Renee McGregor - Fast Fuel: Food for Running Success: Delicious Recipes and Nutrition Plans to Achieve Your Goals

FAST FUEL
FOOD FOR
RUNNING
SUCCESS

If you want to become a better runner, then picking up this book was a fantastic move. I'm an elite ultra-marathon runner and working with Renee and reading her written words has changed the way that I view food and diet, enabling me to reach new levels of running success through improvements in my energy levels, recovery rate and general wellbeing. Ive literally eaten my way to better results.

There are too many dietary fads championed by celebrity nutritionists that just dont provide a long-term solution for an athlete. For example, a super-vegan diet may cause the weight to drop off, and give short-term gains, merely because the list of foods allowed is limited to kale and liquorice sticks, but this isnt sustainable.

Losing weight is too often shouted out as the way to become a faster runner. Year after year I see runners drop a substantial amount of weight, maybe get a little bit faster and then disappear off of the face of the earth, with a cacophony of niggles and injuries that would not have occurred if they had supported training with a healthy and balanced diet. When it comes to nutrition, long-term consistency is key to long-term success.

It isnt just eating the right thing that counts, but eating it at the right times, in the right amounts and with the right combination of nutrients to make sure that you have enough energy to hit the track, enough protein to recover from that long run, or enough milk to keep your bones strong with months of repetitive work. This I learnt from Renee.

The stresses we put our bodies through during training, which are necessary to improve, are pointless if they are not coupled with appropriate recovery. This doesnt mean that every little thing that goes in (and out) of your body has to be measured even the most iron-willed of athletes would eventually be driven to despair by a dietary plan thats too strict. Just aiming to improve one bit at a time will make you a better runner.

With Renees interesting and engaging style, nutrition is easier to understand. Incorporating just a few nutritional changes into your weekly routine can make big long-term gains and will be more beneficial than buying those super-fast new trainers or a fancy GPS watch.

Theres no secret diet, special training session or new bit of kit that will make or break your running career, but how you fuel the machine that powers your running is vital to long and healthy running success. So if youre out to improve your time at the local ParkRun, training for your first marathon, or one of the eccentric, yet growing community of ultra-runners, then do what is best for your body look after it as a treasured possession and build for a strong and lasting future within running. Ive already got my eyes on the V90 100m record if I dont slow down too much.

Now enjoy the book. Im in Athens and I can smell the baklava. Dont tell Renee, but I might go and eat six of them!

Robbie Britton
Team GB Ultra-Marathon Runner & Coach
Ran 261km in 24hrs

This book is for runners of all levels elite, recreational, young or old, experienced or new to sport. It is for those of you who want to:

>>> Achieve your performance goals, whether thats improving your weekly ParkRun time, bettering your personal best time in the half to marathon distance, or venturing into the ultra-running terrain.

>>> Stick to a training plan while also trying to earn a living and juggle family commitments; creating meals that ensure you can fuel your evening track session, but that benefit and are enjoyed by the whole family.

>>> Improve your knowledge of nutrition because it de-bunks some of the common myths. For example, you may know that you need to eat carbohydrate for energy and protein for recovery, but struggle to understand how this translates into real food options.

>>> Increase your confidence by knowing you are eating the right foods to fuel your body and maximize your training, without over-reaching and potentially risking injury or illness.

There is so much information about nutrition available but not all of it is backed up by science. As a registered dietitian and sports nutritionist, I have to ensure that all the advice I provide is evidence based that is, there has been reliable research around the subject to make the claims credible and accurate. My job is to make the science accessible. Through researching all the latest studies and interpreting them into practical application, I produce recipes and nutrition plans that work for all lifestyles and budgets.

No matter whom I am working with, I see it as a collaborative journey. I first help athletes to understand the fundamentals of good nutrition and then, with practical suggestions, piece it all together to develop a nutrition plan that works for them.

This is what I am offering you here a practical, easy-to-follow, stepby- step, scientific book about sports nutrition, including simple but mouthwatering recipes, that you can tailor to your running needs.

>>> is a practical guide to what to eat, when to eat and how much to eat. We also look at how your body metabolizes food into fuel, and how it can adapt to provide fuel for different levels of training intensity.

>>> shows the different fuelling requirements for different distances and training intensities and how making the right nutritional choices will benefit you. This section also includes sample menu plans, using the recipes from the book to demonstrate practically how to choose appropriate food.

>>> highlights the importance of maintaining the well-oiled machine we call our body; it looks at issues relating to injury, illness and over-reaching and demonstrates how the right nutrition can combat these potential problems.

There are fun and practical quick tips throughout the book that deliver upto- date and evidence-based sports nutrition in bitesize and accessible ways.

In this book, I have drawn from my professional experiences as a nutritionist and personal experiences as an endurance and newly converted ultra-runner. I hope it helps you to achieve all your running goals.

There is so much hype surrounding sports nutrition these days; the science is evolving, with an increasing number of studies proving that nutrition plays an important part in performance gains. This chapter will help you to understand why correct fuelling specifically relating to running is important to achieve your goals and optimize your performance. You will probably have some idea of the basics of good nutrition for example, that you should eat carbohydrate for energy, protein for repair, fat to absorb important nutrients, and vitamins and minerals for a healthy immune system. In this chapter we will look at these factors in more detail and I will explain how the quality of these nutrients, and when you consume them, plays a fundamental role in sports nutrition.

So no matter whether your weekly mileage is less than 20 or over 100, the basic principles of good nutrition are applicable to all; whether youre a novice or an Olympian; a ParkRunner or an ultra-runner, you need to begin with a strong nutritional foundation. Once this has been established, you can move on to a more detailed nutritional plan, helping to make you stronger, fitter and more able to meet your performance goals.