General Fitness & Nutrition: Morning pre-run nutrition

I find the simplest things are the best.

The food I eat before a run in the morning  is a good bowl of porridge (with a spoon of honney stired in and a bannaner chopped up ontop) and a mug of sweet coffee at least 45mins to an hour before I undertake any running (inc warming up) it is however best to have a bite to eat 2 hours before hand to allow for the food to be digested enough. Porridge only applies to long runs, but shorter ones a bowl o cerial with some fruit and yogute- if I could spell it!

 if you are not in a position to eat 45mins too an hour before your run I would have a good meal of carbohydrates and protein the night before, for me that consits of pasta with a piece of salmon stake ontop and steamed vegtables with finally a runny egg ontop of the salmon - btw: stake I find slows me down.

in the morning, if I was to get up at that time, all that would be needed is enough fluids (somthing like a sports drink such as Lucazade Sports) and an oat bar of some description no less than 30 mins before the run.

 I would not run on an empty stomoach, nor have allot of fluids any less than 30mins before hand. after all when you eat/drink something, energy is used to digest it, hence the 30 mins time span. of course taking in fluids during the run and/or having a snack or gel you can do.

 

Hope that helps !

Quinton. 

I also run first thing in the morning. I find a couple of bites of a power bar are usually enough to give me the energy to finish a run strong and is easy on the stomach. anything longer than an hour needs a little more, though.

Half or whole Clif bar and half a Xience energy drink does the trick for me. The key is your nutrition the day before. Most individuals are under the misconception that what they eat now is what they utilize now. This is not the case. The energy you have now (present) is most affected by your previous 12-24 hour diet. Your body fuels itself through stored muscle and liver glycogen, which takes time to accumulate- thus is the "carbo-load" effect. Some people can very effectively drink a small amount of juice for other liquid to sustain themselves until the body realizes its demands and pulls from those stores.

I run early in the morning as well, 5:20 a.m. I don't eat anything prior to my run, just drink a glass of water and take some hydration with me on longer runs. Anything under 8 miles I find I am fine, over that I will eat a Power Bar or something equivalent. Your body stores for an hour so if you are running for more than an hour then you'll want to eat something or take something with you. The new G2 gatorade is a great, lower calorie and less sugar alternative to regular gatorade. It's much better in my opinion. Shane

Rather than eating processed food, and drinks, I would eat as natural as you can get before running (I feel that eating energy drinks and bars are shortsighted)

I run around 10 - 15 miles on a saturday morning for example; before I go I would drink a couple of pints of water, and eat 2 fresh fruits. I would also have something like chopped fresh tomato (or advocado) on toast (with some fresh garlic, olive oil, dried herbs)

The key is, eat slowly a bit at a time whilst you get ready (a bite in between - getting your shorts on... finding your pedometer... tieing shoelaces... kiss girlfriend goodbye etc...)

Remember, sugar is a downer and does not last, you need a mix of fast medium and slow burn ( a proper meal ) but not so much as to be bumping around in your stomach.

Also, I find pasta too heavy... and remember, all this sports-drink marketing is bull, and no different whatever to having a cup of tea with a sugar in it.