Early morning runs

[Dreambird]

I’m on week 3 - struggled with the second run yesterday so will try again tomorrow. I notice lots of you run early, first thing in the morning which avoids the heat of the day, people and sounds great to me. I haven’t really settled on a time to do my runs but tend to go late afternoons. My question is do you get up and go straight out for your run or do you eat something first ? I’m not sure of the best thing to do as I don’t think I could run with no fuel inside me. Welcome any thoughts please.

[Maz1234 Graduate]

Hi Dreambird. I don’t tend to eat anything for shorter runs I always run in the morning if I’m doing a longer run I tend to have porridge with honey about a hour and half before I go. A lot of people will have a banana before a run . It’s worth trying a couple of different ways and seeing what’s suits you better.

[roseabi]

I've been doing early mornings recently and don't like to run on empty either. I have something small and sweet - I happen to have some Reese's PB cups at the moment, so I've been eating one of those, but something like half a banana is a good idea too! And a big glass of water. I take these about half an hour before I go out to give it a bit of a chance to go down.

Everyone is different of course, so you should experiment.

I'm really enjoying being up with the sun - hope you do too! xxx

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate]

I usually run about a hour after breakfast around 9/9.30 ish, however, when the weather is very warm I take a very small breakfast and run just 30 minutes later around 7am to avoid the heat of later in the morning.

[mrrun Graduate]

If you're running first thing and you're only doing short distances then there's no need for elaborate fry ups. All you need is a banana or just half of it, or a boiled egg, or some muesli, something really simple with half a glass of juice/water or just a cup of tea. You don't want stuff sloshing in your stomach.

Then again, Eliud Kipchoge, the first human who ran the marathon under two hours, prefers to run his training 42k first thing after dawn, on an empty stomach and without taking anything during the run. Don't try that at home..... 😉

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

I always run first thing and only take on 500ml of fluid before heading out.......it works for me.

[PurpleCat87 Graduate]

To run first thing I have found half a banana is good beforehand, then I have the other half on my porridge or shredded wheat afterwards! It is just enough to give you a bit of energy. I also have a small glass of water.