After taking part in the recent BMO Vancouver Marathon, I am now firmly in recovery mode. But like many people who have just completed an endurance event this spring, once you cross the finish line it feels like you are entering into unchartered territory. It doesn’t seem to matter if you have just run your first race or you are a seasoned veteran. And it makes no difference whether you ran a marathon, a half or you conquered some other epic feat. Because after spending so many weeks and months laser-focused on training for your event, it can be difficult to know what to do next to fully recover.
Of course, celebrating, resting and taking the time to sort out any niggles and injuries is the most obvious course of action. As is balancing a gradual return to exercise and strength training with avoiding new injuries and maintaining fitness. However, many runners overlook the importance of diet when it comes to recovery. In reality, in the immediate days and weeks after completing an endurance event, people are somewhat relaxed about eating healthily. Especially those who had previously adhered to eating a very strict diet while training. Because why shouldn’t a daily side of cheesy chips be your just reward for crossing the finish line…even if it was several weeks ago.
Now there’s nothing wrong with a little celebration or two. But good nutrition is central to making a full recovery, preventing injuries and supporting a return to training. Continuing to eat unhealthily for weeks after an event can actually slow down your recovery. But it’s not too late. Following these top tips of recovery nutrition will help put a spring in your step towards making a full recovery sooner.
1. Rehydrate
In the immediate days and weeks after you finished your event, staying on top of your hydration is still important in order to keep your body functioning at its best. Being hydrated is essential to all bodily functions and this includes supporting muscle recovery and reducing inflammation. It also prevents muscle cramps and reduces joint stiffness, which is why being hydrated in the first 48hrs after an event helps reduce DOMs (delayed onset muscle soreness).
Whilst electrolytes and sports drinks play a definite role as initial recovery drinks, there is no need to continue taking electrolytes in the days and weeks that follow your event. The high sodium content they contain can be harmful to your health. In particular, they can raise your blood pressure and put a strain on your heart. Sports drinks and electrolyte supplements may also contain other ingredients including vitamins and minerals which are actually harmful to consume in excess.
Instead, keep hydrated by getting into a routine of topping up your water intake. Use a transparent water bottle to help you stay aware of how much you are actually drinking. It can also encourage good hydration habits. In terms of other drinks, decaffeinated teas also work very well to rehydrate. Of course, there is no denying that in terms of your hydration, coffee, alcohol and soft drinks also count. However, consuming these in excess will affect the quality of your sleep and your diet.
2. Refuel with carbohydrates
When it comes to fuelling endurance events, carbohydrates are king. Because our bodies store carbohydrates as glycogen in our muscles and liver and we tap into this as our primary source of energy. Immediately after an endurance event and for the first couple of days afterwards you will literally feel that you are running on empty. This is because your glycogen stores which fuelled all of your effort are completely depleted and need to be replenished again.
Eating plenty of carbohydrates to help your body resynthesise and store glycogen is therefore crucial to fully recover. If you do not manage to replace all of the glycogen you lost then you risk cumulative fatigue and injury. Recent evidence shows that our bodies store glycogen the most efficiently in the first hours after an endurance event. But glycogen also continues to be stored rapidly for up to 24hrs. As a rule, the higher the intensity and the longer an event is directly impacts how long it can take to fully replenish your glycogen stores. For longer events such as a marathon or an ultra it can even take up to a week to fully refuel again. To put another spanner in the works, muscle damage can also delay glycogen storage but more about that below.
When it comes to refuelling your body with carbohydrates, it can be tempting to reach for recovery foods with a high glycaemic index (GI) such as sweets, treats and sports bars. Since they raise your blood sugar rapidly they can be very useful in promoting glycogen storage in the first couple of hours after an endurance event. However, studies show that choosing healthier sources of carbohydrates with a low GI are not only just as good for glycogen storage, but they are also better at increasing your endurance for your next workout.
Therefore, in the days and weeks that follow an endurance event, focus on including high quality, healthy carbohydrates in your diet. You can do this easily by basing your meals on carbohydrates such as wholewheat pasta, rice, breads and flatbreads, wholegrains and cereals such as barley, oats, bulghur wheat and couscous, starchy veg such as potatoes, squashes, sweet potatoes and corn (polenta), and beans such as chickpeas, kidney beans and lentils. With so many healthy options, you will be hard-pressed to not re-fuel.
