What to Eat After a Marathon in 2024: Tips & Recipes

What you eat after finishing a marathon is crucial for a speedy recovery. Proper nutrition after a long or an ultra-long race isn't optional: it's mandatory. You need to hydrate yourself and eat a mix of carbs and protein (and some healthy fats) to replenish energy reserves and repair muscles. Whether it's your first marathon or fiftieth, your post-race diet remains essential for optimal recovery.

After an endurance race, you should prioritize complete meals to support your recovery. Otherwise, it can negatively impact how you feel and recover. At best, you may feel exhausted; at worst, you risk injury. Read on for my top fueling strategy post-marathon, checked and approved by our expert in-house nutritionist. 

Best Foods to Eat After a Marathon 🥕

You'll need a balanced diet to aid your body's recovery after a long-distance race. Focus on consuming foods rich in carbohydrates, protein, and healthy fats. This means including a mix of starchy vegetables or grains, lean meat and other plant sources of protein, fruits and vegetables, dairy products and oils (from nuts, seeds, fish etc) in your meals. Below, you can find some great foods you should include in your meal plan. 

Carbohydrates 🍞

Consuming carbs is essential for replenishing your energy stores after an endurance race. Good foods include bananas, granola bars, chocolate milk, whole wheat bread or pastry, and pretzels. Peanut butter would also make a great addition to your post-marathon meal. 

Protein 🥩

Meat, fish, seafood, and legumes are excellent protein sources. Protein is crucial for muscle repair after running, so an adequate protein intake can greatly enhance your recovery after training or competition.

An investigation into the effects of exercise on body composition found that consuming higher amounts of protein can lessen the effects of muscle damage. Marathons are notoriously hard on the body, so make sure to include high-protein foods in your diet¹. 

Protein-rich foods include:

Healthy Fats 🍀

You might be surprised as to which foods are great sources of healthy fats. It's not just animal fats, which often contain higher levels of saturated fats and are not ideal when consumed in excess. 

Healthy fats can be found in oils like olive, canola, and avocado oil. You can also get these beneficial fats from ingredients like pumpkin seeds, flaxseed, and nuts.

Vegetables & Fruits 🍎

After a marathon, make fruits and vegetables a key part of your recovery diet. Veggies contain antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals that your body needs. Research shows that people who engage in intense physical activities perform better when they consume the right amount of vegetables and fruits². 

Eating fruits can help you recover after a strenuous run and counter unwanted health effects associated with exercise. Research indicates that eating fruit can combat oxidative stress, muscle damage, and inflammation. Fruits offer essential carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants³. 

Dairy 🧀

Dairy products are a beneficial addition to a runner's diet for several reasons. They provide various nutrients, but the primary reason to include them in your diet is for the calcium content. This mineral supports short-term and long-term bone health, playing a part in injury prevention and reducing the risk of osteoporosis⁴.

The role of calcium isn't limited to bones: it’s also good for your heart⁵. Calcium also contributes to muscle health, among other benefits⁶.

Daily calcium requirements vary by age and gender. But they typically fall in the range of 1,000 mg to 1,300 mg for adults and older adults, according to the dietary guidelines for Americans⁷. Here's the calcium content per 100 g of some popular dairy products in the USA in descending order (according to the USDA):

• Cheddar: 710 mg

• Mozzarella: 505 mg

• Milk: 123 mg

• Soy milk: 123 mg

• Plain Greek yogurt: 115 mg

• Low-fat cottage cheese (2%): 103 mg

• Butter (salted): 24 mg

Post-Marathon Meal Ideas 🍲

Many recipe combinations work for a post-marathon meal. In general, long-distance runners should consume more carbs than either protein or fat. Different organizations have slightly different recommendations, but the general breakdown of macronutrients you should aim for is as follows:

• 40-60% of total energy intake from carbs

• 20-25% from protein

• 20-30% from fats

To leave more room for training or post-marathon recovery, consider subscribing to a meal delivery service. This can eliminate meal and macro planning, grocery shopping, and most or all of the cooking while providing you with the right amount of nutrients. 

If you prefer not to cook, especially after running long distances, prepared meal delivery services may be a better fit for you. They deliver cooked meals, and all you have to do is heat them in the microwave or the traditional oven. 

