Having the right amount of energy to run

There are many things that are a good idea to do before going for a run: dynamic stretching, making sure you're dressed appropriately, ensuring you’re well hydrated, going to the bathroom, telling someone where you're going (as well as when you’ll be back) and making sure your phone battery is charged - these are all excellent things to do.

Eating a large plate of fish and chips an hour before running is not an excellent thing to do.

Oh the pain.

I remember the growling. It came from somewhere deep within my abdomen, bubbling and churning like a cauldron as I ran up a particularly steep hill, scanning for a gap in the bushes if the worst came to the worst. Mercifully, the cramps disappeared and I did not need to disgrace myself in public.

So what should you eat before running?

It probably depends on how long you’re running for. Personally, I found if I was running for approximately 30 to 40 minutes (or less) I could get away with eating a banana 15 minutes before the start of the run, but if I was planning to run for a lot longer than this - say 50 minutes to 2 hours - then I needed some kind of meal an hour or so beforehand.

After a bit of research, I found that anything with a high fat content is a NO before a run (which would explain the cramps previously mentioned) as it’s hard to digest. What ended up working for me were things along the lines of: a bowl of cereal, a small plate of pasta with tomatoes and rocket lettuce, or perhaps a ham salad sandwich. After a run I always made sure I stocked up on protein to aid muscle recovery, either by eating a meal with chicken or Quorn or by drinking a protein shake.

I also found I needed to take in extra fuel during longer runs (over 50 minutes). This became a bit of trial and error. I started with Lucozade, which worked quite well if I took little sips frequently throughout the run. Unfortunately my water bottle had a habit of leaking, resulting in some of the Lucozade dribbling out and leaving me with an orange hand. This made me wonder what it was doing to the inside of my body and I decided to move on to something with a bit more nutritional value. I gave High 5 energy gels a try, but found the intense sugar experience to be absolutely vile. I also managed to cut the inside of my mouth during a run, whilst attempting to tear off the little tab at the end of the sachet to open it.

After more research, I discovered energy gels can be diluted in water - result! For long runs, I now work out how many sachets I will need, based on one every half hour, squeeze them into my 500ml running bottle and top up the bottle with water. I sipped this frequently during the Glasgow half marathon and didn’t feel my energy levels dip once.

I’ve also found that there are many other ways that runners can take in energy, such as raisins, pretzels and apparently mashed sweet potato, although I’m not quite sure about the practicality of stuffing mashed sweet potato into my running belt. I’ve taken raisins with me on a couple of occasions, however, which are not too bulky and have found them to be quite nice to nibble on as I run.

Whatever I do choose to consume prior to a run, or during it, I try to make sure there are some carbs in there and keep it low in fat. And if I'm doing a race I don't try anything new that I haven't tested during training. Finally, I've realised that it's probably best to save the fish and chips for after the run, safe in the knowledge that I won't have to dive into any bushes.