So, in the last year I've gone from very little activity to pretty much a health nut. My sister-in-law asked me if I'd like to run a 15k with her next year. The event isn't until next March so I have plenty of time to train. I figured I'd start out slow because I'm still not super fit, and focus on weight-loss first. Then, start to work more on endurance and strength. I wanted to know your opinion on what I should eat while training and how often I should train. What I should eat the day of...etc.

Thanks!

Congrats, I was pretty much in the same boat, lazy bum to health nut, and I love it, haven't been happier. Though I'm not a runner, I can offer some basic advice on the diet. Eating is luckily very simple, and you wont have to change your diet (assuming you are already sticking to clean foods) Though there are some better equipped users to answer specifics of what calorie intake you should shoot for and what not, as far as foods I would have the following suggestions:


Eat 6 Meals A day
Balance Protein, Carbs, and Veggies
Veggies in two of the six meals
Use a closed fist or flat palm to measure a portion of carbs, protein, and veggies
Find a good solid calorie intake based on activity level
Cheat for one day a week


This is basically from Body-for-life as well as a number of other eating plans. In my opinion after two years of wasting my time with fad diets, this is the best and IMO true way to eat healthy.

The six meals a day will keep your metabolism stoked and will help burn fat quicker, the balanced foods will give your body the nutrients it needs, but not any excess. Also the cheat day will help boost your metabolism by giving your body a shock once a week (opinions vary on this, I completely believe it to be true from personal experience), and it will also fulfill those weekly cravings.

As far as the day of your race, there will likely be some people who well give you specific foods to eat before the race, my recommendation would be to play it safe, and stick with your normal diet before the race, to avoid any unexpected reactions from your body.

Anyways like I said I'm sure there are other users more equipped to help you out, but I thought I would give you some info I saw as most valuable to me in the past.

Best of luck, Brad