Performance fuelling: Road testing recipes with the pros
- Mary Brooking
- Aug 24
- 6 min read
A Mace Masters | Eat Well Perform Better | Hilly Fields Run Sessions collaboration
Eating good food and fuelling activity effectively is important, and it's great when we can bring these things together. We’ve collected some of our favourite and most trusted recipes, the ones that keep us going on the roads & trails and in the gym and then help us recover to head out again. We’ve taste tested them, analysed them nutritionally and suggested what occasions each one is perfect for. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do!
And who are we?
Becky from Mace Masters: Group outdoor strength training coach and professional chef
Rebecca from Eat Well Perform Better: Ultrarunner and sports nutritionist for endurance athletes
Mary from Hilly Fields Run Sessions: Running coach and food lover
You’ll see us all at PARKSTRONG on 28th September. Becky & Mary are volunteering/organising and will be bringing some of these bakes with us for post-event refuelling. Rebecca has taken on the challenge and is participating. She says the promise of finish line cakes was a big draw! Becky’s awesome PARKSTRONG certificate table food spread is quickly becoming legendary….
Carbs & Protein: Why are these important?
This is Rebecca’s patch and she’s provided this very brief summary. She goes into more detail in the nutrition workshop she leads in the Run Foundations course and a much deeper dive in her marathon nutrition course.
Protein helps rebuild muscles, maintain your immune system and support the production of hormones. If you exercise a lot you need more protein than the average person, ideally 20-25g per meal or 40g per meal if you are over 50.
Carbohydrates (carbs) deliver fast energy to support our activity. Together with fats they provide energy so we can get the most from our training, support recovery and help minimise the risk of injury and illness.
Running can potentially use 100kcal per mile (61 per km) depending on intensity, with hills, speed work or off-road running often having a higher energy demand. That's equivalent to 25g of carbs/mile or 15 g/km.
The data/science bit:
Recipes ideal for before exercise:
Chocolate, coffee & beetroot cakes (GF, DF): perfect for before PARKSTRONG or parkrun
These light cakes feel gut friendly and easy to digest even quite close to activity. Caffeine boosts alertness, reduces fatigue and perceived effort and beetroot improves blood flow and oxygen delivery to muscles.
Protein: Low (almonds, eggs)
Carbs: High (oats, polenta, beetroot, sugar)
Making complexity: Medium
Pro tip from Becky: I really liked the taste and texture complexity that the polenta gave these cakes. They don’t feel substantial making them ideal for a pre-event top up before shorter distances.
Raw energy balls (GF, Vegan): perfect for a pre-strength snack or refuelling post workout
At 30g these balls are a perfect snack sized portion. The ginger is a great taste and controls the sweetness well, and is also anti-inflammatory, so should help reduce muscle soreness and support a quicker recovery. They are very easy to eat but do feel a bit functional and less of a treat than some of the post workout options here below.
Protein: High (Cashews)
Carbs: High (Dates)
Making complexity: Easy (No baking required)
Pro-tip from Becky: Lots of recipes use dates, try substituting figs sometimes for a different flavour profile. Pre-soak in orange juice to keep moisture, carbohydrate and taste levels all high!
Recipes ideal for during exercise:
Oat balls (GF, DF): perfect for fuelling during an endurance event or training (ultra or bike ride)
These beautifully glossy balls have a good ratio of carbs and proteins for fuelling endurance activity and the combination of ingredients results in a very tasty ball, with a great texture. They are perhaps not quite as transportable as a flapjack, but definitely easier to eat on the go and a great way to have real food rather than gels during a long event. Balls are a great way to make portion size consistent. These are sized at 40g and would go a long way towards your hourly energy intake requirement on a run or ride.
Protein: Medium (peanut butter, chia seeds)
Carbs: High (oats, dates, honey)
Making complexity: Easy (No baking required)
Pro-tip from Rebecca: Don’t overdo the amount of dates you consume in an event as they do contain a lot of fibre as well as sugars. While this is great in an everyday diet for endurance fuelling we want to reduce fibre as it takes time to digest and also means you have to poo!
