Feed Your Body to RUN STRONG!

Chrissy Turpin, RD, of Nourish 2 Perform, speaks to our 10K/10-Miler group about eating well

We have been so impressed with the progress and dedication of our 10K/10-miler group runners! This morning we had groups running 3.5, 6 and 9 miles along the Millennium Trail in beautiful conditions. The 10-miler group in particular is becoming very well-acquainted with the dreaded "Tower Oaks hill," but we keep reminding everyone that hills make us stronger runners! Special thanks to Coaches Tish and Erin who joined us to help lead the groups along today's routes.

Our runners know that we are always reminding them about the role of good nutrition in both performance as well as recovery and injury prevention. After this morning's group run we were lucky enough to have the chance to hear from an expert about the importance of what we put into our bodies. Chrissy Turpin, a Registered Dietitian specializing in Sports Nutrition, owner of Nourish 2 Perform (Nourish2perform@gmail.com) and an avid runner and cyclist herself joined us for bagels and our own personal favorite recovery "meal," lowfat chocolate milk, to answer all of our burning questions about what to eat, when to eat, and how to best fuel an active lifestyle.

Chrissy's takeaway message was the importance of making good food decisions in order to run strong- she emphasized the importance of eating when hungry and not depriving ourselves; instead, runners should be eating nutrient-rich meals and snacks several times a day (every 3.5-4 hours). Chrissy talked about the importance of complex carbohydrates, protein, iron, Omega 3, Calcium and Vitamin D in our diets and their role in recovery and performance. Our runners appreciated the practical suggestions for good, quality nutrition that is also convenient: nuts, fruits, yogurt, lowfat chocolate milk, natural peanut butter, etc. Chrissy also addressed how runners following vegetarian, gluten-free, and Paleo diets can modify those diets to make sure they are getting the complex carbohydrates and protein so important to running.

A HUGE "thank you" to Chrissy for bringing expert advice to our runners and reminding all of us about the importance of fueling our bodies to perform.

Runners enjoyed our favorite post-run recovery "meal"- lowfat chocolate milk!