> Fuel a 10K by reviewing 2–4 weeks of your Forkmate food log in your AI app, then plan race week and race morning. Strava and Garmin routes, plus prompts.

Source: https://forkmate.ai/blog/how-to-fuel-for-a-10k/

# How to fuel for a 10K: look back at how you've been eating first

Fuel a 10K by reviewing 2–4 weeks of your Forkmate food log in your AI app, then plan race week and race morning. Strava and Garmin routes, plus prompts.

[Shawn Azar](https://forkmate.ai/authors/shawn-azar/) October 12, 2026

- [Endurance](https://forkmate.ai/blog/tag/endurance/)
- [Runners](https://forkmate.ai/blog/tag/runners/)
- [Nutrition](https://forkmate.ai/blog/tag/nutrition/)
- [Claude](https://forkmate.ai/blog/tag/claude/)

**Short answer:** a 10K is too short to need carb-loading at any pace, and if yours takes under about 75 minutes you don’t need to eat during it either. What helps is arriving fueled: regular carb-forward meals through race week, a familiar breakfast 1–4 hours before the start (1–4 g of carbohydrate per kg of body weight; many runners use about 1 g/kg, 2–3 hours out), and starting hydrated [S1, S2]. Before planning race day, it’s worth looking back at how you’ve actually been eating. With **Forkmate** connected to your AI app, you can ask it to read the last 2–4 weeks of your food log next to your training, then plan from there.

## What’s connected to what

- **Forkmate** is a free food log you fill in by telling your AI app what you ate. It works in Claude, ChatGPT and other apps; the steps are on the [connect page](https://forkmate.ai/connect/). Through it, your AI app can read a date range of your diary (`get_range`), see your most-logged foods (`get_usual_foods`) and log a meal when you ask (`log_meal`).
- **Strava users:** Strava publishes its own official Claude connector. It’s read-only, it needs a paid Strava subscription, and it gives Claude your activity history and fitness trends ([Strava’s help article](https://support.strava.com/hc/en-us/articles/46190267796237)).
- **Garmin users:** Garmin has no official Claude connector. Two routes work today:

  - **Through Apple Health.** Garmin Connect can share workouts to Apple Health on iPhone. Claude’s iPhone app has an Apple Health integration, in beta in the US for Pro and Max subscribers ([the announcement from Claude’s maker](https://www.anthropic.com/news/healthcare-life-sciences)), and ChatGPT’s Health feature can connect Apple Health on iPhone for users in the US ([OpenAI’s help article](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001036-health-in-chatgpt)). OpenAI’s help notes that data from apps like Garmin has to sync to Apple Health first, and not every metric carries over.
  - **Describe it.** Tell your AI app your runs: “Runs on Tue, Thu and Sat, about 5, 6 and 10 km, all easy.” That’s enough to plan fuel for a 10K.

**Forkmate has no link to Strava, Garmin or Apple Health.** Your AI app reads your training through those, and Forkmate only holds the food you ask it to log. Forkmate doesn’t count exercise calories or change your goal for training; the AI app does the comparison.

## Example: “How have I been eating, and how should I fuel for a 10K?”

*This is an illustrative example: a fictional runner, Priya, 58 kg, with made-up numbers. It follows the shape of a real conversation, not anyone’s real data.*

>

How have I been eating and how should I fuel for a 10K? Look at my last 3 weeks in Forkmate and my runs on Strava. The race is Sunday at 9 am.

Here’s what Claude did, in order:

1. **Read the training.** Through Strava, it found 3–4 runs a week, about 25–30 km a week, with a 10–12 km run most Saturdays. Her recent 10 km runs took about 58 minutes.
2. **Read three weeks of food.** Through Forkmate’s `get_range`, it found 15 of 21 days fully logged. It worked only from those and said so.
3. **Described the pattern, without judging it:**

  - On fully logged days, carbohydrate averaged about 4 g per kg, inside the 3–5 g/kg range for light training, and nearer 5 g/kg on long-run days [S2].
  - On two fully logged Saturdays, the meals after the long run were light. Claude pointed out that’s a common spot to under-fuel, and suggested a carb-and-protein meal or snack within a couple of hours of finishing [S2, S4].
  - Protein was mostly at dinner. It suggested adding a 20–40 g serving at breakfast or lunch, spread through the day [S4].
4. **Planned race week:**

  - **Monday to Friday:** keep eating normally around the shorter taper runs. No carb-loading: that’s for efforts over about 90 minutes [S2].
  - **Saturday:** familiar, carb-forward meals; dinner was Priya’s usual rice and chicken, nothing new.
  - **Sunday, 6:30–7 am:** about 1 g of carbohydrate per kg, so roughly 60 g: two slices of white toast with a teaspoon of honey and a medium banana [S2, S6]. About 300–600 mL of fluid in the 2–4 hours before [S2].
  - **During:** at about 58 minutes, no food is needed. A sip of sports drink at a water station or a mouth rinse may help near the end; it’s optional [S1, S2].
  - **After:** a meal or snack with carbs and 20–40 g of protein [S4].
5. **Offered to log it.** When Priya confirmed the breakfast, Claude logged it to Forkmate.

