What should I eat before a marathon or sporting event?

Preparing for short distance events

If your event is under an hour, such as a 10km run, then there is no need to buy any special food or drinks.

A good meal 2-3 hours before your event will be enough. You don’t need to drink anything other than water.

This is especially important if you are trying to lose weight, as using sugary sports drinks can mean you consume more calories than you have burned off.

• Find out the four sports nutrition mistakes you might be making

Preparing for long distance events

For events longer than an hour, including a marathon, the key is the 3Rs: refuel, rehydrate, recover.

Refuel 

If you are training for endurance event that’s over an hour long, such as a marathon or half marathon, you will need some fuel along the way to ensure you don’t run out of energy.

The general rule is to eat or drink around 30-60g easily digested carbohydrate every hour during long exercise sessions. This could be any of the following:

• 500ml sports drink
• 1-2 sports gels
• small handful jelly sweets
• 2 large dates (eg medjool) or 5 small ones

Rehydrate

Staying hydrated is key. Start well hydrated with 2 cups or 400 ml of fluid before you go out. Once you get going, you will need to replace fluid and electrolytes (sodium and potassium) lost in your sweat. This is when sports drinks are useful. They can provide an energy boost from the carbohydrate they contain, plus minerals to replace lost electrolytes. Try to drink about 100-150ml every 15-20 minutes.

Finally, don’t forget to drink after you have finished to fully replenish fluid losses.

Recover

Refuelling after a long exercise session is important to help you recover and repair and build muscle. Ideally, eat something within 20 minutes of finishing, and certainly no longer than two hours. It's important to eat both protein and carbohydrate.

For example:

• Yoghurt or glass of milk and fruit
• Cereal and milk
• Low fat chocolate milkshake
• Bagel/sandwich with egg or peanut putter
• Pasta and meat or soy bolognaise
• Breadsticks and hummus

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