Recovery: nutrition for runners, OCR athletes, and endurance training

How nutrition affects recovery and performance for running, OCR, and endurance sports

Thomas Solomon, PhD.

Updated on December 19, 2025.
Reading time approx 4 minutes (800 words).

What you’ll learn:

Food is the fuel your body runs on. No fuel, no energy, no go, no recovery.

Eating enough — and getting carbs and protein in the right amounts — is likely to improve performance and recovery. Not eating enough (low energy availability) is likely to hurt both.

Curious about the how and why? Scroll down for the details, the nuances, and the nerdy bits.

The information I provide is not medical advice. Before making any changes to your habits of daily living based on any information I provide, always ensure it is safe for you to do so and consult your doctor if you are unsure.

What is nutrition?

Nutrition is food. Not magic. Real food. It’s non-negotiable — without it, you will literally grind to a halt. For marathon runners, trail runners, ultra runners, obstacle course (OCR) racers, and any endurance athletes, food is a core tool in the recovery toolbox.

I’ve written deep-dive reviews that walk through what to eat and when. Check them out:

→ Recovery nutrition starts with a healthy eating pattern.

→ The “post-exercise nutrition window” is your between-session period for nutrient optimisation.

→ Eating carbohydrate replenishes muscle glycogen.

→ Eating protein supports muscle protein synthesis to repair and build tissue.

→ Carbohydrate plus protein is your recovery superpower.

I’ve also written deep-dive reviews on “fat burning”, “fueling for the work required”, and the low-carb vs. high-carb saga. Check them out:

→ What are fat oxidation rates and why do they matter?

→ Increasing fat burning during exercise — acute manipulations of carbohydrate availability.

→ Chronic dietary manipulation of carbohydrate availability — 100-years of the low-carb, high-fat diet epic.

→ Does a low-carb, high-fat diet offer a performance advantage to an endurance athlete?

→ Understanding the “carb wars” using context and perspective.

What is the scientific evidence on the effect of nutrition on recovery and athletic performance?

RightArrow Maintaining a healthy eating pattern and enough energy intake supports health, recovery, and consistency.

RightArrow Timing and dose matter in the space between sessions: carbohydrates help replenish muscle glycogen and protein supports muscle repair and rebuilding.

RightArrow Combining carbohydrate with protein between your sessions can add a small extra boost for recovery.

RightArrow But, there’s no need to stress. Eating a wide variety of colorful foods across and within all food groups, spreading meals through the day, and including carbs, fats, and protein at each meal or snack will keep most people on track.

RightArrow Plus, the “urgency” to refuel depends on the time since you last ate and the time until your next workout. If your next workout is days away, rapid post-exercise carbs are not urgent — regular meals will restore glycogen. If your pre-workout meal had plenty of protein, immediate protein after is also less urgent.

The verdict:

Can nutrition enhance recovery and athletic performance?

Nutrition — eating food — is very likely to reduce muscle soreness after exercise and improve the restoration of performance.

Low-carb approaches can impair running economy and performance, while higher carbohydrate intake supports recovery between sessions and regular carb intake during exercise can improve performance. For muscle-damaging work, protein supplements slightly improve the recovery of performance, and higher daily protein supports gains in strength and muscle size — with benefits flattening around 1.6 grams per kilogram per day.

Effect sizesA standardized measure of the magnitude of an effect of an intervention. Unlike p-values, effect sizes show how large the effect is and indicate how meaningful it might be. Common effect size measures include standardised mean difference (SMD), Cohen’s d, Hedges’ g, eta-squared, and correlation coefficients. range from small to large, depending on the outcome measured.

For carbs and protein, effects look similar in males and females, but females are under-represented in studies, so more research is needed.

Carb effects appear similar in trained athletes and untrained folks. Protein effects may be larger in trained athletes — probably because more training makes protein more relevant to performance and recovery.

