Running with Huel

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Morning all,

I am soon to be a new ‘Huel’ user. I tried a couple of the ready made shakes, and really liked them.

And as per title. I am a runner, and I prefer distance races - HM probably my favourite as it doesn’t knock a lot out of you, as in I can easily run the next day. My PB is 1:28:16.

I have been reading a book called “Racing Weight” by Matt Fitzgerald, and thought Huel would be a good help to catalyst myself to where I would like to be. The general idea it suggests, is that for every kg of weight lost, you could potentially run 4 seconds faster a mile. I’m 168cm tall, and currently about 69kg. My weight fluctuates between 66-71kg over the year depending on the volume of my running. If I were to go back 10-15 years, I was about 59/60kg. The extra weight is probably my like for booze and indulging in food(and age).

I generally eat what I want, but probably eat too much of the wrong stuff - we’re talking pizza, cake, and pale ale’s.

Anyhow, I am not sure I should use Huel to completely replace meals, but thinking I will use it to replace 1 meal on heavier running days, and 2 meals on lighter days to begin with.

Breakfast will be something along the lines of overnight oats / banana pancakes.
Lunch will be a mix of say Bibimbap or a variety of simple curries/soups or possible quiche when not Huel on lighter days.
Dinner will be Huel.

I will allow myself one cheat day as well, but will be stopping my sausage and potato scone rolls for breakfast with a bottle of Diet Coke. No more Coke/irn bru for me.

So back to the science, 4 seconds faster a mile for every kg lost. If I can get down to 62kg, then I will be 6kg lighter than when I was running my PB, so 24 seconds faster a mile or a little over 5 minutes. That is the plan, along with proper training.

I will also use myFitnessPal to track my calories, and see where I get to in say 6-8 weeks time.

I have two packs of Huel ordered, so that’s 34 meals I think, and will probably use 10-12 meals a week.

Has anyone else tried similar before?

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I am a runner and I have incorporated Huel into my daily meals. I will at this point mention that I also do weights alongside and these days I tend to have a shake. When I run I use the sweet and savoury meals instead of lunch and normally have porridge for breakfast and chicken most dinner’s.

Since I have changed my diet (I also use my fitness pal) I have lost 3kg in weight and have noticed a increase in my distance however, quickness hasn’t improved much at all. This may be down to constant injury and back problems although I did see a spike in my quickness when I changed over my running shoes.

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Welcome to Huel Richard!

I agree with Martyn I wouldn’t put much faith in this statement.

If you’re interested in nutrition and exercise you can check out our article on the topic: How important is nutrition when exercising? – Huel

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Thanks and yes, I do understand it is only a very rough estimate based on averages after all. There might be some gain, there might not.

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The best thing you can do to improve your times is practice and make sure you have the right shoes on for your running style.

There are little things that also can aid and that’s be comfortable in the clothes you wear. Funny as it sounds but a little drag can make a small difference. Cotton top? holds lots of sweat and adds a small amount of weight.

One thing that I have learnt over my time running and that it’s mostly in your head. If you have negative thoughts they will effect your run. Try to be positive and remember that if a run doesn’t go your way, there is always tomorrow.

What you will get from Huel alongside your run is the right nutritions to aid fatigue and endurance and recovery time.

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Thats the rough plan, try Huel for easy days, fuel up properly for the longer/harder runs.

This is the book I was on about and there’s a lot of science to it.

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