Top Endurance

Most athletes know that improperly fueling or hydrating their body can stop a training session short or lead to the infamous “did not finish” (DNF) during a race. But for various reasons, athletes often fail to give nutrition the same attention that they give to other aspects of training design. Physical periodization—that is, varying the volume and intensity of training throughout the year—is crucial to successful race performance. Altering the daily nutrition plan to support the shifts in training volume and intensity is equally important; this is called nutrition periodization.

This chapter provides a broad overview of nutrition as well as special considerations for effective endurance training. The chapter is designed to provide immediately applicable information for the endurance coach or self-coached athlete.