🏃♀️🍳🏃Morning runners: Breakfast before or ... - Couch to 5K
🏃♀️🍳🏃Morning runners: Breakfast before or after running? 🍳🏃♀️🍳
Here’s some food for thought! If you’re a morning runner, what do you do about breakfast? Eat before running? Wait until you’re done ? Both? What’s your typical plan? Come and tell us what’s your plan for fuelling your morning runs…pics welcome!
Please select all that apply:
I run in the evening, when it gets cooler
Run first thing in the morning (5 a.m) when it's cold...
I'm at work in the dairy early hours
Absolutely need to run in the morning unless you actually want to! We all do what works for us.
A banana for me. I once wanted to run but had no bananas so I followed UpTheStanley ’s ritual of a mars bar and then ran 10k. It seems to work!
Whoops, just realised this is c25k forum….
I usually have a banana or a piece of toast as I’m walking out of the door and a bigger breakfast when I get back. I don’t do well with nothing, and if I haven’t had coffee? We won’t even go there…
Coffee!😱
If I had coffee before running I'd need a detailed map on a specially designed heads-up display, listing every possible weeing location with a 10k radius! 🤣
I would jog in the evening when cooler Middle East weather
light breakfast before. Usually just fluids when I come back
I have a cup of tea and half a protein bar. It just takes the edge of being hungry and gets me out and back again for a yummy breakfast of museli, fresh fruit and greek yogurt
That's basically my every day breakfast - except it's oats with added fruit/dried fruit, nuts, seeds and grains to home make the museli every day! I hate it when I can't have this as it just sets me up right!
I used to run on empty, but that was before my thyroid went bandy. I would often do 18 hours fasts too, nothing after supper until a late lunch, but these days I need to eat within a couple of hours of getting up
Oh, wow - I'd hate to have a bandy thyroid!
Most of my runs, weather permitting, are at lunchtime. Then I run before lunch...
My longer run is on Saturdays. And I've experimented with running with and without breakfast and I just can't do it without. So, if I don't have the time to run later in the morning, I switch my schedule around a bit. I usually meditate 25 minutes before breakfast, so on run days, I just swap the two. It's worked out so far!
It will be interesting, depending on how far I eventually get to run, to see how far it's comfortable without any food. 6-7k is fine, but if I run more - especially when it's warm even early morning in the summer - I wonder if I'll need something.
Until I retired last May, I always ran before breakfast with just a glass of water. Now I tend to prefer having breakfast first, then running mid-morning.
I have a cup of coffee but other than that I wait until I’m back.
Until recently it was full breakfast then run. But now I'm trying out a new routine, inspired by Michael Moseley's Sleep book, of getting out first thing for my dose of morning light, with just some water first and return for breakfast. If I'm going a bit further (8-10k) then I'll snack first on some nuts and dried fruits. All working well so far, and the sleep's better too.
usually roll out of bed and out for a run. Have to bypass the kitchen or the Labrador will bugger about for half an hour and I miss my run.
I just feel sick if I eat before I go. Just a glass of water and then eat when I’m home
I voted that I eat a normal breakfast before I run but I have a strict ONE HOUR break before I go running.
I normally run first thing in the morning, and usually have no breakfast. The only problem is that I normally need to go to the loo about half an hour after waking up (I'm a regular sort of person...), which means that going for a run first often moves things around and gets things wanting to go quicker than normal... Sorry, too much information..
Jeepers, I know the feeling. Every time I change the pace, or run further or run longer, it takes a while for my body to adjust. It is perfectly natural - we're putting stress on the body and it's acting exactly as it should, but "unscheduled breaks" do occur!
This is why I don't run in the early morning, apart from parkrun and races. For the former I have to get up early enough to "go" beforehand, and ditto for the latter plus imodium (belt and braces). Oh and regarding breakfast, a small banana, definitely NO coffee until afterwards.
