Nutrition tracking for runners

Track the fuel, not just the calories

For endurance athletes the most useful question isn't "did I stay under my number?" but "did I eat enough of the right things for the training I did, and the training I am about to do?" That means matching carbohydrate to the day's work, getting enough protein to recover, and noticing when you are consistently eating too little.

What to track

Carbohydrate, matched to training

Carbohydrate is the main fuel for hard and long running. Sports nutrition guidance scales it with your training load, in grams per kilogram of body weight per day:

A 65 kg runner on a moderate day needs roughly 325 to 455 g of carbohydrate. That is more than most people expect, and it is why under-fuelled runners feel flat on long runs.

Protein for recovery

Around 1.2 to 2.0 g per kilogram a day, spread across meals, with some after hard sessions. Most runners who eat regular meals get close; tracking shows whether you actually do.

Energy availability

Eating too little for your training over weeks, sometimes called low energy availability or RED-S, hurts performance, recovery, bone health and hormones. It often happens by accident when training increases but eating doesn't. A food log alongside your training data is one of the few ways to spot it early.

Fuelling during long runs and races

For runs over about 75 minutes, take in roughly 30 to 60 g of carbohydrate an hour, and up to around 90 g an hour in very long events if your gut is trained for it. Practise on long runs; race day is no time to find out a gel disagrees with you.

Make logging quick enough to keep doing

The best log is the one you keep. Weighing every ingredient works for a week, then most people stop. Approximate logging that you do every day beats perfect logging you abandon.

• Log in a sentence ("two slices of toast with peanut butter and a banana") or from a photo of your plate.
• Get an estimate of calories, carbohydrate, protein and fat, and correct it if it looks off.
• Copy meals you eat often instead of typing them again.

How SportMentor tracks nutrition

Nutrition in SportMentor is part of your coaching, not a separate diet app. It knows your training plan and your recent training, so it can tell you whether today's eating matches today's work.

• Log a meal from a sentence or a photo. You get an editable estimate of calories and macros. The estimates are approximate by design; there is no food database to search.
• Fuelling status. See today's intake against your targets and against the session in your plan, with timing advice for before, during and after.
• Under-fuelling flag. If your intake falls well short of what your training burns for a sustained period, your mentor raises it, framed around performance and recovery, not weight.
• Race week. Fuelling advice changes with your plan's race date: taper, carb-load, race day and recovery.
• Hydration guidance scaled to how long the session is and how hot it has been.
• Meal ideas that respect your dietary preferences and what you have left for the day.

It works whichever tracker you use, or none: nutrition doesn't depend on a connected device.

This guide is general information, not medical or dietetic advice. If you have a medical condition, a history of disordered eating, or specific dietary needs, work with a registered dietitian.