What should I eat in the days before Comrades or Two Oceans without gaining weight?

Carb-loading is about shifting the balance of your plate toward carbohydrates for 1-3 days before the race, not simply eating more of everything. Sports nutrition guidelines commonly suggest increasing carbohydrate-rich foods like rice, pasta, potatoes, bread and fruit while keeping portions of fat and fibre-heavy foods slightly lower than usual, so your total kilojoules don't balloon even though the carbohydrate proportion goes up. The scale may show a small, temporary increase from extra water stored with the glycogen -- that's normal and drops after the race, it isn't fat gain.

Do I need gels and sports drinks, or can I use real food like dates and biltong?

Both work -- what matters most is getting enough easily digestible carbohydrate in during long efforts and practising with whatever you choose well before race day. Commercial gels and chews are convenient and precisely dosed, while dates, bananas, dried fruit and diluted fruit juice are cheaper, widely available South African alternatives that supply similar fast carbohydrate. Biltong and droewors are useful for sodium and a savoury change of taste on very long runs, but they're mostly protein and fat rather than the fast carbohydrate your muscles need, so treat them as a supplement to your carb sources, not a replacement.

How do I fuel long training runs without overeating on my rest days?

Try to match your eating to your actual training load for that specific day rather than eating a 'runner's diet' every day of the week. On long-run and hard-session days, extra carbohydrate before, during and after the run is genuinely needed and shouldn't be restricted. On rest days and easy days, scale portions back toward your normal, non-training eating pattern. The most common way training nutrition quietly becomes a weight-gain problem is carrying long-run-day portions and snacking habits into low-activity days.

Does training at altitude in Johannesburg or Pretoria change what I should eat?

Altitude doesn't change the basic fuelling principles, but many runners find they breathe harder and lose more fluid through respiration and sweat at altitude, which raises the importance of consistent hydration and electrolyte intake during training. Runners who live at altitude and race at sea level (like Two Oceans or Comrades' coastal sections) sometimes also notice they can hold a faster pace than their altitude training runs suggest, so it helps to fuel based on effort and duration rather than pace alone.

Comrades & Two Oceans Marathon Nutrition: Fuelling for South Africa's Big Ultras Without Sabotaging Your Weight Loss Goals

By Weight Loss Diets SA | Updated July 2026 | 9 min read

If you've entered Comrades or Two Oceans, you already know the training is a full-time commitment -- back-to-back long runs, early Sunday starts, a growing pile of worn-out shoes. What catches many runners off guard is the nutrition side. Fuel too little and you bonk on a 30km long run or wreck your recovery. Fuel with an "I'm running big kays, I can eat anything" mindset, and months of hard training quietly turn into weight gain instead of the leaner, fitter body you expected. The good news: running a big ultra well and managing your weight aren't in conflict. They just need a bit more precision than "eat more" or "eat less."

Key point: Fuelling for Comrades or Two Oceans isn't about eating without limits -- it's about eating more on the days your training genuinely demands it (long runs, back-to-backs, race day) and eating your normal, weight-management-friendly amount on the days it doesn't. Getting this day-to-day matching right matters more than any single food choice.

Carb-Loading Done Right (Not Just "Eat More of Everything")

Carb-loading has a reputation as an all-you-can-eat pasta party, but that's not really what it means. Sports nutrition guidelines generally describe it as shifting the proportion of your plate toward carbohydrate-rich foods -- rice, pasta, potatoes, bread, oats and fruit -- for roughly the last one to three days before an ultra, while keeping portions sensible and easing off heavy, fatty or fibre-dense foods that can sit uncomfortably on race morning.

Practically, that's a dinner plate that's two-thirds starch and fruit rather than half meat and vegetables -- not a bigger plate overall. Don't panic if the scale ticks up a kilogram or two in the final days; that's water stored alongside extra glycogen, not fat, and it drops within days of the race. A sports dietitian can help structure this for your own body weight and race distance.

Fuelling During Long Runs: What Actually Works (and What It Costs)

During long training runs and race day itself, the goal shifts from managing weight to simply getting enough fast-digesting carbohydrate in to keep you moving well. This is not the time to restrict -- under-fuelling a 4-hour long run is a common way runners end up injured, exhausted or overeating later that evening. South African runners have options at very different price points:

Energy gels (Cadence, GU, PVM, USN) -- convenient, precisely dosed, roughly R15-R30 per gel
Energy chews or blocks (Clif Bloks, Cadence chews) -- easier to chew on the move for some runners, similar price range to gels
Dates -- a cheap, natural source of fast carbohydrate, often just a few rand per portion from any supermarket or fresh produce market
Bananas -- widely available at race water tables and cheap to carry from home
Biltong or droewors -- useful for sodium and a savoury break from sweet fuel, but mostly protein and fat, so treat it as a supplement to your carb sources rather than your main fuel
Sports drinks (Energade, USN, Powerade) -- combine carbohydrate and electrolytes in one, useful on hot days when you need both

The exact carbohydrate amount that works best varies by runner and by how long you're out there, which is why sports dietitians and coaches usually recommend testing your fuelling strategy on training runs well before race day -- Comrades and Two Oceans are the wrong place to try a new gel for the first time. Whatever mix you choose, the cost adds up over a long training block, so mixing cheaper whole-food options like dates and bananas with a smaller number of gels for race day itself is a practical, budget-friendly approach. Our weight loss grocery list and budget weight loss guide have more ideas for stretching your food budget while training hard.

