Hi. I'm a 32:XX 10k guy who's always eaten whatever he wants whenever he wants. I also drink several times a week. Just wondering, would I really be much faster if I followed a strict diet plan? Like, could I run sub-30 or would I just shave a few seconds off?
How much does diet affect performance?
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I do not know your injury history. I know for myself, greater my discipline, fewer the injuries. Fewer injuries means fewer breaks in training.
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I don't know, but I am interested so I am going to bump this up.
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You should probably drink every day if you want to be well hydrated for your races.
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As a long time vegetarian, I wish I could say that nutrition has a short term effect but I don't think that is the case.
But good nutrition has a long term effect. You will be healthier for a lot longer with a good diet and a healthy lifestyle. Now in my 50ies I see a lot of people around me declining fast while I am still doing well. Of course running wise I am a LOT slower. But I am still running and a lot others are not.
So keep eating your fish and chips with vinegar for your sub 32:00 times. But if you want to run and be healthy in your 50ies you might want to start now with a better diet. -
British Guy wrote:
Hi. I'm a 32:XX 10k guy who's always eaten whatever he wants whenever he wants. I also drink several times a week. Just wondering, would I really be much faster if I followed a strict diet plan? Like, could I run sub-30 or would I just shave a few seconds off?
A few seconds is a lot closer than 2 mins. You need a really horrible diet (i.e. some vegan diet where. you don't get enough protein. Some meat centric one not giving you enough carbs) to get large performance gaps. -
British Guy wrote:
Hi. I'm a 32:XX 10k guy who's always eaten whatever he wants whenever he wants. I also drink several times a week. Just wondering, would I really be much faster if I followed a strict diet plan? Like, could I run sub-30 or would I just shave a few seconds off?
If you're a Pom, likely yo u are also a drunk.
Its how people get shagged.
I suspect if you got into shape you'd run faster. There's nothing magic about 30 minutes -
I find that it matters more what you DO eat than what you don’t. Make sure you get enough protein, veggies, antioxidants, and water. The rest of your diet doesn’t have to be perfect at all as long as you consume enough calories and don’t eat in such excess that you get fat.
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QFFE
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I'm no expert but I think mileage matters a lot on this issue. Obviously getting as lean as possible while still in optimal health will make you run faster. Mileage and diet both influence this, but more mileage lets you get away with some suboptimal dietary habits. I would argue, however, that certain such habits are necessary to sustain a big engine (high mileage). If, like myself, you crave pizza and ice cream, you should eat it a few times per week. Your body is probably sending a clear signal that it needs to replenish some macronutrients quickly, and salad just won't cut it. As a prior poster noted, one of the worst diets is a vegan or vegetarian one that doesn't see you ingesting enough protein or carbs. My final point in this rather convoluted response is that fruits and vegetables offer essential micronutrients, so it's still important to include them in the diet as well as the macros.
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If you're healthy, at race weight, and you're not getting injured, then improving your diet isn't gonna change much. If there's something specific missing in ur diet, then maybe you'll see some noticeable gains.