Running on an Empty Stomach

As a mother of two young kiddos, I jump at any opportunity to hit the road. Baby is napping, toddler is reading, husband gives the green light...boom I'm out the door. Did I just heat a huge lunch (practically a mini Thanksgiving feast? Yup!), oh well, an opportunity to run without having to push a stroller is worth the killer side ache.

Pre kiddos, I would strategically plan my runs. You know the childhood rule...no food two hours before swimming. As a child I was very strict on that rule when it came to swimming and as an adult I adaptedd it for running. But now, not so much. I run whenever I can.

So I run in the mornings...ouch. I'm not a morning person. Never have been. Never will be. However, that being said, I hit the road before the sun comes up. My current problem is that I am running on an empty stomach. I can barely make it out of be for the run, let alone wake up early enough to eat something and let it digest before running.

Christine Luff wrote in her article, Start the Day Right, "If you're a morning runner, it's tempting to skip breakfast because you want to maximize your sleep time and not have to wake up early enough to give yourself time to digest before running." That sounds familiar. So why is this so bad? According to Luff, "Running on an empty stomach may cause you to run out of energy. Your best bet is to eat a light snack or meal about 1 1/2 to 2 hours before you start running."

Ok, I always knew it was important to eat before exercising but I never really knew why. Martica Heaner describes it great in this article, “When you first wake up, you are likely to be low on energy...you have a limited supply of carbs...Even though the body has plenty of fat stored, for fat to be“burned”, or metabolized, carbs need to be present. Often, the liver’s carb stores are nearly depleted by the morning, so many people may wake up in the morning in a state of energy deficit, where there are not enough carbs to provide energy and to help utilize fat."

"So they need breakfast to infuse more energy into their body. If you skip breakfast and do a tough workout, you launch a depleted body into even greater depletion…Now your body is famished for fuel. However, you may not feel hungry in this state (known as “ketosis”) because your body has shifted to starvation mode to preserve its resources. Diminished hunger is one of the side effects. But a lack of stomach rumblings doesn’t mean your body doesn’t need fuel—it does. In fact, at some point it will demand more fuel—you’ll likely binge and go into a huge energy surplus to compensate. This ends up being a roller-coaster calorie ride for your body.”

So the moral of the story is...I'll be waking up earlier (ideally 2 hours before, but realistically 1 hour before) and eating before running.

So my next question, what do I eat before a run? I took this list straight from MadeToRun.com: (when I first got to this article I almost couldn't read on after seeing the picture at the top...you'll have to look and see for yourself)

• Almonds (excellent source of vitamin E)
• Eggs (one egg contains about 10 percent of your daily protein needs and nearly 30% of Daily Value of Vitamin K)
• Whole grains (one cup is usually good enough for 40% of your daily protein needs and includes a healthy mix of carbs)
• Oranges (tons of vitamin C and packed with water to keep you hydrated)Black beans (packed with protein, fiber and a lot of folate)
• Mixed greens (too many phytonutrients and antioxidants to count)
• Bananas (this super food is loaded with Potassium and helps prevent cramping)
• Salmon and turkey (both are extremely lean sources of protein and salmon contains high levels of omega 3 fatty acids)
• Walnuts (even more omega 3)
• Fruit (each fruit has an assortment of vitamins and phytonutrients so mix and match at will)