The following guidelines should help you to fuel your fitness regime and get the most out of your training programme:

Eat sufficient carbohydrate, such as bread, rice, potatoes, pasta and cereals and start refuelling as soon as possible after training when your muscle capacity to refuel is at its peak.

Organise yourself – you must refuel, so take snacks and fluid with you in your kit bag to your training venue, if necessary.

Avoid restricting your eating pattern to traditional meal
times. Fit eating around your training programme by trying smaller more frequent meals and snacks.

If you miss breakfast, have a mid-morning high carbohydrate snack.

If you train in the evening, eat something around 3-4 pm.

If you train late in the evening, have a high carbohydrate bedtime snack.

Remember rest days are important. If training leads to hurried, or even missed meals, in order to fit it in, you should use the extra time on these days to eat.

Use the Balance of Good Health Principles to plan your meals and snacks. These principles should form the foundations on which you can develop specific nutrition strategies to support your preparation for the race.

Base all your meals on starchy foods.

Try to have 5-plus servings of fruit and/or vegetables each
day.

Remember to include at least three servings of dairy foods each day.

Include at least two good sources of protein each day like meat, fish, eggs or pulses.

Limit your intake of foods that are high in fat as they may prevent you from eating enough carbohydrate.

Remember sugary foods can aid refuelling, but these shouldn't be the focus of your carbohydrate intake.

Maintain a high fluid intake. You'll need at least 1ml per calorie of energy required, but the best advice is to aim to avoid feeling thirsty.

n Take a positive interest in food by taking care in the planning, preparation, choosing and cooking of your food, but don't become too obsessed with your training diet. And don't count calories either or severely restrict your energy intake.
If you're concerned about your body weight, seek the
advice of an Accredited Sports Dietitian, so that you don't miss out on vital nutrients in an attempt to control your body weight.

Remember, there are no good and bad foods – only good and bad uses of food. Moderation is the key. Aim for plenty of variety in your diet. Choose good quality foods, preferably natural or lightly processed; they're likely to have a higher nutritional value.

Hydration and training

Always begin training sessions fully hydrated – in the 15 minutes prior to training aim to drink 300-500ml of fluid or as much as can be tolerated.

Accustom your body to increased fluid intakes during training – 150-300ml every 15-20 minutes should help to offset fluid losses.

Be aware that thirst is a poor indicator of your body's fluid status, so try to keep thirst at
bay.

Drink freely after training
to replenish fluid levels – as a rough guide, aim for 1½ times your fluid losses or keep drinking until you pass light-coloured urine.

It's better to choose a drink you like – you're much more likely to drink it.

DIY sports drinks

Hypotonic Drinks – suitable for rehydration

250ml unsweetened fruit juice

750ml water

pinch of salt

or 100ml ordinary fruit squash

900ml water

pinch of salt


Isotonic Drinks – suitable for rehydrating and some refuelling

500ml unsweetened fruit juice

500ml water

pinch of salt

or 200ml ordinary fruit squash

900ml water

pinch of salt


Energy bursting kit bag ideas

Fresh, dried, or tinned fruit

Cereal bars, rice cakes or breadsticks

Fruit juice or smoothies

Low fat crisps or popcorn

Fig Rolls or Jaffa Cakes

Teacakes, scones, fruit cake or gingerbread

Muffins or bagels

Fruit gums or jelly beans

Commercial or homemade sports drinks

Ideas for meals and snacks


Breakfast

Fruit juice or smoothie, fresh, tinned or stewed fruit with natural yoghurt

Wholegrain cereal with semi-skimmed milk, wholegrain bread, rolls or toast spread with jam, marmalade or honey


Main meals

Pasta with vegetable and tomato sauce

Deep pan vegetable, ham or chicken pizza

Tuna, ham or chicken risotto

Chilli with rice or jacket potato

Chicken, beef, pork, tofu or vegetable stir fry with noodles or rice

Large jacket potato, lean red meat, poultry or fish with vegetables or salad


Light meals

Beans or spaghetti on toast

Jacket potato with cottage cheese, tuna, baked beans or
chilli

Wholegrain sandwiches made with thick slices of bread filled with lean meat, chicken, tuna, low fat cheese, salad, peanut butter or banana


Puddings

Rice pudding or ice cream

Fruit salad or sorbet

Yoghurt

Sponge pudding and custard


Snacks

Wholegrain toast, bread, rolls with jam, honey or Marmite, currant teacake, scone, muffin, bagel or cereal bar

Wholegrain cereal with semi-skimmed milk

Fruit yoghurt, milkshake or
smoothie

Fresh or dried fruit or fruit juice

Low fat plain crisps, rice cakes or popcorn

Louise Sutton is principal lecturer in sport and exercise nutrition at Leeds Metropolitan University.