**The Garmin version.** Priya’s friend Sam uses a Garmin with no Strava subscription. On her iPhone, with Garmin Connect sharing workouts to Apple Health and Claude’s Apple Health integration turned on, she asks the same question. Where that isn’t available, she types her week instead: “I run Tue, Thu and Sat, about 6, 6 and 11 km. My 10K pace is about 6 min/km.” Either way, the food side comes from Forkmate and the plan follows the same ranges.

## The ranges behind the plan

### Looking back: 2–4 weeks of eating

One day tells you very little. Two to four weeks of mostly logged days shows patterns. Things worth asking your AI app about:

- **Daily carbohydrate against training.** About 3–5 g per kg on light or easy days, and 5–7 g/kg for around an hour a day of moderate training [S2].
- **The day after a long run.** Whether it’s noticeably lighter than the rest.
- **Protein spread.** About 1.4–2.0 g per kg a day for most exercising people, in a few servings of about 20–40 g rather than one [S4].
- **Gaps.** Partly logged days aren’t low days. Ask your AI app to leave them out rather than average them in.

Under-fueling training for a long stretch, what the IOC calls problematic low energy availability, can lead to **Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs)**, which affects recovery, bone health and performance [S5]. If your intake next to your training looks low week after week, that’s worth raising with a doctor or a registered sports dietitian; REDs is assessed clinically, not from a food log [S5].

### Race week

- **No carb-loading for a 10K.** The joint position reserves carb-loading for events over about 90 minutes [S2]. Regular, familiar, carb-forward meals are enough.
- **Nothing new.** Try your race breakfast before a long run first.

### Race morning

- **1–4 g of carbohydrate per kg, 1–4 hours before** [S2]. Closer to the start, keep it smaller and lower in fat and fibre.
- **Fluids:** about 5–10 mL per kg in the 2–4 hours before (300–600 mL for a 60 kg runner) [S2].

### During

| Race time | Carbohydrate | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Under 45 minutes | None needed | [S2] |
| 45–75 minutes | A mouth rinse or small amounts may help | [S1, S2] |
| Over 75 minutes | About 30–60 g per hour, from something you’ve practised with | [S2] |

Drink to thirst at water stations [S7]. Don’t drink so much that you gain weight over the race: drinking well beyond sweat losses can dilute blood sodium (hyponatremia), and slower runners are more at risk because they have more time to drink [S2, S3]. It’s rarer than dehydration but more dangerous. Feeling bloated, puffy, sick or confused after drinking a lot is a reason to stop drinking and get help.

### After

- **Protein:** 20–40 g at the next meal [S4].
- **Carbohydrate:** normal meals usually cover it, unless you train again within about 8 hours [S2].

## Copy-paste prompts

Use these in an AI app with Forkmate connected. Add Strava’s connector or Apple Health if you have them, or describe your runs.

>

How have I been eating and how should I fuel for a 10K? Read my last 3 weeks in Forkmate, only the fully logged days, and my runs on Strava. I weigh [X] kg. Tell me my average carbs and protein per kg against the ranges for my training, without judging, then plan race week and race morning. The race is [day] at [time].

>

I use a Garmin and don’t have a training connector here. My week is: [runs, distances, paces]. Read my Forkmate diary for the last 2 weeks and plan my 10K race-day fuel. I weigh [X] kg.

>

Compare the days after my long runs with my other days over the last 4 weeks in Forkmate. Are they lighter? Leave out partly logged days.

>

Plan my 10K race breakfast: about 1 g of carbs per kg, 2–3 hours before a [time] start, from foods I log often. Log it to Forkmate when I say yes.

Going for a time on your usual route? See [how to fuel for a PR on your local route](https://forkmate.ai/blog/how-to-fuel-for-a-pr-on-your-local-route/). Running further? Read [fueling a long run before, during and after](https://forkmate.ai/blog/fueling-a-long-run-with-runna-and-claude/).

