Endurance athletes need proper fuel to perform at their best.  And the plant-based diet, with all the nutrients they contain is the perfect diet to crush your goals.  Although it's not rocket science, pre-planning your meals and macros can seem complicated for the beginner, so let's break it down.

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Calorie and nutrient needs + Endurance training = Endurance progress

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Calorie and nutrient needs

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Endurance athletes do better on a different macro split than strength athletes, since muscle fueling is more important than muscle building.  This translates into a more carbohydrate focused plan.  As a first step, start by calculating your calorie requirements by using the Harris-Benedict calculator that you can easily find online.  Once you have determined your calorie needs by factoring in your activity level, you're ready to start planning.

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Endurance athletes don't need to be in a calorie excess, they simply need to meet the calories required by their activity.  Consider logging in your food intake in an app like My Fitness Pal, or Cronometer, to make sure you're eating enough.  Then, easy tweaks can be made to ensure a proper macro split.  Endurance athletes will do better on a more carbohydrate heavy macro split, like 60-20-20, with some athletes doing better at 70-15-15.  I encourage you to experiment with both splits, and seeing where you stand. 

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Start out with these simple steps:

• calculate your daily calorie requirement

• log your food intake to see where you stand

• aim for a macro split somewhere between 60-20-20 and 70-15-15

• experiment with both splits to see which one benefits you the most

• make simple tweaks by modifying the fat and protein content of your meals

• if you're eating a variety of plant foods of different colors, while including nutrient dense foods, you'll easily hit your nutrient target, but food logs will confirm this

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