Keep in mind: there is moderate to high heterogeneityHeterogeneity shows how much the results in different studies in a meta-analysis vary from each other. It is measured as the percentage of variation (the I² value). A rule of thumb: if I² is roughly 25%, that indicates low heterogeneity (good), 50% is moderate, and 75% indicates high heterogeneity (bad). High heterogeneity means there’s more variability in effects between studies and, therefore, a less precise overall effect estimate. (variability) in study designs and effects between studies, and some risk of biasRisk of bias in a meta-analysis refers to the potential for systematic errors in the studies included in the analysis. Such errors can lead to misleading/invalid results, and unreliable conclusions. This can arise because of issues with the way participants are selected (randomisation), how data is collected and analysed, and how the results are reported.. So, the overall certainty of evidenceCertainty of evidence tells us how confident we are that the published results accurately reflect the true effect. It’s based on factors like study design, risk of bias, consistency, directness, precision, and publication bias. Low certainty means more doubt and less confidence, and that future studies could easily change the conclusions. High certainty means that the current evidence is so strong and consistent that future studies are unlikely to change conclusions. is moderateA moderate quality of evidence means that, in general, studies in this field have some limitations. This could be due to somewhat inconsistent effects between studies, a moderate range of effect sizes between studies, and/or a moderate risk of bias (caused by a small to medium number of studies, small to medium numbers of participants, poorly described randomization processes, some missing data, some inappropriate methods/statistics). When the quality of evidence is moderate, there is some doubt and only moderate confidence in the overall effect of an intervention, and future studies could change overall conclusions. The best way to improve the quality of evidence is for scientists to conduct large, well-controlled, high-quality randomized controlled trials.. Therefore, additional high-quality randomised controlled trialsThe “gold standard” approach for determining whether a treatment has a causal effect on an outcome of interest. In such a study, a sample of people representing the population of interest is randomised to receive the treatment or a no-treatment placebo (control), and the outcome of interest is measured before and after the exposure to treatment/control. are needed to increase the certainty (confidence) in the overall effect sizes reported in meta-analysesA meta-analysis quantifies the overall effect size of a treatment by compiling effect sizes from all known studies of that treatment..

How to use this: Aim to eat enough overall energy each day; build meals around carbohydrate-rich staples plus a protein source; include fats you enjoy; and adjust urgency to eat again based on the time until your next session. If your next hard session is soon, prioritize a carb-focused meal or snack after training and include a decent protein source; if the next session is far away, just return to your regular meal pattern. For daily protein, target a total intake near 1.6 grams per kilogram of body weight per day across several meals — more is not always better.

nutrition for runners, OCR, and endurance athletes from Thomas Solomon

Information you can trust. All content on Veohtu is meticulously researched and written by Thomas Solomon, PhD. He does not sell supplements, recovery products, or ad space, and he has no sponsorships, brand affiliations, or ambassador roles. Everything you read reflects his independent views, shaped solely by peer-reviewed scientific evidence — and that will never change.

Full list of meta-analyses examining nutrition for recovery

Here are the meta-analyses I've summarised above:

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Who is Thomas Solomon?

My knowledge has been honed following 20+ years of running, cycling, hiking, cross-country skiing, lifting, and climbing, 15+ years of academic research at world-leading universities and hospitals, and 10+ years advising and coaching in athletic performance and lifestyle change.

I have a BSc in Biochemistry, a PhD in Exercise Science, and over 90 peer-reviewed publications in medical journals.

I'm also an ACSM-certified Exercise Physiologist (ACSM-EP), an ACSM-certified Personal Trainer (ACSM-CPT), a VDOT-certified Distance Running Coach, and a UKVRN Registered Nutritionist (RNutr).

Since 2002, I’ve conducted biomedical research in exercise and nutrition and have taught and led university courses in exercise physiology, active recovery, biochemistry, and molecular medicine.

And, with my personal experience of competing on the track (800m to 10,000m), the road (5 k to marathon), on the trails, and in the mountains, by foot, bicycle, cross-country ski, and during obstacle course races (OCR), I deeply understand what it's like to train and compete — I've been there, done it, and gotten sweat, mud, and tears on my t-shirt.

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Disclaimer: I occasionally mention brands and products, but it is important to know that I don't sell recovery products, supplements, or ad space, and I'm not affiliated with / sponsored by / an ambassador for / receiving advertisement royalties from any brands. I have conducted biomedical research for which I’ve received research money from publicly-funded national research councils and medical charities, and also from private companies, including Novo Nordisk Foundation, AstraZeneca, Amylin, the A.P. Møller Foundation, and the Augustinus Foundation. I’ve also consulted for Boost Treadmills and Gu Energy on R&D grant applications, and I provide research and scientific writing services for Examine.com. Some of my articles contain links to information provided by Examine.com but I do not receive any royalties or bonuses from those links. Importantly, none of the companies described above have had any control over the research design, data analysis, or publication outcomes of my work. I research and write my content using state-of-the-art, consensus, peer reviewed, and published scientific evidence combined with my empirical evidence observed in practice and feedback from athletes. My advice is, and always will be, based on my own views and opinions shaped by the scientific evidence available. The information I provide is not medical advice. Before making any changes to your habits of daily living based on any information I provide, always ensure it is safe for you to do so and consult your doctor if you are unsure.