Eating for recovery.

All of us should plan to eat within an hour following a hard workout--it facilitates efficient recovery. Eating after a hard workout becomes even more important to your training plan if you are a competitive athlete scheduling workouts twice a day or more. It is during recovery that your hard-earned training gains are made. And the competitive athlete must power that recovery and re-fuel for the next workout.

Replace the fluids lost during your workout. Weigh yourself before and after your workout and replace a pint for each pound lost. Your goal is to lose less than two percent of your body weight during a workout. Consider hydration needs before and during your workout to prevent excess dehydration. Think juices, watery fruits, sport drinks, and of course, water.

For carbohydrate recovery, you should eat carbohydrate-rich foods within 15 minutes of working out. Muscles replenish glycogen at the rate of about five percent per hour, so it takes up to 20 hours to do the job fully. You will need 0.5 grams of carbohydrate per pound of body weight every two hours for six to eight hours. For a 150-pound person, that's 300 calories or 75 grains Within the first two hours and again two hours later. Sports drinks and powders can also refuel muscles, but beware that most are missing the vitamins and minerals found in natural foods and tend to be expensive. Choose whole foods like fruits, whole grains, low fat dairy, and nuts.

(Adapted from Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook, 2nd edition, by Nancy Clark, M.S., R.D., 1997, Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL, 455 pp., $17.95, available at a discount at www.americanrunning.org or by calling 1-800-776-2732.)