Carbs for Runners
For runners who routinely train hard 4 to 6 days a week, carbs enhance performance and should be the foundation of each meal. The International Olympic Committee's research-based recommendations for an optimal sports diet include far more carbs than you may realize:
| Amount of exercise | Gram carb/lb body wt | Gram carb/kg |
| Moderate exercise (~1 hour/day) | 2.5 to 3 | 5 to 7 |
| Endurance exercise (1-3 h/day) | 2.5 to 4.5 | 6 to 10 |
| Extreme exercise (>4-5 h/day) | 3.5 to 5.5 | 8 to 12 |
So what does this recommendation look like in terms of food? For a 150 pound runner who trains hard an hour a day and remains somewhat active the rest of the day (that is, does more than just sit in front of a computer for 8 hours), this comes to 375 to 450 grams of carbohydrate per day, the equivalent of 1,500 to 1,800 calories of carbs. This is more than a few blueberries, a spinach salad, and a pile of broccoli.
More: The Healthy Carbs Endurance Athletes Need
While I suspect many of you are rolling your eyes right now and thinking, "My body is different from everyone else's. I could never eat that many carbs without getting fat," believe it or not, this is an appropriate intake.
Here's how that 150 pound runner might want to evenly distribute carbs throughout the day. Notice how this menu sharply contrasts with the low-carb menus I commonly see: breakfast, protein shake; lunch, salad with chicken; afternoon snack, almonds; dinner, pile of veggies and protein; then evening snacks, often uncontrollable.
| TIME | MEAL | CARB (g) | SAMPLE MEAL (g carb/food item) |
| 6:30 7:30 | Pre-exercise snack/ | 40 110 | Clif Bar (40) 1 cup dry oatmeal (55) |
| 11:30 | Early lunch | 125 | turkey sandwich (40) |
| 3:30 | Snack | 45 | trail mix (nuts, raisins) (35) |
| 7:30 | Dinner | 110 | protein with 2 cups Brown Rice (90) |
If these meals look fattening to you, please notice the lack of snacking before and after dinner on crackers or sweets. Nor are there food binges every three days when the runner succumbs to devouring the whole bag of cookies. This plan offers a hefty dose of carbs and calories throughout the active part of the athlete's day, when the body needs the fuel.
