Is the importance of diet exaggerated? I think so

There is some truth to this, but I don't think your one example is specifically good. As all things training, it depends on the individual. Many people have to stay away from crappy foods. I will use myself as an anecdotal example. If I eat foods high in long chained fatty acids (oils) or too much dairy (lactose and the horrible enzymes that come with it) it causes get stomach issues, makes me feel bad when I run, and generally makes me feel horrible throughout the day. I don't eat a good diet to improve my running. Running forces me to improve my diet. The times when I have stopped running due to injury, I have noticed that I have been able to change up my diet as my body can tolerate a wider variety of foods. It comes down to listening to your own body.

The number one aspect of a diet is making sure you get enough calories. How one is able to do that depends on their own body. Its not surprising that some great runners can eat what they want. As long as they are getting their calories in and their diet includes a broad enough range of foods, good for them. It is definitely true that some people focus too much on making sure they get their diet perfect. But that's not to say that improving ones diet could improve ones running, particularly if there is a vitamin/mineral/protein deficiency involved. I hope this thread doesn't open up a can of worms..

Fair point about the stomach issues. I will say that the one thing I have had to do is limit my fibre intake - I used to have a habit of having a bowl of cereal in the evening (in addition to the one I have for breakfast) and I found I was having persistent bowel issues, but limiting myself to one bowl per day resolves that issue.

But more to the point, I don't think avoiding fats, religiously eating fruit & veg etc. has much of an impact on your running, if any. Like you said, I think you just need to eat a variety and eat enough.

The answer is yes. As long as you're ultimately getting the necessary nutrients you need from all the food groups, you can get away with eating junk food and fast food very regularly.

Genetics is much more important for running ability than diet. Genetics makes tens of percent difference in times while diet maybe 1-2%. That said, that 1-2% can easily make the difference between winning and losing. A healthy diet will allow you to train just that little bit harder and recover just that little bit faster. Also, while you are young you can get away with eating a crappy diet without getting fat or showing symptoms of chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, etc. But as you age a crappy diet will catch up to you eventually and there will be a price to pay.

Good post, lamplight.

When I talk to my athletes about diet, it is almost always only to stress listening to your body. When something doesn't sit right with you, register it, and remember it. This is especially true for the hours leading up to a run.

Being conscientious about how food is going to make you feel should also set these runners up to have better eating habits when they are not as much a part of the sport.

When you get to that level of excellence, you owe it to yourself to grab every edge you can, and eating a crappy diet like that and drinking to excess the night before a race certainly is not helpful.

Maybe that "sub-4" guy could have ran a second faster, that's an eternity in a mile race at that level of competition.

This is a somewhat silly discussion. If you have talent like that, of course you will be able to eat garbage and still run very well. But to me, that's completely missing the boat.

Here is the thing with diet. For your fast days in your twenties it doesn't matter. You can eat what you want and you will be fast anyway.

BUT, the problems with your diet start decades in and it will make a huge difference. A healthy diet starting in your twenties will set you up with a healthy body for life. A junk diet will not.

While you won't believe me know when you are young and fast, you will believe it in about 20 years when your first health issues start to come up.

30 years ago people laugh at me when I started being vegetarian. Now I laugh. In my end fifties, zero health issues while others are dead or in bad health all around me at a similar age.

So over your lifetime diet will matter.

Anecdote (I just hiked half of the Appalachian Trail) Thru-hikers, in general, eat terrible diets -- tons of candy, soda, processed meats, etc. -- and by the end of the trail, a lot of them look awful. They say that they can basically process anything and they just need the calories/macros, but a lot of the young folk end with less muscle than they started with, even in their legs, and I think the reason is that their bodies are essentially eating all their muscle tissue just to keep them going.

When you're 22 and you're running all the time, I think it's probably like that. Your body can do amazing things to keep you going day after day when you're that age. But when the season ends, how spent are you going to be? If you ate like crap, probably entirely spent, but if you eat right, you can probably expect your season-to-season recovery to go a lot better.

