What do you eat before you run?

As all of us runners know, we need food not just to sustain us and give us energy to make it to the next meal. We need to eat to fuel our workouts. And all you need to do is spend a few moments on Google, and you can find a variety of advice about what to eat before you run to ensure you have the energy you need.

And frankly, it’s all great advice that starts with how long you plan to run and matches up the right food. Or it recommends what to eat if you’re planning to run in the next 30 minutes vs. an hour or more.

Of course, it’s all healthy (and delicious) recommendations. But since we are sometimes known to grab a handful of tortilla chips before we head out the door, just to get something in our belly before running, we got to thinking about not necessarily what you should eat. We are curious about what runners do eat.

For instance, just the other day when some of the Elizabethtown Running Club members ran, one person admitted to eating a handful of chips before she left for the run. She hadn’t eaten since 11 a.m., and we were running at 7 p.m. Certainly not recommended, based on our Google search (and common sense), but she did manage to get through more than 3 miles, with several strides on the track.

An informal survey of runners on two different Facebook groups yielded healthier results — and a wide range of different foods. From oatmeal and coffee to smoothies and rice cakes, the runners participating in those groups seem to take the advice about nutrition and exercise to heart.

When I run in the morning … I only eat before my run if I’m going more than 6 miles. I have a few things I enjoy — oats with berries and brown sugar or toast with peanut butter, banana slices and honey, or a dairy-free smoothie. I eat any of these about an hour prior to running. If I’m running more than 13 miles, I may eat a little more and wait longer also, and take something with me to snack on.

One thing that took us by surprise is the people who eat nothing, or virtually nothing before long runs. One woman said she only drinks coffee before a run, “unless I’m going further than 14 miles, and then I eat a banana.” And we thought we were super runners because we had 8 ounces of Quaker Oatmeal Squares with blueberries that fueled a 12-mile run the other year.

The other issue that stood out in the responses was that these runners differentiate between training and racing. For instance, consider this:

I do fasted runs (in the) early morning but when I race I have a 4-7 egg omelet with veggies and a blueberries muffin or a bagel and a banana.

This does make us wonder about how one’s body adjusts to the change when it’s race day, given that the rule of thumb is not to try something new on race day. But if we’ve learned anything as runners, it’s that what works for you might not work for us. And if we listen to our bodies, we’ll have a greater chance for success.