Whoever coined the phrase “you are what you eat” must have had an athlete in mind during the festive season. During this festive season, most athletes have taken a break from training to spend time with family.
But athletics coaches, nutritionists and sports scientists warn that a change of nutrition, even for a day, can change an athlete’s physical and mental well-being, reversing gains made after many months of painstaking training.
For Team Kenya athletes preparing to represent the country at the 2026 World Athletics Cross Country Championships on January 10 in Tallahassee, Florida, USA, unwarranted change of nutrition can mean a swift slide from a potential podium finish to oblivion.
Experts warn that athletes must stay healthy, eat right, and have adequate rest this festive season, with a competitive sporting calendar that starts in January in mind.
After an explosive season, it is time for sportsmen and women to take a break and recharge, recover or go through rehabilitation so as to return in better shape in January. In sports, a break takes two forms - off-season break and pre-season break. Both lead to the in-season period when competitions take place.
These two crucial periods vary with each sport. For instance, the Football Kenya Federation Premier League season starts in September each year, and concludes in May, the Kenya Cup rugby league starts in November and ends in April, while the local athletics calendar runs from November to September of the following year.
For athletics, the local cross country period that usually spills onto January was concluded in November to allow Kenyan team selectors time to choose a team for the 2026 World Athletics Cross Country Championships.
As such, seasoned athletes like Olympic and world 10,000 metres and 5,000m champion Beatrice Chebet and Agnes Ng’etich, who competed at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in September, had a short off-season and pre-season break, if not none at all.
Kenya's Beatrice Chebet celebrates winning the women's 10,000m Final at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo on September 13, 2025.
Photo credit: Reuters
Africa’s fastest man, Ferdinand Omanyala, took a one-month break after returning from the World Athletics Championships, then embarked on preparations for the 2026 World Athletics Indoor Tour that starts at the end of next month.
Coaches warn that what athletes eat during off-season and pre-season breaks can make all the difference in competitions. Athletes must avoid becoming overweight, as this can lead to injury upon their return to training.
Team Kenya’s head coach, Julius Kirwa, notes that a change of nutrition, even for a day, can change the whole landscape, ruining what has taken months to build.
“Team Kenya athletes preparing for the 2026 World Athletics Cross Country Championships were to break for almost one week, and for sure, this is the festive season when one can be tempted to overindulge. That can be counterproductive,” said Kirwa.
National Athletics coach Julius Kirwa.
Photo credit: Chris Omollo | Nation Media Group
Omanyala’s coach, Duncan Ayiemba, believes that what dictates an athlete’s off-season and pre-season behaviour is their performance the previous season.
Omanyala intends to start his season in January, and that has dictated his nutritional intake as he seeks to be in top shape for the World Indoor Tour and the start of the outdoor season in May.
“Our pre-season started early, and it morphed into his injury rehabilitation, which needed a high intake of proteins to aid muscle recovery. Of course, that will be scaled down in-season,” Ayiemba observed, indicating that Omanyala’s nutritionist plays a key role in it.
“Omanyala is a seasoned athlete, and he knows what to take during the festive season. There has to be a limit to what athletes can take, and that is guided by their programme,” notes Ayiemba.
Purity Kamande, a sports and clinical nutritionist, says that the body needs an off-season break, especially for elite athletes.
Kamande notes that nutrition plays a crucial role during these breaks and varies from off-season, pre-season and in-season.
Faith Maina, another Sports Nutritionist who has handled Kenyan national teams, notes that most elite Kenyan sportsmen and women rarely engage nutritionists when planning their competitions, which works against them.
Maina explains that sport is science and talent must go in sync with nutrition for optimum performance, both off-season, pre-season and in-season.
“Off-season is when the body heals from injuries, the muscles recover from tears and generally when the athlete's mind is settled with competitions having ended,” says Kamande, adding that it is the appropriate time for athletes to take in a high-protein diet, mostly a whole meal.
“It’s a period when athletes take what is over and beyond what they consume in pre-season and in-season,” explains Kamande, who is among the nutritionists in Team Kenya’s camp ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Kamande, however, notes that they come in handy to advise the athletes, especially those who compete in weight events like rugby, boxing, wrestling, judo and many others.
Maina notes that some athletes go overboard during the off-season with their meals, resulting in extra weight that becomes dangerous during the pre-season.
Kamande explains that it’s during the pre-season that athletes, coaches and management align their goals, where nutrition comes in handy.
Kenya's Faith Kipyegon celebrates after winning the World Athletics Championships women's 1,500m final at Japan National Stadium, Tokyo, on September 16, 2025.
Photo credit: Photo | Reuters
Kamande points out that nutrition varies from a sprinter like Omanyala to middle distance athletes like Faith Kipyegon and Mary Moraa and distance athletes like Eliud Kipchoge.
“Sprinters and distance runners need a lot of carbohydrates and proteins, but while one needs a lot of power and strength during training, the other requires endurance,” says Kamande, adding that athletes Moraa and Kipyegon must strike a moderate balance.
“That should involve a lot of water intake for hydration, especially in distance running, to avoid fatigue,” notes Kamande, who points out unique situations where athletes take short breaks from competition.
Kamande singled out athletes like Beatrice Chebet and Agnes Jebet, who definitely took a short break after the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in September, with the World Cross Country Championships beckoning in January.
“For such elite athletes, if they are taking three meals a day, they will probably add three high-quality snacks…but this depends on the individual,” said Kamande.
Maina says that the country is bound to witness great results in the long run if nutrition is taken off-season, pre-season and in-season seriously. “Nutritionists are only involved when Team Kenya is in camp. We can’t run away from training and nutrition,” said Maina, noting that the country banks more on talent than science in sports, hence the decline in performance internationally.
Maina noted that Team Kenya at the Africa Youth Games in Angola is the right forum to instill the benefits of nutrition during off-season and pre-season, not only in camp and competition.
