I usually don't eat before my easy morning runs, which are 4-6 miles, roughly 35 minutes to an hour. Never had an issue before. I tend to eat am evening snack the nights before I run so I have a cup of coffee and go, then do breakfast after the run.

I’ve found eating before a workout is a personal thing. Typically won’t eat within an hour of a workout with the exception of oatmeal if I’m doing a run over 10 or a bike over 25. Don’t get too excited over heart rate because that can fluctuate daily. Keep a daily log of what your eating, how you feel, how much sleep, outdoor temp, HR, time and mileage, etc., and then you’ll start seeing what affects you the most.

I run 6 days a week, ~60 miles...for 60 (easy), 90 (tempo), or 120 (hard hilly) minutes.

I tend to either run before lunch (easy/long) or dinner (tempo), so I've always had a regular meal or two. I only specifically eat before my long run.

I don't run in the morning very often---but, I wouldn't eat before an easy hour, no matter what. I would probably eat oatmeal before a 90 minute tempo or more, though. But, I'm generally more concerned about hydration.

As far as your z2 HR goes, that sounds about right-ish. For easy runs, I "try" and keep HR down towards the bottom of z2. That kinda depends on outside temperature, though. Warm/humid conditions can drive that upwards by 5-10bpm for the same conversational pace. My usual approach for easy runs is to establish what feels easy "today" then look at HR and PACE after about 10 minutes...and then, look to just hold that for the balance of the run.

Other than quantum theory, running while fasted in the morning after a cup of coffee is one of the few stone cold lead pipe locks in life.

---

Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
Aerodynamic Retul Bike Fitting

“You are experiencing the criminal coverup of a foreign backed fascist hostile takeover of a mafia shakedown of an authoritarian religious slow motion coup. Persuade people to vote for Democracy.”

I rarely have anything more than a cup or two of tea. Little bit of sugar and milk in the tea. Even for rides going as long as 5h.

I have athletes who eat before any morning workout and everywhere in between.

There is some research for doing some fasted workouts. Low intensity activities on zero calories with some caffeine ingestion should help burn a greater % of fat.......for that workout.

---

Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

I usually eat some canned peaches with a bit of greek yoghurt.
Not a huge amount, just some sugar, fat and protein to get me going.
I save the coffee until after my AM session as it will put me on the toilet mid-session.

How much other training are you doing? Two a days?

When I was training 15-20 hrs a week I would always eat before the morning workout. It was just a way to try and stay topped up on glycogen. Even if I would have been fine during the morning workout having not eaten, it might affect the 2nd workout of the day. That strategy served me well.

Now I'm just running once a day in the morning and that's it. I'll only eat something (usually a banana) before the long run over 90 minutes. Every other day it's just black coffee.

There's a thread for that

https://forum.slowtwitch.com/...ts_mid_run_P5580857/

---

"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

I eat before every workout. It is either a normal meal with time to digest, or some sort of energy bar literally a few minutes before I leave the door.

---

"...the street finds its own uses for things"

I usually train fasted, but that's because most of my weekday training sessions are quite early. I might have a bit of caffeine and some water first, but that's usually it. For particularly tough intervals, I will occasionally drink 50 grams of sugar mixed with water, but that's uncommon. Nearly all of my weekday sessions, easy and tough alike, are done fasted.

When I ride on the weekend, it's usually late morning or early afternoon, and I typically get 1-2 meals in beforehand.

I find that when I run early in the morning, its better if I don¨t have food but i think its very individual. I tried coffee and that didn’t work for me so I do the East African thing, maybe a glass of water and thats it and it seems to work well for me.

---

"see the world as it is not as you want it to be"

A big old Yeti mug full of black coffee unless it's better 7am then it's usually half a mug before and the other half after. Maybe I'll scoff a couple of spoonfuls of coconut butter.

Depends who you are...some do/ some don’t. When I wake up I’m usually very very hungry. I’ll always eat before a morning workout

Yep I think I said it's individual...I can't bike in the morning on an empty stomach or just water but running...no problem!

---

"see the world as it is not as you want it to be"

Most "pure" runners follow a similar system and it's no problem. It works well when intensity is low and you are fueling properly the day before. I do recommend for most of my athletes to eat or drink something with a few calories (from cho) before a higher intensity session, or before a long run over 90 minutes.

---

Mark Saroni
____________________________________________________________
COACHING | TRAINING PLANS
MS Kinesiology | USAT LII | USAC L3

Unless my workout is longer than 90 minutes or high intensity over 60 minutes I don't feel the need for the extra fuel. I have an americano just because I enjoy it, and share a banana with the dog purely as part of our routine.

Similarly, I don't have calories in my bottle unless it's a long workout but I do like having water available for indoor sessions.

---

Kiwami NA Racing Team

I generally eat a full breakfast, unless it is swim practice at or before 6am. I usually get up early enough to comfortably eat a full breakkie before riding or running (although I run in the evening as a norm).

---

---

"Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." T.S. Elliot | Cycle2Tri.com
Sponsors: SciCon | | Every Man Jack

Absolutely. Your glycogen will be depleted and you will eventually bonk or hit the wall. Might as well top off the gas tank before making that trip regardless or not of appetite.

I am never hungry when I wake up and find it hard to run too soon after eating.Biking I can eat stuff after an hour or so and eating before a swim session is definately a no go. I can add maltodextrin to my water bottles to get some calories in if a really need to..
Coffee doesn't count and I have that stuff before, during and after workouts all the time.

Bowl of oatmeal and a cup of coffee every f'ing morning within 5mins of getting out of bed regardless of what I'm doing.

I can barely manage to pee in the toilet when I first wake up

I'm doing about 6 hours a week of running right now, low to mid 30s mileage wise. I do work on my feet all day so I usually cover a total of 60 or so miles a week.

I'm more of a monster guy because I'm a trash person but yeah same idea.

I do 11-13 hours / week, 7 days a week, starting between 5-6am everyday

On my super easy recovery days, which are usually 50-60 mins, I don't eat. But I'm fading towards the end due to being hungry.

Other rides, I always eat beforehand. Oatmeal, peanut butter, PB+J, pop tarts, nutrigrain bars ... On the ride, I almost always eat a banana and bring additional snacks (usually the same things as pre-ride)

I'm pretty much always eating tho