Nutrition for Recovery: What to Eat After Long Runs and Why

Runners love exercise recovery tools, am I right?! Ice baths, massage guns, foam rollers..but some may forget one of the most powerful recovery tools of all: NUTRITION! No recovery tool can replace what your body truly needs: FOOD! 

Skipping your post-run snack or waiting hours to eat delays your body’s recovery process and can significantly impact how you feel during your next workout. Nutrition is what actually helps your body repair, refuel, and rehydrate!

Today, we’re covering what happens during a long run to your body, nutrition for recovery and why it matters, what to eat, when to eat it, and how to make it happen, even when you don’t have an appetite after running. Let’s dive in!

What Happens During a Long Run and Why Nutrition is Vital

Long runs take a toll on the body. Your body experiences muscle and tissue breakdown, glycogen (energy) depletion, fluid and electrolyte loss and experiences an increase in stress and inflammation. All of this is a normal response to exercise but you want to support your body with nutrition for recovery.

Eating asap after you finish a run will help your body start the recovery process: repairing damaged muscles and tissues, replenishing glycogen (energy) stores and replenishing fluids and electrolytes. 

Want to nail your hydration after a long run? Your 4 Simple Steps to Runner’s Hydration!

Delaying post-run nutrition (waiting hours after a run to eat) will slow your recovery and can leave you feeling depleted for the next workout you have on your calendar.

Being timely about your nutrition supports your body, your performance, your energy and can help you stay on track with training. 

Nutrition for Recovery Immediately After a Long Run

You’ve got two fueling options when it comes to immediate nutrition for recovery.

Option 1: Grab a snack asap then follow it up with a full meal within the hour.

If you’re like me, you like to get home from a long run, take your time cooling down, take a shower and get ready for your day..but sometimes that can take well over an hour..

Remember that we want to get nutrition in asap after a long run which is vital for the recovery process. Grabbing a snack when you get home and eating/drinking it while you are cooling down is a helpful way to get those nutrients in asap for recovery.

At that snack, choose carbs + protein + fluids and electrolytes. Carbs replenish glycogen stores, protein supports muscle repair and fluids and electrolytes replace those lost through sweat during running. 

Bottom line: this snack doesn’t have to be fancy, it just needs to have some carbs and protein in it in order to get the recovery process started!

Check out this list of 20 Dietitian-Approved Athlete Snacks!

Option 2: Skip the snack and go right for a meal!

Your post-run meal should include all three macronutrients: carbs, protein, and fat. Include a sports drink with your meal for electrolyte repletion. At this meal, aim to fill at least 50% of your plate= a game changer for recovery. 

A well-balanced plate helps restore energy, rebuild muscle, and support your overall recovery so you’ll feel ready to tackle your next workout. 

Want 5 athlete breakfast ideas for after a workout? See my Ultimate Guide to an Athlete Breakfast!

Recovery nutrition doesn’t end after your initial post-run snack/meal. Your body continues to repair and rebuild throughout the day, and even into the next, so it’s important to keep fueling adequately and consistently.

Prioritize balanced meals and snacks every few hours, continue to hydrate and try not to go longer than 4 hours without eating.

It’s so much easier to actually fuel your body after a long run if you have the proper foods in your house- so meal planning, shopping and prepping is essential! Learn about Meal Prep for Athletes

Tiers of Recovery Nutrition

Nutrition for recovery isn’t just about what you eat right after your run—it’s about how you consistently fuel your body throughout the day after a long run and into the next. There are 3 tiers of recovery nutrition. Start by prioritizing tier #1 then layer in the other tiers. 

#1: Eat Enough Calories 

A calorie is a unit of energy, that’s it! Calories are good! Repeat after me, “I don’t need to be afraid of calories.” We need calories in order for our bodies to function, be healthy, perform at our best and recover after exercise.

Understand that as your mileage increases during training, your daily calorie needs increase too so you will want to eat more, the more miles you run!

Unfortunately, I find it’s common for runners to increase their mileage but they don’t increase their calorie intake. This leads to underfueling and can lead to serious consequences like LEA (Low Energy Availability) and RED-S (Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport). These serious conditions negatively impact your body, performance, hormones, bones and more. 

Below are the signs of underfueling to be on the look out for. I will also add that being frequently injured or getting sick often can also be signs of underfueling.  

#2: Eat adequate macronutrients and micronutrients

Every meal should include carbs, protein and fat, each playing an essential role in health, recovery and performance. Just like calories, as your mileage increases during training, your daily carbohydrate needs increase too. You will want to build more carb-heavy plates. 

Micronutrients like sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, vitamin D, B-vitamins, etc. are also key for muscle function, bones, energy, hydration, and overall health. Aim to get your micronutrients from whole foods first. 

