4 Mistakes Endurance Athletes Make & How to Fix Them

Endurance athletes tend to focus on training more, pushing harder, and getting the right gear to become faster.

However, many runners and triathletes overlook nutrition as a crucial aspect of their routines that can significantly impact performance and recovery. 

In this blog, we’ll review 4 common mistakes to avoid as a runner or triathlete, and explain how to improve your fueling for optimal performance, health, and enjoyment of endurance sports! 

Endurance Athletes Mistake #1: Not Drinking Enough Fluids

Hydration is essential, yet many athletes neglect to drink enough fluids during their training and racing. Many people think water isn’t necessary, perhaps because they’ve seen pros run without water. 

Yet a small 2-3% decrease in body water mass can decrease your performance by up to 10%, especially when training in the heat or over 90 minutes of exercise. 

Runners and triathletes spend hours working on power output or buying expensive gear to make small gains in time, without realizing that dehydration could offset those gains! 

Just because you CAN run without water, doesn’t mean you SHOULD! Especially if you want to feel good training and hit PRs.

Poor hydration can also lead to increased risk of injury, higher heart rate, higher core temperature, higher rate of perceived exertion, gastrointestinal upset, extra bathroom stops, prolonged recovery times, and may be associated with muscle cramps. 

In other words, you’ll likely feel worse while training or racing and recover more slowly afterwards. You may also have worse race performance due to stomach upset.

Develop a Hydration Plan

It’s important to develop a hydration strategy to meet your needs and preferences. That might include drinking water consistently throughout the day, planning how much to drink each hour of your run, carrying a water bottle during runs, and/or including electrolytes and carbohydrates during longer workouts for improved hydration. 

Read this blog to learn specific amounts of fluids needed before, during and after exercise to help you plan a strategy.

To estimate how much fluid you need, a simple at-home sweat rate test can be done by weighing yourself before and after training. 

Just before you leave for training, weigh yourself without your clothes on. Then, when you get home, weigh yourself again without your clothes on since they’ll be holding sweat. 

You want your post-workout weight to be as close as possible to your pre-workout weight. If you lost several pounds, you probably didn’t drink enough, and it’s time to rehydrate so you can properly recover!

Even if you can’t tolerate scientifically proven amounts of fluid, like 2-4 cups per hour, some water is better than none. Take small sips throughout exercise, especially when you feel thirsty.

The longer you run and more you sweat, you’ll also want to consider adding sodium or electrolytes to your water. 

Start with general estimates like 500 mg per 1000 mL (1 liter). For a precise number based on your personal sweat and sodium loss rate, consider doing a sweat test by a company like Precison Fuel and Hyration. 

Hydration continues post-workout, so try to replace what was lost, then continue drinking fluids all day long, aiming for pale yellow urine. Adding a bit of sodium and carbohydrate can help you hydrate even more effectively. 

Signs of Dehydration

Listen to your body and pay attention to signs of dehydration, like dry mouth, fatigue, and dizziness.

Conversely, you don’t want to overhydrate. This can happen when drinking water faster than your kidneys can process it, such as greater than 1 liter per hour. This can cause low sodium levels in the blood, nausea, confusion, and impair brain function.

An easy tip to ensure hydration is to check the color of your pee before you start training or racing. It should be a pale yellow. Dark yellow pee is an indication you should drink more. 

Amber or darker colored means you’re already dehydrated and definitely need more fluid before you start. 

Use this chart to help you better understand urine colors and adequate hydration before and after activity.

Endurance Athletes Mistake #2: Not Eating Enough

Underfueling is another common mistake among endurance athletes and a common cause of injury. 

Nutrition is often an afterthought, but it plays a crucial role in performance, recovery, ability to focus, and energy. 

Many runners and triathletes fail to fuel their bodies adequately before, during, and after workouts, leading to sluggishness and subpar results. 

It’s essential to eat a balanced mix of carbohydrates, proteins, and healthy fats throughout your day, as well as meet your daily vitamin and mineral needs.

Workout and Race Fueling

Many people skip eating before morning training sessions, but even for short sessions, you can still benefit from something small like a gel, half a banana, some energy chews or a carbohydrate drink. 

Not fueling properly before workouts means you won’t be able to work as hard, so the session won’t yield the best results. 

Exercising without proper fuel can also elevate stress levels in your body, making recovery harder. Additionally, you may start to use muscle mass for energy, which is something to avoid at all costs, as muscle is crucial for strength, power, anti-aging, overall health. And muscle is difficult to build.

Pre-workout meals before longer training sessions should focus on easily digestible, low-fiber carbs to provide quick energy. 

Exact amount and timing will depend on your training schedule and individual tolerance, which is something I personalize with my clients as a registered dietitian. Around 30 grams of carbohydrate is often a good starting point, but higher is often beneficial depending on the length and intensity of training.

During a workout, carbs are essential for energy and to protect muscle mass. I find that many people don’t have a plan for how much to consume during a workout – if they consume anything at all. 

