This week Marathon Grit is treating you to the best recipes for endurance runners – complete with superfood ingredients, clever cooking hacks, and ways to give your body back what your running is taking out of it. Bon Appetit!

5 SUPER FOODS FOR ENDURANCE ATHLETES

We went on a search to find 5 ingredients that you should add to your diet if you are training for an endurance event. They are:

Want to know how these 5 superfoods can improve your running performance? Read on for the scoop as well as delicious recipes to add to your diet.

If you are a runner, you have probably encountered inflammation in one form or another: shin splints, runners’ knee and plantar fasciitis are all running injuries with inflammation at their core.

Caroline’s Top Tip: Suffering from Plantar Fasciitis or Shin Splints? Read these articles where we get down and dirty with your feet and leg: Plantar Fasciitis – a runner’s guide. How to Shift Your Shin Splints

Anti-inflammatories are great for treating inflammation, but ideally, you want to avoid taking them especially whilst training for an endurance event. Step in turmeric.

Turmeric’s active component curcumin is a strong antioxidant and reduces the level of inflammation in the human body. Turmeric has been used for centuries to combat pain and swelling as a key ingredient in ancient medicine.

Want to get a dose of the good stuff? Try this Runner’s Curry incorporating coconut, chicken and you guessed it… turmeric, for an inflammation-blasting dinner, that’s mild enough for the whole family.

Beetroot juice can increase the amount of nitric oxide in the body, which may lead to increased blood flow and stronger muscle contractions. As runners we desperately need as much blood as possible to flow to our muscles to provide them with the nutrients and oxygen, they need to keep going during endurance events. Increased blood flow is a massive plus for performance during an event and recovery thereafter.

Beetroot is, therefore, a terrific addition to any runner’s weekly menu. Add beetroot to your weekly intake by making a beetroot smoothie. Hurrythefoodup.com recommends this rejuvenating Runners Beetroot Smoothie Recipe with fresh mint, maple syrup, and golden delicious apples thrown in the blender.

Did you know that sweet potato are full of vitamins and minerals your body needs to endure? Sweet potatoes contain potassium, iron, manganese, copper, and Vitamins A and C. It is the manganese and copper in sweet potatoes that build muscle cells and improve strength. Want to smash those hills? Sweet potatoes could be your helping hand.

For a sweet potato recipe that will leave you speechless try this: Baked Sweet Potato. Tzatziki, guacamole, and lime dressing create a perfect harmony of creaminess and tang. Delicious!

No guide on running nutrition would be complete without mentioning the essentials: carbohydrates and protein. Without these two vital components, you can kiss your long-distance dreams goodbye.

Lucky for you, oatmeal ticks both boxes in an easy-to-make, quick-cooking, and satisfying way. Oatmeal is also low-GI which means it releases energy slowly into your bloodstream, so you feel fuller for longer. Perfect for those rungry days!

Caroline’s Top Tip: Do you have to get up at 4:00 for a long run? Not sure how you’re going to make breakfast without waking the entire household? No sweat! Try

Overnight oats which you can prepare the night before and eat on the go.

Overnight oats taste more like dessert than super nutritious race fuel. We also love its versatility. You can basically add anything to your overnight oats to flavor it. Some of our favorite combinations are:

Here is a step-by-step guide for creating gorgeous overnight oats: Easy Overnight Oats.