Coffee and half a banana before setting out, breakfast when I get back
What do you do with the other half of the banana? I give mine to my dog.🤔
No dog, so it gets included in breakfast 🙂
Interesting question, it depends on the distance of my planned run. For a 5-10k run, I would usually have a banana & possibly a yoghurt before the run. For a longer run, I usually have porridge made with a mashed banana. I try to give 30-60 mins after eating to allow time to start digesting. I used to be able to roll out of bed & run without eating but have suffered with headaches & feeling rough after a run if I do that so now pay more attention to fuelling & hydration, it seems to be working 🤞🏽
I'm an intermittent faster and don't eat before 10/11/noon depending on the time of my evening meal the day before.
I normally have a 🍌 and a cup of tea but Yesterday went slightly different and had a black coffee and got my quickest time and went under 30 minutes
Fascinating to read the replies. And the subject has got me thinking. I'm now running 50 minutes once a week(ish) and, though I am stretching before and after, I'm often tired later in the day and just a bit more sore than usual the next day. I wonder if having a bit to eat beforehand might help with this. I do drink water before and am almost at the stage where I'll need to carry a bit of water, but almost always have nothing at all to eat before...
I do carry sweets in my bag in case the gremlins strike, but I'm getting better at keeping them at bay
I don't really "do" sweets at all. I'm sure I can come up with something small and portable to have with me - maybe a chunk of protein bar.
I like dates. I used to buy them from our village veg stall and think of the lady running it when I ate them. She always made me smile. It’s a shame she retired because I buy them from Asda now and that’s not such a warm and fuzzy feeling 🤣
Packs of three fruit and seed oatcakes are good too. I also like skittles in case anyone thinks I’m against sweets!
I'm now thinking of making my own protein balls, but my son is telling me to just eat a banana! (I love dates, but majdul (?) only - so gold-plated in terms of cost!)
If it's a morning run from home I'd have nothing until after. But I do bring an energy drink and gels if I am doing a long run. However, I would have my usual porridge mix if I have to travel for a race as it will have settled then and I would have needed it.
I have an early cup of tea and then run 1-2 hours later. I do intermittent fasting so I don't break my fast until 12.30'ish. Feel a bit sluggish running after food, even when I leave it a couple of hours. When I was running longer distances (10k) I would have something small beforehand, usually a banana, which seemed to do the trick.
I never run hungry, it's a recipe for fainting in some inconvenient place! On a work day I have home made cereal bar, fresh fruit & tea and these days kombucha as well, then go to work, running has to wait till after work, usually need some kind of snack before I go then dinner when I come back. Non work days have the same except porridge instead of cereal bar then just depends what's on that day whether or not I can run first thing or later. Hopefully, in the not too distant future I will try Parkrun on Saturday ....... 9am start ........ mmmmm, think that'll be a cereal bar morning because quicker than porridge!
I seem to run better on empty. I feel heavy and sluggish otherwise.
It actually depends.
When originally doing C25K or nowadays a parkrun or a 10km run I'll go out having had only a drink (a mug of coffee or a glass of water).
For a longer run I'll have a couple of pieces of toast or similar as a carbs boost. For a much longer run (over 10 miles) I'll do that and take calories and fluids with me.
Usually just a coffee (just one or it sets other things moving than my legs if you see what I mean) and several glasses of water. If I'm doing more than about 7k half a banana or a small bowl of porridge at least half an hour before I run, then proper breakfast afterwards. I'll also take a few sweets with me to top up my energy levels on the longer runs.
I run on empty, wish I didn't have to but I've had gastro issues when running in past so I pretty much have a fear of eating beforehand
Nothing before run save for water and a banana… then breakfast when we I get back.
I run in the morning before starting work and always have a cup of coffee when I get up and another coffee after my run when I get home. Although I am not usually a breakfast person I will have something (probably toast) after a run of 10k or more.
Generally run before breakfast for anything up to an hour long run. Much longer than that and I need fuel so run is put back to late morning.
I usually ran C25K on no breakfast, but those runs were around 7-8am. Thinking of my first 9am park run this weekend, I'll probably have a banana or overnight oats before leaving home. It's been interesting to read everyone's replies.
