Question re: early morning runs.What do you do with regards to eating and drinking (i.e. coffee that is) when it comes to early morning runs. Do you get up extra early to have something to eat or wait until after the run? How much time do you generally leave between meals and a run? Is coffee in the morning before a run a good idea or should you wait?
Thanks, Cam
7 comments:
My response:
Everyone has to experiment with what gives them energy without feeling bloated.
I eat breakfast 1- 1.5 hours before run time.
No coffee for me, but some people can't start without 1 cup and they run just fine.
Grapefruit, cereal, one slice of toast(peanut butter or buckwheat honey on the toast) and I feel strong enough to run. Honestly though, I'm still experimenting.
Ronnie Rash (Tom Willis)
I usually have a bowl of oatmeal with some fruit (eg a banana or blueberries) about an hour beforew an early morning run. Coffee too. It is important to experiment with different foods and times on the course so you know what will work for you on race-day.
Hi
Because I'm British I can't cope without my cup of tea ( Earl Grey )coffee is way to strong for my stomach before running. Like Dave, I generally go for a bowl of Oatmeal with fruit, or if I'm in a hurry a bagel with jam will do the trick. I'm lucky and can generally eat up to about half an hour before I run, particularly if it's a bagel!
Jo
I love having 2 rye bread toast that are yeast free, with a little bit of organic almond butter and half a banana, it keeps me going and i eat that about 1:30 hours before a run...if drink coffee (i drink tea) but i make sure to drink about 2 cups of water afterwards to prevent getting a cramp when i run :)
Thanks Sarah, Jo and Tom. BTW - it's also important to have some protein after your run as recovery food. If youa re at a cafe, try a bagel with cheese or peanut butter. Some people use a recovery drink - even cold chocolate milk is excellent!
I eat an Oatmeal to Go bar and a banana. For a beverage, just water. I eat it in the car on the way to the long run. Race day is a different story though because I wake up so early and I get nervous. I have to force my food down because I am not hungry so I start the process earlier.
The food thing is still a work in progress for me.
B'Ann
Race-day and long run nutrition is something that I have really struggled with. I think (fingers crossed) that I have it straightened out now but it took a while. I can't really offer many suggestions as to what to eat because I basically can't eat anything before runs longer than 20K other than a couple of the real fruit strips. My advice is just to second what Dave said; this is a really, really important part of race day performance. My first marathon was not what it should have been simply because I ignored what wasn't working and didn't try to find something that would work. Keep experimenting; write down what you ate before you ran and how you felt during the run and look for patterns between good runs and certain foods. Like B'Ann said, "it's a work in progress".
Kathy
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