beverages to ensure healthy hydration.
Do I Need To Replenish Electrolytes?
When we sweat, we lose not only fluids but also key electrolytes like sodium, chloride, and potassium. While sports drinks or electrolyte mixes during a run can help, they often aren’t enough to fully replace what’s lost, especially after long or sweaty sessions.
That’s where electrolyte tablets and hydration products come in. They’re designed to restore balance throughout the day and prevent the common side effects of depletion, such as dizziness, fatigue, or muscle cramps.
If you notice these symptoms, it’s a good sign your electrolytes need a top-up. The best part? Many electrolyte products deliver what you need without added sugar or unnecessary calories, making them easy to work into your daily routine.
Some examples include Propel, Nuun, and Hydro Zero.
Related: Fluid and Electrolytes: A Runner’s Guide
Daily Nutrition Guide For Runners
Each of us trains differently and has different running goals.
Some of us run 20 miles a week, while others run 100. The amount you train and other factors will substantially affect how many calories you need to consume each day.
Seeing a sports nutritionist will help you identify the number of calories you burn daily just by living, your total energy expenditure (TDEE), and then add your specific training load for your grand total.
The most important thing for long-distance runners is that they are fueling enough. If not, you will feel fatigued and heavy during training and unable to perform correctly.
However, if weight loss is your goal, a calorie deficit will be required, but before dieting while training hard, speak with a healthcare professional to ensure you are still consuming a sufficient number of calories.
If you do not have food allergies or sensitivities, you should follow a balanced diet. Your diet plan should include lean proteins, complex carbohydrates, healthy fats, and fruits and veggies.
If you do have trouble with a specific macronutrient, you may need to look for supplements to ensure you are consuming everything you need to stay strong and healthy.
A runner should not deprive themselves of any specific food group, such as carbohydrates or protein, as each has a specific function regarding performance and recovery.
Let’s take a look at what each component contributes to our body in terms of sports nutrition:
What Are Macronutrients?
Macronutrients include carbohydrates, protein, and fat, providing your body with the proper nutrients it needs to function properly.
So, what should a runner’s meal plan include for optimal performance?
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are probably the most important macronutrient for runners in terms of performance.1Kanter, M. (2018). High-Quality Carbohydrates and Physical Performance. Nutrition Today, 53(1), 35–39. https://doi.org/10.1097/nt.0000000000000238
When consumed, carbohydrates are converted into glycogen and stored in our muscles and liver. They are then used as energy to fuel our bodies when we exercise. In general, a pretty hefty percentage of a runner’s diet is composed of carbohydrates.
There are a lot of fad diets out there that limit, if not eliminate, carbs entirely from your diet. Sure, you can still run on a diet like that. Still, speedwork and overall performance will not be optimal as energy from sugars is needed by most to perform well.
Carbohydrates include foods such as fruit, starchy vegetables such as sweet potatoes, whole grain bread, white bread, pasta, cereal, white and brown rice, and legumes.
Distance runners must keep those glycogen stores up for full energy.
Protein
Protein is used primarily for muscle recovery and can help increase muscle mass. This is why it is ideal for runners to consume enough protein with recovery or protein shakes soon after a challenging workout, long run, or race, in addition to their everyday diet.
Lean protein sources will always be the healthiest choice.
Protein-rich foods include poultry such as chicken and turkey, fish, meat, and eggs. Beans, quinoa, legumes, and some dairy products, such as Greek yogurt, also have protein but contain a substantial percentage of carbohydrates.
Healthy Fats
Another fad diet popular in the 90s was a “no-fat” diet.
Currently, we know that consuming healthy fats offers health benefits and that they should be an integral part of a balanced diet. It’s not the first energy source your body rushes to for use when running, but it is the second.
Healthy fats2Gunnars, K. (2017, June 4). 10 High-Fat Foods That Are Actually Super Healthy. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-super-healthy-high-fat-foods#TOC_TITLE_HDR_11 will also aid in cardiovascular health, joint health, and brain function.
Healthy fats include foods like avocados, nuts, seeds, nut butter such as peanut butter, and olive oil.
Try to limit saturated fats.
As we know, every runner has different needs, but let’s examine an example of the macronutrient daily diet intake percentages.
Day-To-Day Runner’s Meal Plan Example
Runner details:
- Weight: 110 lbs (50 kilos)
- Average training load: 50 miles (80 kilometers) of running per week plus two strength training sessions
Daily, this runner consumes:
- Carbohydrates: 35% of total daily fuel
- Protein: 35% of total daily fuel
- Healthy fats: 15% of total daily fuel
- Vegetables: 15 % total daily fuel
- Hydration: A minimum of 2 liters of fluid per day
This breakdown includes six meals and snacks, from pre-run carb-filled snacks to dinner. However, this is not what a pre-race or pre-long run day would look like, as the carbohydrate load would increase for optimum performance.
You can check out our carb-loading information here.
This is a day-to-day runner’s meal plan; the breakdown above doesn’t include consumption while training. Any training session exceeding one hour consists of an extra carbohydrate consumption of at least 50g of carbs per hour for this particular runner (example: 2-3 sports gels), plus plenty of fluid.
After long runs and intense training sessions, a protein- and carb-rich recovery drink is also added. As this doesn’t occur every day, it is not part of the day-to-day plan but is added by the runner as needed.
Now that we know how the macro percentages are distributed, let’s examine some day-to-day meal examples for this runner.
The numbers refer to a “portion” or “portions” of that particular food group. The specific food examples are possible equivalents of said portion(s).
Pre-Run Snack
Eat 1 hour before any daily run.
- 1 carbohydrate = ¼ cup oatmeal
- 2 fruits (carbs) = 1 large banana
Breakfast
Post-run
- 2 carbohydrates = 2 slices of toast
- 3 proteins = 2 eggs and 1 ounce of cheese
- 1 healthy fat = ¼ avocado
Mid-Morning Snack
- 1 dairy (carb) = 1 individual-sized yogurt
- 1 healthy fat = 6 almonds
- 1 fruit = 1 cup strawberries
Lunch
- 2 carbohydrates = ⅔ cup of quinoa
- 4 proteins = 4 ounces of salmon
- 2 healthy fats = 1 tablespoon olive oil + ¼ avocado
- 3 vegetables = 1 cup mixed greens salad + 1 cup cooked broccoli
Mid-Afternoon Snack
- 1 carbohydrate = 2 tablespoons of granola
- 1 fruit = 1 green apple
- 2 proteins = ½ cup cottage cheese
Dinner
- 2 carbohydrates = 1 cup of pasta
- 4 proteins = ½ chicken breast + 2 tablespoon parmesan cheese
- 2 healthy fats = 2 tablespoons olive oil (1 for cooking, 1 for salad dressing)
- 3 vegetables = 1 cup mixed greens salad + 1 cup cooked asparagus
Sticking to a nutritional plan and consuming such a large quantity of fuel may seem overwhelming. Still, the benefits are essential to being a strong, healthy runner.
Take a minute to reflect on how you are currently feeling when you train and throughout the rest of the day. If you feel fatigued, perhaps you aren’t fueling enough and want to restructure your nutrition and hydration.
More energy? Personal bests? Happiness?
If that’s what a balanced runner’s diet will do for me, sign me up! For some more pre-run breakfast ideas, check out this next guide:
