Breakfast before or after a run, please don't answer if you have a job that starts before 9:30 am.

Always eat after the run.

ezy wrote:

Always eat after the run.

I agree with this, but that does not necessarily mean not to eat beforehand. To the OP, why do you feel like you can only eat before or after and not both? Maybe try something quick and light beforehand and something heartier afterwards to aid recovery and get you to lunchtime.

Drink juice, run, eat.

Banana before, full meal (oatmeal or eggs) after

The food guy wrote:

Banana before, full meal (oatmeal or eggs) after

I generally eat after, except for long runs during marathon training or if I am hung over from the night before or just really hungry, in which case I also take the "banana before then something more after" approach.

morning runner wrote:

but at the same time if you're running early enough then its a long time afterwards until lunch.

Are you familiar with the concept of the snack?

What other people do doesn't matter as much as what you should be doing. You should be eating before to put fuel in the tank and definitely after (ideally right after and especially in the first 30 minutes after) when insulin and glucose uptake are greatest. http://fellrnr.com/wiki/Nutrient_Timing

There is no reason to eat before a morning run and breakfast isn't necessary either. Your tank is full from dinner the night before.

If you need to eat before a morning run you may want to get checked to see if your liver is missing.

I stand corrected.

6:30am small bowl of plain shredded wheats + yogurt. down with 16-32oz of water

6:45am start run of 6-10

8:00am post shower, eat a fried egg / wheat bread sandwich or two. occasionally a recovery drink or just simply more water.

IF rules wrote:

There is no reason to eat before a morning run and breakfast isn't necessary either. Your tank is full from dinner the night before.

If you need to eat before a morning run you may want to get checked to see if your liver is missing.

Which "tank" are you talking about? Muscle glycogen levels should be okay assuming a reasonable carbohydrate intake, but liver glycogen stores will be lowered.

To the OP: well I have a job that starts before 9:30 but I am not sure why that should disqualify me. For me, when I was doing long runs (90 minutes or longer) then I would eat some oatmeal before the run or maybe a cliff bar with some Gatorade to help the blood sugar (liver supplies glucose to the blood and ultimately to the brain).

Then I made sure I ate a good breakfast after my run.

During the week if I were running in the AM, then it was going to be 45 minutes then I would just drink some Gatorade first for the water second for the carbs.

Ultimately you need to experiment to see what works best for you.

How about getting a real job instead of being a lazy academic slob?

I don't eat anything before a regular weekday run. I've never had a problem with this. Before my long run on the weekend I have a banana and coffee. Some of that is from getting up a bit later for my long run because it's the weekend. Either way, I don't eat a full breakfast until after my run. It works for me.

There's a theory that in marathon training it's good to do some long runs in a carb-depleted state as a way of training your body to burn fat more efficiently. You are simulating running low on carbs during the marathon. I don't think there's anything definitive on this and it may depend on the person whether it's helpful.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/fitness/why-exercising-on-an-empty-stomach-can-mean-a-better-workout/article579935/

For the marathon there's also the countervailing consideration that you need to do enough long runs using gels or sports drinks that your body doesn't rebel when you take in carbs during the marathon.

In college it was wake up, glass of water or gatorade, 7am practice, shower, breakfast.

Personally, I wake up early and have a granola bar or two and then go back to sleep. Then, I wake up later and go run. It's something light so it doesn't mess with your stomach, but you're not running in a fasted state. I definitely notice more energy when I do this compared to when I don't eat anything before I run.

Luv2Run wrote:

IF rules wrote:

There is no reason to eat before a morning run and breakfast isn't necessary either. Your tank is full from dinner the night before.

If you need to eat before a morning run you may want to get checked to see if your liver is missing.

Which "tank" are you talking about? Muscle glycogen levels should be okay assuming a reasonable carbohydrate intake, but liver glycogen stores will be lowered.

.

The whole fuel system. There is enough fuel to really do any sort of run in the morning. People think they need to carb up to shuffle for 20 minutes if they are doing short morning runs.

Generally if I'm training super early (say: 6:00) what I do is:

Before: Eat a banana, 2 or 3 cookies (based on any cereal really, avoid butter based ones) and a big glass of water. Normally 30-40 minutes before the run because my body can't go right after eating. So I try to do it by 5:30 and then use the next half hour to do some dynamic stretching or folding clothes, getting some random stuff done, whatever.

After: Iogurt with some oatmeal, an apple or pear and an energy bar. If you have the time to boil an egg (or had already boiled them the night before) by all means eat one. Drink all the water you feel like you need.

I imagine you would do well with some variation of this, bread might work for you for example instead of an apple, or you might opt for nuts and such. Adjust and find your balance I guess.

They are talking about eating before running, I begin to imagine what kind of loading is happening during your 20 minute shuffling-marathon

Smart guy, I told the OP what works for me, as simple as that. He's free to do it, ignore it, adjust it or anything in between. Also, I don't run marathons, or was the comment just an inside joke that I'm not aware of yet?