I have to have something on my stomach on any run over 6 miles. It took me a while to find friendly food. Now, a handful of animal crackers is all it takes. 70 little calories to keep me from felling icky. On runs over 12 I go to a Cliff bar, the oatmeal walnut raisin is safe for me. It takes a lot of experimentation to figure it out. Good luck.

Quality of runs depends on a lot of factors. Hydration (important even on the dreadmill), what you have eaten and when in relation to when you are running and rest. At least those are primary.
The change to an earlier run makes me ask if you are eating in themorning before you run? If not, try a bagel and some peanut butter about 15-20 minutes before you run.
You made need a glucose tolerance test if it continues. I am hypoglycemic and nutrtion is a huge deal for me. If I dont eat the right foods at the right time, I'll crash. For instance I cannot eat pancakes or waffles unless I have a big helping of protein with them. Not that I need pancakes or waffles!

Saturday's pre-work are earlier, definitely. I'm in around 5:30-6, when weekdays it's more like 6:45. Non-work Saturdays are more like 8:30 or 9. I work out on nothing, except my pre-workout stuff that consists of about 50 calories total. I've never had luck with any foods I've tried pre-run, unless I've got a good 3+ hours before I go out. I'll cramp up within two miles. When I did the TM, I got up at 5 just so I could have a bagel and pb and still have 4 hours of digestion time to work with. If I'm doing an after work run, (5:30ish) I can't have much of anything after 2.

I picked up some of the Gatoraid pre-workout gummy chew things, I'm going to give them a try before my next long run to see how they go. 100 calories, 24 carbs, 16 sugars per serving, not sure if I'll go for the full thing or maybe half. Doing a 5k this weekend, so I guess testing will be delayed for a bit. Not sure what running I'll be doing over the honeymoon either

Jen or TJ, what do you think about Honey Stingers or GU for Matt as a pre-run solution? I really dont like GU at all, but it does work.
Your symptoms sound like a hypoglycemic episode. You dont have to be hypoglycemic for these to occur, you simply have to deplete your body. Sounds like what is happening. You can add sugar, but it will burn too fast. A slow burning carb is best, but sounds like you have a slower digestive system and metobolic rate.
Straight honey is a great energy boost, but it wont last 10 miles.

I'd vote for the animal crackers (seriously 6-7 crackers is enough) or a single packet of instant oatmeal. Both are cheap if they dont work. I prefer them to Honey Stingers or GU. I only do those on the 16+ mile runs and not before the run, only during.

Well, I will abide by the wisdom of Jen and give it a try. I've done packets of honey in the past (as in a decade ago when I was running 12-15 miles a day), that seemed to work alright, but definitely not sustained energy.

What will prevent me from just sitting down with the bag of crackers and eating them all though?

Running outside will take some adjusting. I got the Runkeeper app and am using it to help with my pacing. I seem to default to an 8:30 or so pace when I'm outside, though I usually go slower than that on the treadmill. Okay on shorter runs, but definitely can't sustain that on more than 4 at this point. This week started my half-marathon training, have a couple I'm looking at in October, so really want to spend as much of my time outdoor as possible. Need to sit down and figure out some nearby hills I can train on, but have shorter/longer distance runs all figured out.

::like::

Yes, thank you for the recommendation . When I'm ahead of my selected pace, I feel like she's a little snobby in the way she informs me...but I can deal with it. I'd prefer if it gave me updates at the mile marks vs. every 5 minutes maybe, but I've not messed with the settings enough to be sure I can't change that. Hearing from her every 5 mins during a 1-2 hour run might get a bit annoying.

Yes, she can give audio cues by distance as well. When I run outside I set it to alert me at every mile. I think the other choices are all shorter than that.

Can I program in random motivational phrases? What about sound effects? If I can get some crazy roaring t-rex sounds in there set to go off when I have a mile or so left, that would be very helpful!

Is she kin to Garmin? That woman soooo annoys me!

One more expensive woman, telling me what to do and how to do it...... Oh well, whats one more!

This one's free! (ignoring the cost of the phone and the plan of course)

Matt- I drank the Gatorade Prime before my runs while training for the marathon. They tasted aweful but they worked for my tummy. I would eat a ceral bar and then have the Prime while I was driving to meet my running group.

I think I've tried one before, just out of curiosity. I think I'm relatively safe with liquid stuff, as long as it's not too much. What I take now is mixed with about 6 oz of water, and I take that just fine.

i've used both Gu and Powerbar Gel during, but that is for riding rather than running. If a long ride, PB and raisin sandwich is great fuel. Honestly though, I can eat just about anything and go out and run or ride, but I finally got smart and decided that a PB sandwich is better for fuel than cold pizza (although cold pizza is awesome!!!).


Lara Bars and powerbars during long runs back before I quit long runs...

I can eat about anything on a long bike ride. A run is a totally different story.

On my last long ride I had: lots of powerade, a snack sized bag of trail mix, 3 vanilla sandwich cookies, 4? apple slices with a lot peanut butter.

If I had done that on a run it all would have came back up.

you just need to train your body to be able to eat and run as well...i used to not be able to eat for 3 hours before...now I could eat a 4 course meal in the middle of a run...

Sometimes I chug like 4oz of milk if my stomach is growling before a run. But I don't go as far as y'all.

"Milk was a bad choice!" I definitely couldn't do that! Especially if it was anything but skim. Plus it's rough on your vocal cords, so singing during your run will result in a dramatic decrease in the quality of your output! Just looking out for you

Pre-race Saturday, I'm going to slam two Red Bulls and a few pancakes and bacon (there's a pancake breakfast going on, but not until after the race so I'll just have to go to McDonalds!) just to see how it goes. Couldn't possibly be a bad idea, right?

Pancakes (aided by syrup) just burn too fast for me. I love them, but they are a lousy prerun meal for me. Everybody has what works for them, just as Jen has described hers and I have my bagel. I really think what has messed you up is running in the morning and you havent had food since the night before. FInd something you can tolerate or even take as you run. Honey, animal crackers, etc.

I think I'll be fine on anything under 5, depending on what I'm doing. If I'm doing speed or hills...I might try something small anyway. The last time I was doing anything this regimented, it was back in high school and the runs were all in the afternoon, so fuel was never an issue. My metabolism was also much quicker than it is now.

I guess I'll just have to wake up a bit earlier and test things. I'm a fan of waking up and being on the run 10 minutes later

How the heck do you warm up your muscles sufficiently by doing that...that sounds like an accident waiting to happend to me! (no runner, but I know what it does to me to jump out of bed and go sling hay bales or feed sacks before properly warming up!!!

He is young. I could that when I was only 40....

I am the same way. I am up and on the treadmill 10-15 minutes later. I do spend a few mintues stretching beforehand. And I walk about a quarter mile before actually beginning my run. Running is like my coffee in the morning.