The other thing to remember is that micronutrients are pretty important for immune system health, and a bad cold can ruin a season.

Bottom line: a lot of young athletes can probably eat like crap and get away with it, but they're putting their long-term recovery and immune systems at hazard.

Brexit expert wrote:

Here is the thing with diet. For your fast days in your twenties it doesn't matter. You can eat what you want and you will be fast anyway.

BUT, the problems with your diet start decades in and it will make a huge difference. A healthy diet starting in your twenties will set you up with a healthy body for life. A junk diet will not.

While you won't believe me know when you are young and fast, you will believe it in about 20 years when your first health issues start to come up.

30 years ago people laugh at me when I started being vegetarian. Now I laugh. In my end fifties, zero health issues while others are dead or in bad health all around me at a similar age.

So over your lifetime diet will matter.

I was waiting for someone to say this. The older you get, the more your doet matters. Same with strength training imo

That may be the case when you're young. As you get older, your metabolism will begin to slow down and regardless of however many miles you run, your diet will play into your body composition and ultimately how well you run. I was a 14:30's 5k and 24:30's 8k guy in college. A decent runner but certainly not "good" by any standards. I ate and drank what I wanted to. Now in my mid 30's (a few surgeries later) , I run 15-20 miles a week to try and stay in 16:30-17 min shape. If I eat garbage and drink too much, I pack on the pounds, even with additional cardio like biking/swimming. If I eat healthy, I can shed 10 lbs in a month and train/race much easier. Ultimately, it's about creating good habits you'll carry on later into life; that is, if you want to continue running semi-competitively for fun. I take it you're a rather young guy and thinking about the immediate rather than the long term. You'll learn young grasshopper.

Probably should have read the whole post before I quoted it. Just read the first paragraph and move on. Vegetarian lol....

OldManRivers wrote:

I was a 14:30's 5k and 24:30's 8k guy in college. A decent runner but certainly not "good" by any standards.

That’s “good” by most standards. Not Cheptegei’s, but most.

My personal belief is that nutrition has little to no effect on performance, but rather it effects ability to stay healthy. If you have good nutrition, you will lower injury risk. Now some people are naturally so durable that they can have horrible nutrition and never get injured, but most aren't so lucky.

British Guy wrote:

This whole experience has shown me that...

You are right in describing your observations as an "experience" and not as an "experiment." I think we need more experiments.

Maybe you’re getting more calories now?

When you are young maybe--just get calories in. Otherwise there are volumes of studies with evidence that diet makes every bit of difference over the years. From trans fats, to processed foods, fiber, fruits and veggies...the evidence is overwhelming. With good genes you can get away with a lot more clearly.

John Wesley Harding wrote:

OldManRivers wrote:

I was a 14:30's 5k and 24:30's 8k guy in college. A decent runner but certainly not "good" by any standards.

That’s “good” by most standards. Not Cheptegei’s, but most.

Haha well, thank you. I barely ever traveled and mostly found myself as an alternate or fighting for a 7th man spot during cross country season. I consider my most proud/best moments, what I can run now in my mid 30's while doing it for fun. Many of my teammates are 30-50 pounds heavier than college and don't run. I always loved running for running. It's my time to myself where I can check out from work and family. Also makes me happy I am still the same suit size as in college. Cheers!

bigmig19 wrote:

When you are young maybe--just get calories in. Otherwise there are volumes of studies with evidence that diet makes every bit of difference over the years. From trans fats, to processed foods, fiber, fruits and veggies...the evidence is overwhelming. With good genes you can get away with a lot more clearly.

For health or performance? I can believe it makes a difference for overall health, but are there really studies linking a good diet to improved running performance?

agc5k wrote:

My personal belief is that nutrition has little to no effect on performance, but rather it effects ability to stay healthy. If you have good nutrition, you will lower injury risk. Now some people are naturally so durable that they can have horrible nutrition and never get injured, but most aren't so lucky.

Agree with many posters but I especially think it is something to this one.