3. Rebuild with protein
High intensity training will always do damage to your muscles. However, when you do a longer endurance event, you are also likely to get some muscle loss. This is because muscle protein is broken down and used as fuel when our glycogen stores are very low. Again, the longer and more intense your event was, the greater amount of damage to your muscles and the higher the risk of wastage. Therefore, eating protein as part of your recovery is essential to building new muscle tissue and repairing damaged muscle fibres.
Evidence has shown that the optimal window in which our bodies are particularly good at muscle protein synthesis is in the first hours and up to 24hrs after an endurance event. In addition, our bodies are best able to repair and build more muscle when we consume up to 20g protein periodically. This is because digesting protein regularly allows for a more sustained delivery of amino acids which promotes muscle protein synthesis. Which means that after an event, including protein in a recovery snack at the same time you are refuelling with carbohydrates is key. Chocolate milk makes one of the best recovery snacks around as it contains the perfect balance of carbohydrates and protein and is also hydrating.
In the days and weeks that follow an endurance event, it also means that it is better to periodically include protein in snacks and in meals rather than sitting down daily to an entire roast chicken. Effectively, consuming more protein than you need gives you no additional benefits to recovery or muscle protein synthesis. Although evidence shows that the type of protein can make a difference. Protein containing the amino acid leucine is particularly important for promoting muscle protein synthesis. Therefore, including some good leucine sources such as eggs, milk, dairy products, meat, fish and poultry in your recovery diet is ideal. It is also why drinking chocolate milk as an initial recovery drink is a real game-changer to recovery.
But to be clear, this is not to say that in order to fully recover and rebuild your muscles that you should ever restrict yourself to only eating any one type of protein source. Eating a wider variety of healthy protein sources including vegetarian options as part of a balanced diet will ensure that you get a broader range of essential nutrients.
4. Replenish with micronutrients
You may not be surprised to hear that you are slightly more vulnerable to coughs, colds and illnesses after taking part in a hard endurance event. If you haven’t experienced it yourself, then you will know a runner who has. But recent evidence shows that the role of the immune system in causing a susceptibility to infection is far from clear. Rather than intense exercise ‘destroying’ your immune cells and creating an ‘open window’ to infection, more recent studies show that in fact, immune cells travel to other areas in body, such as the lungs, which are more prone to infection. Even so, whether or not you picked up a bug from running among a sweaty throng of heavy breathers, the best way to maintain your immune system and recover fully from an endurance event is to replenish your diet with micronutrients.
The key to doing this is eating a healthy, balanced, nutritious diet that is also varied. Eating a varied diet ensures that you get the broadest range of vitamins and minerals that make up the essential micronutrients our bodies need to function and stay well. For example, fruits and vegetables are an extremely rich source of micronutrients, yet many people eat the same ones each day. However, micronutrients play a really vital role in glycogen storage and muscle protein synthesis needed for recovery. Fundamentally, you cannot expect your body to fully recover if you are not giving it a broad enough range of the necessary nutrients it needs. Therefore, in the days and weeks after an endurance event, introducing more variety into your diet will help you recover quicker.
Aim to eat ‘a rainbow’ of different coloured fruits and vegetables and include more portions at meals and snacks to ensure your body is functioning at its best. In the same way, don’t limit the range and types of carbohydrate and protein source you eat. Including a wider variety of healthy, nutrient-dense foods will ensure your body gets everything it needs to fully recover.
Lastly, it is worth remembering that running an endurance event is no small matter and even elite athletes take a recovery break. So treat your recovery period as just another part of the training. And if done well, you can rebuild yourself back stronger and prevent future injuries. Good nutrition is central to this and these top tips to recovery nutrition can help you refuel, rebuild and replenish your body sooner. Before long, with a spring in your step, you might even find yourself signing up for your next endurance event.
As for myself, though nursing an injury, I already have the Abbott World Marathon Majors Marathon Tours & Travel Age Group World Championships at the 2025 TCS New York City Marathon in the calendar. In the meantime, with recovery recipes aplenty here is the latest creation to share. This Warm potato salad with hot smoked salmon and basil cream makes the most of seasonal vegetables and tastes great as cold leftovers (if there are any).