Recovery Nutrition After the Long Run

What you eat in the hour or two after a long run matters for both performance and weight management. A combination of carbohydrate (to replace the glycogen you burned) and protein (to support muscle repair) is the general guidance you'll see from most sports nutrition sources -- think a rooibos-and-milk smoothie with banana and peanut butter, eggs on toast, or a chicken and rice bowl. The mistake that quietly derails weight loss isn't the recovery meal itself -- it's the "I just ran 32km, I've earned it" mentality that turns recovery eating into an all-day grazing session. A solid, satisfying recovery meal followed by your normal eating pattern for the rest of the day works better than treating the whole day as a free pass. Our high-protein meals guide has practical, affordable recovery meal ideas.

Hydration, Electrolytes and SA Summer Heat

Comrades trains through the Durban and Pietermaritzburg humidity and heat, while Two Oceans build-up often runs through a hot Cape Town summer -- both mean serious sweat losses on long runs. Along with plain water, you lose sodium and other electrolytes, which is why relying on water alone during long, hot runs can leave you feeling flat or crampy. A sports drink, electrolyte tablet (like Bioplus or SaltStick) or even a pinch of salt in your water bottle on very long, sweaty runs is worth building into your routine, alongside biltong or salted snacks which naturally supply extra sodium.

If you're one of the many runners training at altitude in Johannesburg or Pretoria, you may notice you breathe harder and lose more fluid through respiration on top of normal sweat losses, which makes consistent hydration through the week -- not just on run days -- worth paying attention to. Altitude doesn't change the basic fuelling principles above, but it's a good reminder that pace at altitude and pace at sea level (like on Comrades' coastal sections or a flat Two Oceans training run) won't feel the same, so fuel based on time and effort rather than pace alone.

Keeping Non-Training Days in Check

This is where a lot of well-intentioned marathon training quietly stalls weight loss. It's tempting to carry Sunday long-run portions -- and the "I'm in marathon training" mindset -- into Tuesday's rest day, when your body genuinely doesn't need the extra fuel. A few habits help keep the two goals working together instead of against each other:

Match portions to the day's training, not the week's training -- a rest day or easy 5km shouldn't be fuelled like a 30km long run
Keep extra carbs concentrated around your actual long runs and hard sessions, rather than spread evenly across every day of the week
Watch the snack drawer, not just meals -- race-day gels and chews are easy to keep nibbling on days you didn't run
Plan your week's meals in advance so training-day and rest-day eating aren't decided in the moment; see our South African healthy meal prep guide
Track how you're trending every few weeks, not daily -- weight naturally fluctuates with training load, hydration and glycogen stores

Note on figures: Exact carbohydrate, sodium and calorie needs vary by body size, sweat rate, pace and individual tolerance, so we've kept the figures above as general ranges rather than precise prescriptions. A sports dietitian or biokineticist can build a fuelling and hydration plan matched to your specific race, training load and weight goals.

New to Structured Running?

If Comrades or Two Oceans still feels like a distant goal, start by building a solid running base -- and see how running fits into an overall weight-loss plan.

Read Our Running for Weight Loss Guide

A Simple Weekly Approach

Carb-load by shifting your plate's balance for 1-3 days before a race, not by simply eating more of everything
Fuel long runs and race day generously with a mix of gels, dates, bananas and sports drink -- practise your exact strategy on training runs first
Have a proper recovery meal with carbs and protein after long efforts, then return to your normal eating pattern for the rest of the day
Build in electrolytes on hot, sweaty long runs, and stay consistently hydrated through the week if you're training at altitude
Keep rest-day and easy-day portions closer to your normal, weight-management eating, saving the extra fuel for days that actually demand it

Bottom Line

Training for Comrades or Two Oceans and working on your weight aren't opposing goals -- they fail together only when every day gets fuelled like a long-run day. Carb-load with intention rather than abandon, fuel your long runs and race day properly using whatever mix of gels, dates, bananas and biltong works for your stomach and your budget, recover well without turning it into an all-day grazing session, and respect South Africa's heat and altitude with real hydration and electrolyte habits. Get those pieces right and you can cross the Comrades or Two Oceans finish line fitter, stronger and lighter than when you started training.

Medical disclaimer: This article is for general information only and is not a substitute for professional medical or dietary advice. Individual nutrition, hydration and training needs vary significantly. Consult your doctor or a registered sports dietitian before starting ultramarathon training or making major changes to your race-day nutrition, especially if you have diabetes, high blood pressure or other health conditions.