Running early morning - what to eat?

Sometimes I just have a few oz of OJ. That gives me a nice morning kick. Or a small banana.

I tend not to eat anything before a run, especially if it's a shorter run for me (something less than 6 miles). It just ends up making me feel worse rather than better.

I read from an article that someone suggested eating a bowl of cereal the night before, before bedtime if you're lagging early in the morning but aren't feeling hungry.

Depends on the day and length of the run but I like to have a banana and water before I head out if I'm going to eat. Or a tbsp of PB.

I'm another glass of water and out the door for days when the run is 5 to 8km (you have plenty of glycogen stored from the day before), for longer runs I'll have some OJ and a banana and normally on Sundays when I'm doing my LSD I'll eat breakfast (peanut butter on whole wheat toast, yogurt & banana) a couple of hours before heading out for the run.

3-5 miles I would just grab some water and go. But depends what your main goal is, no food approach is if you want some extra fat burning

For easy pace runs of any length I usually don't eat anything. For a fast paced run I do better if I eat a bowl of cereal an hour or two before. Sometimes I eat before a long run and sometimes not (depending on if I get up early enough.

I don't eat anything before an early run, but if it's going to be 5 miles or longer I take hydrated chia seeds for fuel along the run. They are very bland and don't upset my stomach. I do 2 Tbl chia seeds per 8 oz water and it forms a gel.

I only eat before a training run (one of my standard week day runs) if it's greater than 10 miles. In those instances I usually have half a banana or half a bagel about 20 mins before leaving the house. For runs less than 10 miles I run on empty (wake, dressed, drink some water, get out).

But for races (which typically start at 10 am I would eat a more substantial breakfast (at my normal getting up time) and maybe a banana 45 mins before the run.

Like you, I feel faster and feel that I run better when I've eaten, but because of the above my fueled runs are typically events where I may have cut back my running for a few days before. So, it's impossible to say whether feeling better is due to the increased food, the rest or just the fact that I'm at an event.

What I can say though is that I tend to run a little quicker during my fueled/rested races (about 10 mins over a half marathon) and that although I sometimes feel that my empty runs are a chore they have not hampered my progression or training for a marathon and several half marathon races.

Best wishes.

everyone is different. I usually have a "midnight snack" between 12 and 2am and I go to the gym at 6am--run 6-10 miles and I'm good until I get home.

On weekends when I go to the gym at 9:30 i eat when i wake up (350 calories of mostly unrefined carbs) and then ~1.5-2 hours later I'm in the gym.

You have to go by how YOU feel.

I second this. We're all different. If you feel like you run better after eating something, then eat something light.

For 3-5 miles first thing in the morning I don't eat anything. I'll usually have a few jelly beans at the 30 minute mark, but that's it.