Eat right to run long

With tomorrow being a good practice event for those preparing for the Malta Half Marathon, today seems an ideal time to discuss diet and fuelling.

Most experienced athletes will have learnt by now what foods to eat and what suits them, so this article will be of most interest to those new to running.

Any endurance athlete's diet must be based around a high intake of carbohydrates and fats, since both these food types provide the energy to exercise. Some recommendations go so high as to suggest 60-70 per cent of an athlete's diet should be in the form of carbohydrates, with 20-25 per cent of food intake being fat and the remainder being protein.

The best sources of carbohydrate are plentiful in the Mediterranean diet with pasta and pizza being two prime examples. Other sources would include: bread, rice and potatoes.

One important aspect of fuelling for exercise is the timing of the food intake. It is vital that all athletes have a large store of glycogen (the storage form of carbohydrate) in their muscles prior to the start of their event. It's no use starting the event low on fuel and hoping to make do with carbo-drinks along the way.

Although it is important to eat well throughout the day, the best time to eat for maximum fuel storage is very soon after your last training session.

Immediately post-training, and for the next 2-4 hours, your muscles are extremely receptive to glycogen storage. After this period, glycogen loading in the muscles will slow down, no matter how much food you eat, and a large part of what you eat could be stored as fat (that you do not want).

Few people look forward to eating a meal of solid food immediately after a run, therefore this is a good time to consume some liquid carbohydrate in the form of sports drinks.

Powerade, one of the official suppliers to the BMW Malta Marathon, is an excellent example.

High in glucose and maltodextrin, drinking Powerade enables an athlete to consume a large quantity of carbohydrate at the exact time when it will be best stored in the muscles.

Have some handy the next time you finish a run and begin refuelling straight away.

Those taking part in tomorrow's Mdina-Spinola should have increased their carbohydrate intake yesterday. A good breakfast this morning, followed by pasta for lunch and perhaps pizza this evening should provide sufficient fuel intake for a good performance tomorrow. Just be sure not to overeat to where your stomach feels uncomfortable.

A number of runners will get up extra early tomorrow to have a light breakfast of toast and tea/coffee about 5 a.m. for the race starting at 8 a.m.

This will top up their liver glycogen stores and provide a good lift to blood sugar so they can be mentally prepared for the rigours of competition.

In 2000, I had posted up a list of all Maltese athletes who had broken one hour for Mdina-Spinola. I have now updated it to include all results up to last year. Dating back to the first race in 1979, this list is a virtual Who's Who of Maltese distance running in the last 25 years.

I would be interested in compiling a similar list for the Malta Marathon and Half Marathon for the last 20 years, and would like anyone who has the full set of results from all Malta Marathons to please email me at johnwalsh42195@yahoo.it.