If you’re considering supplements, please get lab work done and consult with a sports dietitian to avoid unnecessary or prolonged use. Supplements may be needed in the short-term but in most cases, should not be a long-term solution. 

#3: Incorporate recovery-specific foods 

Once tier #1 and tier #2 have been met, focus on adding in antioxidant-rich fruits and veggies and omega 3-rich foods, both from fatty fish like salmon and tuna and from omega 3 plant sources like flaxseeds, chia seeds and walnuts.

Tart cherry juice specifically can be very helpful for recovery because it contains powerful antioxidants called anthocyanins. It can help reduce oxidative stress and inflammation. Mix it with seltzer for a bubbly, delicious mocktail!

Side note: inflammation is not bad, it’s necessary for the recovery process. However, we want that inflammation to be more acute (short-term) and to not become chronic (long-term) because that’s where we can run into lots of health issues. 

In addition, nitrate-rich foods like beets, celery, and leafy greens can enhance recovery. Nitrates are converted to nitric oxide which is a vasodilator, meaning it dilates blood vessels and increases blood flow which can help manage inflammation and support tissue repair.

Nutrition Strategies for Poor Appetite After Running

A common barrier to post-long run nutrition for runners is poor appetite. While it might be tempting to delay eating until you feel hungry, waiting too long to eat after a long run can significantly hinder exercise recovery. 

Instead, practice practical eating. This means that even if you’re not hungry, you eat anyway because you understand how essential your nutrition is for your body’s recovery. During periods of poor appetite, here are some nutrition strategies to try!

1. Go for Liquid Nutrition

Smoothies, protein shakes, soups, bone broth, chocolate milk and yogurt drinks like Chobani Complete are some good options.

2. Go for Small Frequent Snacks/Grazing

Trail mix, Greek yogurt fruit parfaits, cottage cheese with crackers, roasted edamame with dried fruit, cereal with milk and a protein bar with apple slices are a few snack options to try!

You can also go for a combo of both liquid nutrition and small snacks! You will want to aim to include carbs and protein! Then, when you’re ready for a meal, eat a balanced meal that has grain/starches, protein, fat and color (fruits/veg). 

Learn how to choose the right type of bar for recovery by reading this post, Protein Bars vs Energy Bars for Runners: How to Choose the Right One

Busting Common Recovery Nutrition Myths

Myth 1: All I need is protein after a long run for recovery.

While protein is important for muscle repair, carbohydrates are crucial for replenishing glycogen stores that are depleted during your run.

Also, working healthy fats into your post-long run snack/meal like salmon, tuna, nuts, olive oil, and seeds are nutrient-rich and can help combat inflammation. 

Myth 2: If you want to recover after a workout, you need to drink a protein shake. 

While protein shakes can be convenient and effective for delivering a quick dose of protein for muscle repair, they’re not the only option for protein.

Whole food sources like eggs, chicken, fish, milk, tofu, tempeh and Greek yogurt are just as beneficial for supporting muscle recovery and repair. You get to choose what works best for you! 

Myth 3: You only need to incorporate recovery nutrition after hard workouts. 

Even if your long run is entirely at an easy pace, it still places stress on your body. You are still experiencing muscle breakdown and glycogen depletion, which means you still need recovery nutrition.

Don’t skip fueling just because the effort felt comfortable. Your body still needs those nutrients.

Myth 4: If you’re trying to lose weight, skip recovery nutrition. 

Skipping post-run fuel in an attempt to maintain a calorie deficit and lose weight will backfire. 

It can increase muscle breakdown (which is bad news for your muscles and your recovery). It can raise the risk of cravings and overeating later on (you know.. “eating everything but the kitchen sink)” and it also can negatively impact your next workout.

No matter what your goals are, please eat after long runs!

Bottom Line

At the end of the day, recovery nutrition isn’t optional, it’s essential! 

You can do ice baths and use your foam roller and massage gun all you want, but if you’re not giving your body the fuel it needs to repair, your recovery will suffer. 

After a long run, your body is in a depleted state and is actively seeking the nutrients it needs to repair muscles, replenish energy stores, and restore hydration.

Nutrition for recovery is eating as soon as possible after your run (and continuing to fuel consistently throughout the day), you’ll feel stronger, recover better, and be better prepared for the next workout on your schedule.

And remember this: recovery doesn’t end when your run does. It goes on throughout the rest of the day and into the following days. Fuel smart to support your body so you can recover well and keep showing up for the workouts ahead!

Want to learn how to Eat Like a Runner? Start nailing your day-to-day nutrition by enrolling in my Eat Like a Runner Program!