All runners know that what you put into your body, determines your stamina during your run. Especially for long distance runners, such as those who run marathons. The fuel for your run is defined as muscle glycogen, a carbohydrate stored in your muscle.

The stored energy is used during your run to keep you going. But sometimes we can run out of fuel and crash. For this reason, most runners carb load before a run, to increase their "fuel" reserves. Marathon runners use this method to the extreme where they deplete their muscle glycogen a week before their run by reducing carbohydrate intake and increasing protein. Then two to three days before the race they load up on only carbohydrates. This creates a large supply of muscle glycogen storage, which gives them the energy to endure miles and miles of the marathon.

The carb load should be filled with complex carbohydrates such as oatmeal, whole grains, pasta, etc. Complex carbohydrates enter the blood stream slower and at a steadier pace and are also not used up as quickly. This is essential when running for endurance. You cant your muscle glycogen storage to be topped off and slow burning for the entire race.

But for those of us who are running to lose weight, carb loading is not the best idea. By carb loading we are burning only our carb supply, muscle glycogen, not our fat reserves. To fuel your run and still burn fat, the best bet is a low sugar, protein shake one half hour before your run.

Depending on what your goals with your run, your fuel comes from different places. The worst thing you can do whether, you are running to race in a marathon or running to burn fat, is to burn muscle tissue. Runners need muscle to power their legs and for speed, and runners for fitness need muscle not only to power their run, but also for a faster metabolism. Bodies with more muscle mass burn more fat at rest than those with less muscle mass. If a runner burns muscle during a run, they put their body in a position to burn fat more slowly, therefore they have to run longer to burn the same amount of fat.

Fueling your run and fueling your body are one in the same. Learning how your body works, how it stores fat, where it gets its energy from and how to eat to better serve our body and your goals.