W3r3

[DoingthebestIcan]

Did it! But ..... R2 I did after work and couldn't manage. I walk to and from work and it takes an hour and twenty minutes. I don't eat breakfast and only have a salad for lunch and ran before dinner. Could it be tiredness or lack of calories or just a bad run? Is it better to run in the morning?

[Toomsy]

I would say you’ve not eaten enough

[Creaky_Shuffler]

As Toomsy said, looks very like you are not eating enough, especially after your walk to and from work. If food is fuel, it stands to reason you are likely to be running on empty quite early in the day.

Although these things are personal, I have a big breakfast of porridge oats with mixed seeds and pine nuts, mixed red fruits (including blueberries) chia seeds and honey for sweetness (can't stand the glutinous aspect of porridge without some sort of sugar content). It's a right old mish-mash but tastes good. I find that can take me through the day with a little fruit for lunch. Porridge oats are great for releasing energy slowly and are pretty low calorie for the energy gained.

I wouldn't advise you when during the day to run, other than to observe from the detail of your eating regimen that you are likely to have no energy if you are doing so much exercise without eating.

As with most things though, diff'r'nt strokes for different folks. My brother loves to run in the morning before eating. At eight years older than him and being 52, I find a morning run is just too early for my body. I need to get moving for most of a day before pounding a pavement somewhere. My brother is a personal trainer and I'm sure would counsel you to eat more to achieve more. If you feel like you are running on empty soon after starting any sort of run, low energy does seem the likely culprit.

If losing weight was a fundamental motivator for starting all this (it certainly was for me), just eat healthily, but please do eat. After a while, your increased fitness and range will enable you to do more, which in turn will burn more calories. After a while your running range, fitness and healthy eating will see off any extra pounds.

Congrats on all your achievements so far. Keep at it. One day at a time, one step at a time. It will keep getting better.

[DoingthebestIcan Graduate in reply to Creaky_Shuffler]

Thank you so much for your response. I am so new to this and find the support from this forum absolutely amazing 😁😁😁

[Creaky_Shuffler in reply to DoingthebestIcan]

My pleasure. I'm new here myself.

Should have pointed out, the mixed fruit I add to my porridge comes frozen in a bag from Tesco (other competition-stifling grocery giants are available) and it and the porridge are fruit done consecutively in the microwave. I use water in the porridge, others milk.

My wife and I use standard generic porridge oats which are very cheap. The fruits, seeds and pine nuts are of course added for general nutrition boosting. We don't cook much and I'm all for minimum effort, maximum benefit 😁 !

Have a great weekend.

[JulesG1 Graduate]

I am nearly 60 and run in the morning, preferably empty but with loads of fluid, at least an hour before I run, which is more important than food, I find. Can you do your C25k as part of your walk home? Well done for even attempting it after work and a long walk. 🥛

[mrrun Graduate in reply to JulesG1]

Hi Jules! Just out of curiosity, what do you mean by 'loads of fluid'?

[mrrun Graduate]

You can run first thing in the morning but you need to have at least some fuel in. I find a banana or a boiled egg with just a small glass of water enough for anything up to 10K or so.

Big breakfast for morning runs would need to create a sufficient gap of at least an hour/90 min for the food to settle down. (In my case)

Evening runs are the same. You need daily fuel but you cannot run straight after a big meal.

For my half marathon run, l hydrated sufficiently the day before (never drink loads before any runs, ever!!), carbed myself for dinner, rested, had good breakfast and ran two hours later, only touching some water towards the finish and eating a chunk of energy bar (didn't really need it).

So, you must fuel healthy and regularly and you must drink sufficient amount of water every day, at least 2-3 litres. Your body will preserve it all and allow you to run. After the run, depending on how long you've been, you can refuel accordingly.