Masters marathon nutrition is usually written as a list of things you are supposed to give up. Sara Hall makes the opposite case. She set the American women's masters marathon record in Valencia in December 2024, running 2:23:45 in her forties, and she has been running the fastest times of her career well past the age most people are told to expect a decline.
Her explanation is not complicated, and it is not about training harder. It is about recovering well enough to train hard again two days later.
Worth setting out, because the record matters less than the length of the career behind it.
She is also the mother of four daughters adopted from Ethiopia, and married to Ryan Hall. The point of listing it is that she has been racing at a high level for two decades while running a household, which is closer to most readers' lives than the training camp version of elite sport.
Not the training. Almost every masters runner can still do the sessions. What changes is the cost of doing them.
A hard interval session at 30 leaves you sore on Tuesday and ready on Wednesday. The same session at 45 leaves you sore on Tuesday, flat on Wednesday, and cautious on Thursday. Over a sixteen week build that is not one lost session, it is a quarter of the quality work in the block.
So the lever moves. At 30 you get faster by adding volume. At 45 you get faster by shortening the gap between the session and being ready for the next one.
Recovery has been a big focus of my career.
Sara Hall, quoted on ucan.co
That is the whole strategy in one line. Everything below is the execution.
The routine is simple enough to copy, which is the useful part.
| When | What | Why it is there |
|---|---|---|
| Before the session | A serve of slow release carbohydrate | Starts the session with fuel already working rather than drawing on stores from the first kilometre |
| Between warm up and the work | An EDGE gel | Portable, and it goes down in the few minutes between finishing strides and starting the first rep |
| During long efforts | Slow release carbohydrate at intervals | Fewer sachets to manage, and a level supply through the back half |
| Immediately after | Two scoops of Cocoa Energy + Protein | The single most important item on this list for a masters athlete. Carbohydrate and protein together, straight away |
| A few hours later | A real meal | The shake is not the meal. It buys the time until the meal arrives |
| Before bed | A protein serve | Seven to nine hours is the longest gap in your day. She does not leave it empty after a hard session |
Edge sits really well in my stomach.
Sara Hall, quoted on ucan.co
Unremarkable as a quote, and that is the point. At a certain level the fuel you can stop thinking about is the fuel that works.
Hard training is inflammatory. That is not a problem, it is the mechanism, and the adaptation comes from repairing it. But an athlete in a heavy block is already carrying a load, and the argument Sara makes is that there is no reason to add to it from the rest of the diet.
So her training fuel carries no added sugar, and her daily eating keeps it low as well. It is a decision about total load rather than about any single food.
I've been able to finish my races stronger than ever.
Sara Hall on switching from maltodextrin, quoted on LetsRun
She said that after the 2020 London Marathon, where she came second on a strong second half. The mechanism behind it, and why a larger carbohydrate molecule behaves differently in the gut, is set out in what is LIVSTEADY.
You do not have her weekly volume, and you do not need her weekly volume to benefit from the same order of priorities.
If you want the full version of the recovery side, it is in when to take protein shakes. For the race day side, the marathon fuelling page covers it distance by distance.
The priority moves from the session to the hours after it. Most masters runners can still complete the training. What limits them is how long it takes to be ready for the next hard day, so carbohydrate and protein within the hour of finishing does more for the block than anything you take during it.
Two scoops of Cocoa UCAN Energy + Protein immediately after finishing, then a full meal a few hours later. The shake is not a replacement for the meal, it buys the time until the meal arrives.
Not necessarily less, but with more attention to what happens between sessions. Sara Hall is running the fastest times of her career in her forties on a full training load. What she has built around it is a recovery routine she does not skip.
Seven to nine hours is the longest gap in your day. On the nights following a hard session, a protein serve before bed gives the repair process something to work with rather than leaving that window empty. On easy days, normal meals cover it.
Hard training already places a load on the body, and the adaptation comes from recovering from it. Her argument is that there is no reason to add to that load from the rest of the diet. Her training fuel carries no added sugar and her daily eating keeps it low.
Yes. Generation UCAN Australia is the official Australian reseller. Energy + Protein, EDGE gels and Energy Powder all ship from our warehouse in Dandenong South, Victoria, with free shipping on orders over $220. No six week wait from the United States.
Facts and quotes sourced from ucan.co and UCAN press material, correct as at August 2026. Quotes reproduced as published, including US spelling. This food is a formulated supplementary sports food and is not a sole source of nutrition. It should be used in conjunction with an appropriate physical training or exercise programme and consumed in conjunction with a nutritious diet. Not suitable for children under 15 years of age or pregnant women. Guidance here is general and not individual advice.
Three products, and where each one sits in the day.
Four guides on building the routine yourself.
The windows that matter and the ones that were never real.
Read the guide AthletesThe protocols behind the athletes who race on this fuel, session by session.
See the protocols MistakesSkipping the hour after you stop is number ten on the list.
Read the list LIVSTEADYWhy a larger carbohydrate molecule behaves differently in the gut.
Read the explainer
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