When you eat, matters as much as what you eat .

When you eat, matters as much or more than what you eat.

Nutrition is an important aspect of proper training. Let me rephrase that PROPER NUTRITION IS VITAL TO PROPER TRAINING !
1. Eat real food whenever possible ! If you can’t do that make sure to read the labels of cans/boxes of the "meal replacements" to be sure of what you are getting. And take those suppliments only as a last line of defense. Sort of like taking antibiotics when you get a cold. Remember the suppliment industry is not regulated-and what it says on the label may not really be in that bottle. Check for labels on back of bottle to show that it has been tested by a safety agency( USP,NSF or CL) . No safety test label, buyer beware.
Your body absorbs real food mo better , and there are important interactions with real foods that you do not get with suppliments. Personally, i have switched from all the powered fuel/electrolyte mixes to real food and coconut water and am actually training harder and running faster. go figure.
2.Breakfast- This is the most important meal of the day. If you go more than 12 hrs from the previous night’s dinner,you are are big risk for breaking down your own lean muscle tissue, that is bad ! Many athletes think that if they skip breakfast than they will burn off the "extra fat" per Atkins diet thinking. Well this could work if you train at very low intensity and even then you need small amount of glucose to aid the fat metabolism. If you lose lean muscle mass by undereating, your metabolism and calorie burning will decrease, plus you have less muscle to use for speed/power. Kind of like good intentions but bad results.
3. Post workout meal- This in your 2nd most important meal. You NEED to eat within 30-45min after a workout while your body is still gushing out hormones and do repair/rebuilding. If you miss this opportunity, it is like getting 1/4 of the benefit of your workout. Why waste that all hard earned time. And remember to use the 4:1 carb:protein ratio.
4.Carb Loading -You need 24-48 hrs to slowly store carbs for the big race. A huge triple portion of pasta the night before a race ,will probably save a small portion as glycogen and the rest of it as fat. Eat slow meals of complex carbs to allow your body to digest and store them properly.