Flapjack (GF, NF): perfect for fuelling during an endurance event or training (ultra or bike ride)
Flapjacks have been around a long time, with good reason! Energy packed, robust, tasty, infinitely variable flavour options, easy to make - don’t we all love a flapjack?! They do take a bit of chewing so are perhaps better when having a break during a run rather than literally “on the move” but is much easier to eat on a bike than when running so maybe no stops needed from pedalling for flapjack consumption (depending on your bike handling skills and the road surface….)
We thought these cherry chocolate flapjacks, which are rich and dense, feel like a post event treat flapjack, especially with the cherries included which have Vitamin C and anti-inflammatory effects to help boost recovery and reduce soreness. An alternative flapjack recipe from Rebecca more suited to consuming during an event (especially if you add sultanas for extra carbs) is here: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/yummy-golden-syrup-flapjacks
Protein: Low
Carbs: High (oats, sugar, golden syrup, glace cherries)
Making complexity: Easy
Pro-tip from Rebecca: If you were to add tart cherries (eg Montmorency) instead of sweet ones these are even better at reducing muscle soreness after exercise and helping sleep.
Pro tip from Becky: If you find your flapjacks or bars are a bit too crumbly to hold together in a pocket for on the go eating then after you have made a tray, before cutting into portions, put some heavy weights on the top (books/cans) and this will compress the flapjacks and make them much more portable. Genius!
Recipes ideal for after exercise:
Peanut butter bar (GF, Vegan): perfect for post PARKSTRONG or any strength workout
Packed with protein from peanuts and with a thick layer of dark chocolate on top these bars are a filling, really tasty post strength workout treat that is helping rebuild muscle. Very more-ish!
Protein: High (peanut butter, almonds, peanuts)
Carbs: High (oats, dates)
Making complexity: Medium (No baking required)
Pro-tip from Rebecca: Substituting salted for unsalted peanuts enhances the flavour and also rebalances electrolytes without the need for an electrolyte/hypertonic drink. In most circumstances there is no need to buy electrolyte tablets, some squash and a pinch of salt work just as well and it’s often best to keep them for after exercise not during.
Sweet potato race cake (GF, DF, NF): perfect for post race (or a mid afternoon snack before an evening run)
These little cakes have a great combination of flavours with the tartness of the raspberries feeling a welcome alternative to many sweeter options. They feel healthy and the sweet potato will provide a slow energy release to bring blood sugar levels back after an event, or to keep them from spiking if these are a pre run snack.
Protein: Low (eggs)
Carbs: High (oats, dates, sweet potato, honey)
Making complexity: High
Pro-tip from Rebecca: These cakes are a great counterbalance to the bland “beige” food that endurance athletes sometimes seem to end up eating huge quantities of. It’s a reminder that variety of taste and texture is important to keep interest in food and eating high. This can often be suppressed in a long event and it's critical to keep fuel coming in, so mixing up what you eat is a really good idea.
GF: Gluten Free
DF: Dairy Free
NF: Nut Free
As well as what we do individually Becky, Mary & Rebecca together deliver:
- PARKSTRONG: An outdoor fitness event combining run intervals and functional strength in Hilly Fields raising money for London's Air Ambulance Charity. Look out for some of these bakes at the finish line next to the certificates, we always have cakes for our participants and volunteers!
- Run Foundations 4 week course including technique coaching, injury prevention strategies and a nutrition workshop delivered by Rebecca providing an introduction to nutrition to help you support your running and other activities.
Our contact details are below, for personalised advice or more information please get in touch:
Mary (Hilly Fields Run Sessions) mary@marybrooking.co.uk
Becky (Mace Masters) info@macemasters.co.uk https://www.macemasters.co.uk/book-your-class
Rebecca (Eat Well Perform Better) rebecca@eatwellperformbetter.co.uk https://www.eatwellperformbetter.co.uk
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