Setup steps, including Garmin through Apple Health, Forkmate’s built-in fueling prompts and a free Claude Skill: [use Forkmate with Strava or Garmin](https://forkmate.ai/connect/strava-and-garmin/).

## A note on safety

These ranges come from position statements written for athletes in general. They’re starting points to adjust to your gut, body and running, not prescriptions. Forkmate is a general-wellness tool, not medical advice. If you have diabetes or another medical condition, a history of disordered eating, or specific performance goals, work with a doctor or a registered sports dietitian. If the numbers ever start to feel heavy, Forkmate’s **calm mode** hides them everywhere while still keeping what you log.

## The recap

1. **Look back first.** Ask your AI app to read 2–4 weeks of fully logged days in Forkmate next to your training.
2. **Race week:** regular, familiar, carb-forward meals; no carb-loading for a 10K [S2].
3. **Race morning:** 1–4 g/kg of carbs, 1–4 hours out, and start hydrated [S2].
4. **During:** usually nothing needed; a mouth rinse or a sip of sports drink is optional [S1, S2].
5. **After:** carbs and 20–40 g of protein [S4].

[Open Forkmate and log today’s breakfast](https://app.forkmate.ai/). It’s free, and you’ll make an account when you save it. Then [connect it to your AI app](https://forkmate.ai/connect/). More: [calorie tracking for runners and cyclists](https://forkmate.ai/blog/calorie-tracking-for-runners/) and [Forkmate for athletes](https://forkmate.ai/for-athletes/).

## Sources

- **[S1]** Jeukendrup A. *A step towards personalized sports nutrition: carbohydrate intake during exercise.* Sports Med. 2014;44(Suppl 1):S25–33. [PubMed 24791914](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24791914/). About 1 h of exercise: a mouth rinse or small amounts of carbohydrate.
- **[S2]** Thomas DT, Erdman KA, Burke LM. *American College of Sports Medicine Joint Position Statement: Nutrition and Athletic Performance.* Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2016;48(3):543–68. [PubMed 26891166](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26891166/). Daily carbs 3–5 g/kg (light) and 5–7 g/kg (moderate, about 1 h/day); carb-loading for events over 90 min; pre-exercise 1–4 g/kg 1–4 h before; prehydration 5–10 mL/kg 2–4 h before; during: none under 45 min, mouth rinse or small amounts at 45–75 min, 30–60 g/h at 1–2.5 h (Table 2); hyponatremia risk from over-drinking.
- **[S3]** American College of Sports Medicine; Sawka MN et al. *Exercise and fluid replacement.* Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2007;39(2):377–90. [PubMed 17277604](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17277604/). Over-drinking and hyponatremia; slower runners at greater risk.
- **[S4]** Jäger R et al. *International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: protein and exercise.* J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2017;14:20. [PubMed 28642676](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28642676/). 1.4–2.0 g/kg/day; 0.25 g/kg or 20–40 g per dose, every 3–4 h.
- **[S5]** Mountjoy M et al. *2023 IOC consensus statement on Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs).* Br J Sports Med. 2023;57(17):1073–97. [BJSM](https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/57/17/1073).
- **[S6]** USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy): *Bananas, raw*, [FDC 173944](https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/173944/nutrients), 22.8 g carbohydrate per 100 g, so a medium banana (118 g) has about 27 g; *Bread, white, commercially prepared*, FDC 174924, 49.4 g per 100 g, so a 28 g slice has about 14 g; *Honey*, FDC 169640, 82.4 g per 100 g, so a teaspoon (7 g) has about 6 g.
- **[S7]** Hew-Butler T et al. *Statement of the 3rd International Exercise-Associated Hyponatremia Consensus Development Conference, Carlsbad, California, 2015.* Clin J Sport Med. 2015;25(4):303–20. [BJSM version](https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/49/22/1432). Using thirst to guide drinking limits over-drinking and hyponatremia.

## Keep going

[Connect your AI assistant Add Forkmate to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client in about a minute.](https://forkmate.ai/connect/) [Switch from MyFitnessPal Bring your whole history over — free, no re-estimating your numbers.](https://forkmate.ai/migrate-from-myfitnesspal/) [Forkmate vs MyFitnessPal How the AI-native approach compares, honestly.](https://forkmate.ai/vs/myfitnesspal/) [Get your calorie goal A 60-second starting number before you log a thing.](https://forkmate.ai/quiz/)

[All articles](https://forkmate.ai/blog/)

## Log your first meal today

Create a free account, connect your AI assistant, and see your calories and macros at a glance. No credit card.

[Start free](https://app.forkmate.ai/)