When you’re training hard for a running event, getting your nutrition right is just as important as getting the training right. You can have the perfect program on paper, but if you’re consistently under-fuelling, you’re limiting how well you can execute those sessions, recover from them and ultimately adapt to the training. Carbohydrates are particularly important around harder workouts and long runs, while sufficient protein supports muscle repair and recovery. The goal isn’t simply to eat less or keep your weight down — it’s to give your body enough energy to actually absorb the work you’re putting into it.

Body composition can absolutely play a role in running performance as well. Running is a weight-bearing sport, so carrying less non-functional mass can improve running economy and reduce the energy cost of moving your body over 5K, 10K, a half marathon or a marathon. If you can gradually become leaner while maintaining your muscle, strength, health and training quality, there can be a genuine performance benefit. But there’s a huge difference between intelligently improving body composition and simply trying to make the number on the scales as low as possible.

That’s why I think the best approach is to treat fuelling and leaning up as two goals that have to work together. You want to fuel the work that matters — particularly your key sessions, long runs and recovery — while creating any calorie deficit strategically across the rest of the week. If the deficit becomes so aggressive that your workouts deteriorate, recovery suffers, hormones or health are affected, or you’re constantly fatigued and hungry, you’re probably giving away more performance than you’re gaining from being lighter. The goal is not to arrive at the start line as light as possible. It’s to arrive lean, strong, healthy, well-fuelled and capable of producing the fastest performance your training has prepared you for.

Personalised running coaching plus dedicated nutrition advisory.

Run + Nutrition Coaching — $298 USD/month

Run coaching at $149 plus nutrition coaching at $149. Month-to-month, no lock-in.

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What’s included

• Everything in Run Coaching: hyper-personalised training plan, unlimited coach communication, and Discord community
• Personalised nutrition advisory
• Fueling for training and race day
• Recovery guidance

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