Matt Fitzgerald, an endurance athlete and author of The New Rules of Marathon and Half Marathon Nutrition, agrees. "There are good (do-it-yourself) recipes out there," he said. "But personally, I would rather eat something that doesn't take all that work. There are some people who enjoy that kind process. You can do it, but it's not a solution for everyone."
Fitzgerald has a different suggestion for runners in training who are looking out for their expenses.
"It doesn't cost all that much money to do a single consultation with a certified sports nutritionist," he said, "someone for whom that is their job." Fitzgerald said he went this route himself early in his career, and spent money on only a couple of sessions. "That whole package was less than a couple hundred bucks, and the education was tremendous," he recalled. "People who are thinking in terms of a budget might overlook something like that."
More: 7 Experts on Pre-Race Nutrition Essentials
Food: The Perfect Fit
Then there's the simple benefit of the right food diet.
"The constant in any athlete's diet are plant-based foods—whole grains, fruits, vegetables," Garner said. "The most expensive would be protein, because we want to emphasize organic, which tends to be costly, but the portion sizes athletes need to consume don't have to be large. Brown rice, beans, sweet potatoes can be bought in bulk and stretched out."
Benardot goes so far as to call muscle-building products useless. "What is it that's in them that makes them better than food itself?"
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Lewin concurs. "It's important to keep in mind that this (sports performance products) is a money-making industry and your foods are your best source of nutrients and energy-enhancing agents."
One point on which nutritionists seem to agree is that cost-effective training is largely a matter of smart planning and sticking to that plan, avoiding quick-energy convenience items that they may pay more for.
"It's not what you do once in awhile," Lewin says. "It's what you do every day that makes the difference in health and performance."
More: How to Fuel for a Marathon
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