Eating before Running

by Sean

How long should I wait to go running after I eat?
And what would be a good snack to eat before running?

Answer by Dominique:

Hi there,
Thanks for your question about eating before running?

I think this one is pretty personal.
When running at night, I like to leave about a two hour gap between eating my dinner and running.

This is usually enough time for food to settle.

And this general rule of about two hours applies to most people.

When running early in the morning you don't necessarily get the luxury of waiting for a two hour gap. I have had different experiences with this.

I have tried not eating at all, but that generally makes for a tough run. A fasted run is a bit challenging, I think.

And I have definitely had morning runs that were impacted by food in the belly. Particularly milk w granola or cereal has a tendency to slosh around. And yoghurt often more or less repeats on itself when I have too much.

So, through experience I have worked out what works best for me. When it comes to eating before running in the morning, I now stick to something small and solid. A banana is a pretty solid choice, or a wrap with your favourite filling.

In the end, do a bit of experimenting and follow the Goldilocks approach and you should be just right.

Kind regards,
Dominique