Most services have a clear breakdown of the nutrients they contain. Here's an example that fits into the recommended ratios above: 

Seafood Boil Fettuccine With Petite Scallops

This Home Chef recipe has 69 g of carbs, 37 g of protein, and 20 g of fat. Because of its lower fat content, it perfectly falls within the recommended ratios above. (As long as your total daily intake is balanced, it’s okay if individual meals don’t each have the proper percentages but this is a good example of a recipe that does).

Fettuccine pasta is the main source of carbs here, while scallops provide the bulk of protein. Corn kernels add an extra dose of carbs. Green onion and parsley provide dietary fiber and micronutrients. The majority of the healthy fats come from a small amount of oil used to cook the dish.

When to Eat After a Marathon? 🕜

In order to optimize recovery, you should try to eat some carbs and protein within 60 minutes of the end of the race. Running long distances may affect your appetite, making the thought of a full meal sound unappetizing. If you struggle with this, you can rely on smaller snacks or liquids like chocolate milk to start the recovery process until you feel ready for a complete meal. 

And it may seem obvious, but don’t forget to stay well-hydrated as well.

Macronutrients to Focus on 🍊

As a distance runner, you need various nutrients (both micro and macro) to recover and refuel. I've listed the main nutrients with their main benefits below. 

Carbohydrates 🍝

Carbs aid in restoring your energy, helping you get ready for your next training session or competition. Carb ingestion replenishes glycogen stores, the primary fuel for physical activities. If quick refueling is needed, opt for high glycemic index foods like potatoes, white bread, rice and crackers⁸.

Distance runners often require more carbs than leisure or short-distance runners. Without enough carbs, you might burn out and fail to complete the marathon. In addition to consuming carbohydrates before the race, you'll want to have some fast-digesting carbohydrates throughout the marathon like gels and small bites. 

What's more, research on mountain marathon runners who consumed a particularly high carbohydrate intake (120 grams per hour) showed that such an intake optimized athletic performance and helped limit exercise-induced muscle damage. These findings apply to any ultra-endurance event⁹. 

Protein 🍖

Protein is vital for muscle growth and synthesis, as well as repairing micro-tears from intense runs. Also, consider eating casein or other slow-digesting proteins before sleep to enhance muscle protein synthesis and reduce muscle breakdown¹⁰. Research indicates that adding protein can improve muscle glycogen restoration as long as carb intake is adequate¹¹.

Another study found that marathons lead to changes in a runner's body composition and metabolic blood indices. Changes were lower in participants who consumed higher amounts of protein during the tapering period and the long-distance race¹². 

Fats 🥑

Fat is another essential nutrient for athletic performance. Many athletes and people shy away from this macronutrient, but it's still necessary for the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K)¹³. A deficiency of these vitamins may lead to a weakened immune system and a higher probability of infection¹⁴. 

Micronutrients to Focus on After a Long Run 🍞

Micronutrients are vitamins and minerals that our bodies need in small amounts. Some micronutrients are essential for long-distance runners, in particular. 

Potassium 🍌

Potassium is an electrolyte you need to maintain your performance. Potassium accumulates in muscles, being released from the intracellular to the extracellular space of human skeletal muscle. This leads to fatigue during intense performances¹⁵.

To keep going further, you should replenish potassium. Bananas, raisins, and apricots are rich in this nutrient according to the USDA, but supplementation can also help. You can drink sports drinks to restore electrolytes, too.

Sodium 🧂

Sodium is another essential electrolyte for everyone, but especially for distance runners. As an endurance athlete, you should ensure the intake of 300 mg to 600 mg of sodium per hour. Don't let the fact that ordinary people need no more than 1.5 g of this mineral per day fool you into lowering your intake¹⁶. 

Drink sports beverages to replenish your sodium stores during the marathon. Some good sources of sodium according to the USDA are crackers and bread. You can also season your meals with Celtic salt to improve flavor and somewhat increase your potassium and sodium intake. 

Antioxidants 🥭

Antioxidants are essential for endurance racers and other athletes. Consuming whole foods and supplements rich in antioxidants could help enhance physical and mental well-being. A lot of research currently focuses on the use of these compounds in the form of supplements to reduce oxidative stress, improving recovery and performance¹⁷. However, the evidence on the efficacy of supplementation is inconclusive¹⁸.

A varied diet is ideal to ensure you get a wide range of antioxidants. Check out the following infographic for some antioxidant-rich foods:

Are There Any Foods to Avoid After a Marathon? 🍕

Generally speaking, you can eat anything you want after a long race. Your main focus should be consuming enough nutrients to help you recover. As long as you meet that requirement, what you eat to get your nutrients is secondary. 

