The Best Nutrition Plan for Ultra-Runners: Your Daily Fuelling Blueprint for Energy and Health

As an ultra-endurance athlete, you know that every race and training session counts. But no matter how hard you train, your performance can fall flat without the right nutrition plan to fuel your body. With conflicting advice everywhere, it’s no wonder many athletes feel stuck, constantly second-guessing: “Am I eating too much? Too little? The wrong things?”

The worst part? Everywhere you look, there’s a different idea of what your diet should look like. You’re often left with two choices: try everything or do nothing—neither of which will get you closer to your goals.

The great news? You can quickly cut through the noise by understanding precisely what your body needs to stay fueled for peak performance.

In this post, we'll break down the ideal ultra-endurance nutrition plan and three key areas you should focus on to optimise your everyday nutrition. This roadmap will help you fuel your body properly, allowing you to perform at your best and tackle any ultra-challenge that comes your way.

What is the perfect nutrition plan for ultra-endurance?

As an ultra-endurance athlete, you face unique physical and nutritional demands. Whether you're racing for hours or pushing through long training sessions, your body requires an ongoing supply of energy and nutrients to perform at its best. That’s why your nutrition plan needs to be more than just a generic diet—it must be personalised, strategic, and adaptable to your lifestyle and goals.

In other words:

A perfect nutrition plan for ultra-endurance athletes ensures you have the energy, hydration, and nutrients needed to withstand long-duration efforts. It’s not about following restrictive diets or fad trends; it’s about fuelling your body for performance, recovery, and overall well-being—customised to your specific training blocks, race goals and lifestyle.

There are three core components every nutrition plan must have to be successful. The added benefit? It saves you time and money while keeping your body fuelled and happy.

Component #1 - Ensuring sufficient energy 

Your body requires sufficient energy (calories) to meet your training and daily life demands. Under-eating or restricting calories will hinder your performance and recovery, making it difficult to train consistently and achieve your goals.

Under-eating can present serious health risks in extreme cases, especially for ultra-runners who need enough fuel for long-duration efforts. Many athletes, especially those new to the sport, mistakenly think that eating less will lead to faster results, which can be disastrous for performance.

Key takeaway: Ensure you consume enough energy to support your training and overall health. This means consuming adequate amounts of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats—without restricting calories.

Pay attention to signals like hunger, cravings, mood changes, and fatigue. These are your body’s way of telling you it needs more energy.

Tracking Energy Intake

While calorie tracking can be helpful, it can also be time-consuming and overwhelming. Instead, you can use a simple journal where you note your meals, hunger levels, and performance in training. This gives you insight into your fuelling habits and highlights potential gaps in energy intake.

Component #2 - Achieving nutrient balance

It’s not just about how much you eat—it’s also about what you eat that matters. Achieving the right balance of macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, and fats) and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) is crucial for optimal performance and recovery.

If you feel like you're eating a lot but still lack energy or don’t see progress, the issue may be in the balance of your meals.

Balanced Meals for Endurance

• Complex Carbohydrates: Provide sustained energy.
• Lean Proteins: Support muscle repair and recovery.
• Healthy Fats: Offer long-lasting fuel.

Beyond keeping you healthy, completing your meals with micronutrient-rich foods like leafy greens, colourful vegetables, and fruits supports metabolic processes, energy production and recovery. Antioxidants help protect against oxidative stress from intense exercise, while minerals like electrolytes aid in hydration and muscle function.

Tip: A balanced nutrition plan will leave you feeling more energised, with better performance and recovery times.

 

Component #3 - Making your nutrition plan sustainable

Sustainability is the key to long-term success in your nutrition plan. It’s about finding an approach you can follow over time without feeling restricted or overwhelmed.

Many ultra-endurance athletes find a diet that works temporarily but struggle to maintain it. The perfect nutrition plan is one that evolves with your needs, adapting to your training blocks and lifestyle changes.

How to Make Your Nutrition Sustainable

• Focus on Inclusion, Not Exclusion: Center your attention on the foods and nutrients you need to include rather than obsessing over what to exclude. Nourishment, not restriction, is the key to success.
• Enjoy Your Meals: Eating healthy doesn’t mean giving up your favourite foods. A salad won’t be less nutritious just because it has dressing, and adding cheese to a sandwich won’t make it unhealthy. Enjoyable meals are easier to stick to long-term.
• Plan Around Your Routine: Whether you prefer meal prepping for the week or taking things one meal at a time, find what works best for you and stick to it.

One meal won’t make or break your diet. As James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits, beautifully explains: “Accumulated small but consistent habits ultimately lead to results that were unimaginable when you started”.

The goal is to create a plan that adapts to your lifestyle and keeps you nourished and energised without sacrificing the foods you enjoy.

 

Putting it All Together: Your Perfect Nutrition Plan

In summary, the three key components of a perfect nutrition plan for ultra-endurance athletes are:

1. Ensuring sufficient energy to support your training and health.
2. Achieving nutrient balance to optimise performance and recovery.
3. Making your plan sustainable so you can stick with it over time.

Remember: the perfect nutrition plan isn’t a rigid set of rules. It’s flexible, adaptable, and suits your unique needs and lifestyle.

Of course, this is just one piece of the puzzle. Day-to-day nutrition lays the foundation for your success, but to truly unlock your full potential, pairing this with smart training nutrition and a well-crafted race day strategy is crucial. When you have all three working in harmony, you’ll perform better in training and be unstoppable on race day.

What’s next? Take the Endurance Nutrition Audit

If you're ready to take the next step, take my Endurance Nutrition Audit. This free tool will help you identify areas where you can optimise your fueling strategy for better performance.

Click here to take the Endurance Nutrition Audit now—it’s free, takes just 3 minutes, and you’ll receive a personalised report at the end.