Cost of Running: Food

Of the things one has to spend money on for running, food is often neglected. The fact is, running costs extra calories, and those extra calories aren’t free.

I put food as the second least expensive cost of running before clothing, but depending on how you do it, you can replace your calories from running at a not-so-expensive rate.

Say you run 30 miles a week. Running takes about 100 cal per mile, so that equals 3000 extra calories for the week. If you want to go an extremely cheap route, a banana will cost you about 12.5 cents per 100 cal. That’s only going to cost you $3.75 per week. Multiply that by 52 weeks, and you are only spending $195 per year.

It is not, however, quite so simple. Your fat stores also become depleted when you run, and you need protein to repair your muscles, so bananas alone aren’t going to cut it. Replenishing your fat stores on the cheap isn’t too hard. Cooking oil costs between two cents and seven cents per 100 cal — even cheaper than bananas.

Protein is going to cost a little more, but some sources are calorically dense, so you can double up on your fat and protein. Peanut butter costs around five cents per 100 cal, and many types of nuts will be a similar price. However, there is not a ton of protein in nut products, so you are going to have to find other sources of protein.

Eggs cost around $.19 per 100 cal, but each egg provides only around 6 g of protein, so again, eggs won’t be adequate to fulfill all your protein needs.

Better sources of proteins like beans and fish will cost around five cents per 100 cal for beans, and between $.56 and $1.25 per 100 cal for fish.

Obviously the above is not an exhaustive list. Dairy products, whole grains, and meats can also be included in an economical diet that meets all macro nutrient needs.

For arguments sake, let’s say you spend about $.25 per 100 cal. If you’re running 30 miles a week, that comes out to only $7.50 per week, or $390 per year.

Obviously, there is a wide variety you can spend on food. I am for foods that are nutrient dense, but are also cost-effective.

Stay tuned for the next post in my cost of running series.