Still, it would be beneficial to get the necessary nutrients from nutritious, wholesome foods. If you dislike some of the veggies I've recommended above, there are ways you can learn to incorporate them into your diet hassle-free. But if you crave fast food burgers or pizzas, or a favorite dessert from a pastry shop from time to time, then go for it. 

Foods to Eat Before a Distance Race 🍗

Eat a balanced meal with carbs and protein at least 2 hours before a marathon, or even earlier. Include healthy carbohydrates from wholesome foods like grains, starchy vegetables. and pulses. 

As for protein, lean meat (especially chicken and turkey meat without skin) will do you more good than red meat. For a quick energy boost right before the race, focus on easy-to-digest carbs and keep protein, fat and fiber to a minimum. 

Watermelon is a top choice for distance runners. It contains L-citrulline, an organic compound that boosts nitric oxide production, which could help enhance your marathon performance¹⁹. 

Beets are another great choice. They contain dietary nitrates that convert into nitric oxide, which functions as a vasodilator. It improves blood flow and optimizes oxygen delivery to muscles, preventing fatigue. 

You can carb-load in the days before an endurance race. This nutritional strategy could help increase your running performance and delay fatigue because it helps maximize your glycogen stores. Prioritize high-GI foods as the race approaches to ensure they’re quickly digested and absorbed²⁰.

Other Things to Keep in Mind 💡

Hydration is crucial to keep in mind before, during, and after the race. The other key factor I haven't mentioned yet is rest, which is part of the Four R’s strategy, but I'll get to that in a sec.

Rehydration 🥤

It's almost certain you'll experience some dehydration during a marathon, even if you drink fluids during the race. However, you should control your fluid intake to avoid the risk of hyponatremia (dangerously low blood sodium levels). A good rule of thumb is to drink less than 700 ml of fluid per hour to avoid excessive dilution of blood sodium content, prioritizing electrolyte-rich drinks. Rehydrating and replenishing electrolytes as soon as possible once you finish the race is paramount for recovery²¹. 

However thirsty you feel, try to control your fluid intake during a marathon. Gaining weight during the run indicates fluid retention and a greater risk of exertional hyponatremia. Also, you should lower your fluid consumption if you experience stomach fullness, vomiting, or bloating. 

But not all drinks are created equal. While water seems like an obvious choice for rehydration, sports drinks and coconut water are a better option. They contain electrolytes, which are vital for regulating different bodily functions. Drinking too much water without replenishing your electrolytes can cause a number of issues.

You should avoid alcohol right after a distance race because it may make you even more dehydrated. If you cannot help yourself but indulge in a beer or two, drink an equal amount of water with it. 

Electrolyte-Rich Foods 🍉

When your appetite is back, focus on electrolyte-restoring foods. Bananas and apricots are among the best fruits for this, but also cucumbers (botanically fruits), avocados, and melons. For veggies, try to include kale, broccoli, spinach, potatoes, and beans. 

Four Rs 🚩

The 4 Rs mean Rest, Rehydration, Repair, and Refuel. In short, this is what the strategy includes:

• Rest well at night because it's when your muscle repair occurs

• Rehydrate throughout the day by regularly drinking fluids

• Repair by ingesting sufficient amounts of protein to aid your muscle repair

• Refuel by consuming carbohydrates, which are your body's main source of energy.

FAQ

Can you eat anything after a marathon?

In short, yes, you can eat virtually anything after a long-distance race. Just make sure you’re getting enough carbs and protein to kickstart your recovery well. While consuming healthy foods after a marathon is beneficial, your body will still absorb and use nutrients from fast food and other less healthy meals.  

What are the best foods to eat after a long run?

The best foods to eat after a distance run provide enough carbs and protein. Some other nutrients essential for a quick recovery are potassium, sodium, and antioxidants. Good options include grains, lean meats and legumes, as well as fruits, vegetables and seeds.

What should I do immediately after a marathon?

Rehydrate yourself after the race, the sooner the better (focus on electrolyte-rich drinks). You don't have to rush to eat immediately after you cross the finish line, especially if you don't feel hungry right then. But your body could still use some carbs and protein to start the recovery process, so aim for a light snack and rehydration until you’re ready for a full meal.

References

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