Your body only has so much stored glycogen (or energy from carbs) that it can use, so you need to supply it with more, particularly on long bikes and runs. Depending on how much glycogen you already have stored, you could run out of stored glycogen in about 90-120 minutes of moderate-intensity training. 

To learn how many carbs per hour you need, and which types of carbs to use, check out my online course, A Runner’s Guide to Reducing Gastrointestinal Symptoms. It also explains how much to eat before a race and general fueling guidelines for all endurance athletes, regardless of experience with GI symptoms. 

Generally speaking, you want about 30-90 grams of carbs per hour, with higher amounts for longer sessions over 3-4 hours long. 

Plan how you will get this amount ahead of time. For easier training, real food like dried fruit, bananas, maple syrup, or rice cakes can be used. For longer sessions of higher intensity and racing, most people will rely on energy gels, chews, or carb powders mixed into water. 

You’ll want to experiment with different foods and fuel sources to find what works best for you, as everyone has varied digestive reactions and taste preferences.

If you haven’t been taking many carbs when training, you’ll notice a nice bump in energy when you start fueling your body correctly! Plus, you’ll notice you don’t feel so tired afterwards.

After your workout, aim for a balanced meal with carbs, fat, and about 30-40 grams of protein within 30-60 minutes to help with recovery. Don’t forget to include well-balanced meals throughout the day that support your training regimen and recovery as well.

Endurance Athletes Mistake #3: Eating Too Much Sugar and Processed Foods

Speaking of well-balanced meals, another common mistake that runners and triathletes make is relying too heavily on sugar and processed foods outside of training. 

Man-made, ultra processed foods, refined carbohydrates, sugary snacks, and junk food can harm gut health, impair your immune system, increase stress, and affect mental health. 

They lack critical nutrients like B vitamins, vitamin D, iron calcium, and antioxidants that are essential for athletes to feel their best, reduce inflammation, and prevent illness and injury. 

It’s easy to reach for convenient, highly processed foods like soda, bagels, gels, waffles, and pizza, because athletes do need a lot of carbohydrates. And yes, some of these foods and supplements do have a place in an athlete’s life because we need low-fiber, low-protein, low-fat foods before and during training. 

However, we still have at least three meals or snacks per day that can be used to provide vitamins, minerals, protein, fiber and fat. 

Even some preworkout meals can be made healthier and still well-tolerated. For instance, a bowl of oatmeal with berries and nut butter before a long bike ride instead of pancakes with syrup. Or a slice of wheat bread with almond butter and banana instead of a white bagel with jam before a run. 

Your daily meals should come from God-made, whole food sources as often as possible. This means fresh fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, unsaturated fats, and whole grains. 

As an example, your lunch could be a stir-fry veggie bowl with brown rice, chicken breast, and tamari or soy sauce with a drizzle of olive oil. Dinner could be a sweet potato, salmon, and half a plate of asparagus cooked with avocado oil. For a vegetarian option, swap out animal protein for beans, tofu or tempeh.

Keep in mind that women need around 25 grams of fiber per day, and men need up to 38 grams for optimal health. Fiber is found in vegetables, fruit, whole grains, nuts, seeds, beans and legumes.  

Simply stated, aim for a plate full of colorful foods! 

Not only will natural food sources provide sustained energy, but they’ll give you the nutrients you need for recovery, a healthy gut, and long-term wellness. 

Endurance Athletes Mistake #4: Eating Too Much Gluten and Dairy

Gluten and dairy might be perfectly fine for some people. But many endurance athletes deal with stomach upset during or after exercise, and throughout their daily life. 

If you keep having stomach cramps, diarrhea after running, stomach pain on the bike, or irregular bowel habits, and have no idea why, this could be an area to explore.

With my clients who complain of gastrointestinal upset, I look at fiber intake before training as a likely source, but gluten and dairy are two of the other most common culprits I check for in my clients’ food logs. 

Many people have sensitivities or intolerances to these foods without realizing it. For some, it may just be an issue of difficulty digesting while they’re swimming, biking, or running due to reduced blood flow to the gut during exercise. 

For others, these foods may always be irritating or negatively impact other aspects of health like joint pain, skin problems, or brain fog. 

Gluten intolerance can also be a sign to check for more serious issues like celiac disease. In celiac disease, consuming gluten not only causes discomfort, but damages the intestines and reduces nutrient absorption. This can lead to a dip in performance and recovery and increase likelihood of injury.

If you’re not sure what’s causing your GI upset, consider keeping a food diary to track your meals and any resulting pattern of symptoms. 

Use A Runner’s Guide to Reducing Gastrointestinal Symptoms to learn more about what causes GI upset and get tips on how to fuel without pain. 

Luckily, there are plenty of gluten-free, dairy-free alternative foods available that can still provide the nutrients you need for optimal athletic performance without the negative side effects.

Conclusion

Remember that every endurance athlete is unique, so take the time to discover what works best for you. Prioritize hydration, nutrition, and wholesome eating, and you’ll be well on your way to achieving your athletic goals.