What to eat before a run (and what to avoid) | Veloforte (2024)

We’ve all had those long runs where a lack of energy makes every step feel like wading through treacle, or gone to a track session after a big meal and been too sluggish to hit any target paces. The fact is, fuelling correctly pre-run can be the difference between a run to feel proud of and a run you’d rather forget. And when you’re putting in the training hours, the last thing you want to do is scupper all your hard work with poor nutrition.

Getting your pre-run fuelling right, working out what to eat before running — and when to eat it — takes trial and error. What works for one runner might cause cramps for another. But there are a few common guidelines you can follow. Here’s everything you need to know about pre-run nutrition, so you can push for optimum performance.

Top 5 tips on what to eat before a run and what to avoid

1. Don’t Cut Carbs

Carbohydrates are the body’s primary energy source. They’re broken down into glucose in the bloodstream and stored as glycogen in the liver and muscles, which our body then uses to fuel activities such as running. It makes sense then that runners usually need slightly more carbs than the average person.

The British Nutrition Foundation recommends those exercising between five and seven hours a week should aim for 5-6g of carbohydrates per kilogram of body weight daily. So if you weigh in at 11 stone, just under 70kg, that’s 350-420g of healthy carbs a day. To give you an idea of what that means in real food, a medium serving of pasta has 76g of carbs and wholegrain rice, 53g.

Carbohydrates are best digested when they’re spread out throughout the day, so try to eat some form of complex carbs with most meals. Complex carbs, found in whole grain foods such as brown rice, beans, potatoes and vegetables, take longer to break down in the body than simple carbs and are a great source of slow-release energy. Ideally, these should be eaten two to three hours before a run to give your body time to digest.

For a quicker energy hit, reach for the simple carbs. Simple carbs are broken down in the body quickly so you get a faster energy release. A banana or Veloforte energy bar with natural dried fruits is the ideal snack around an hour before a run.

If you’re prone to digestive discomfort, avoiding anything too spicy may save you searching desperately for a bush mid-run. Capsaicin, which is found in chillies and spices like cayenne may help to improve digestion by increasing the amount of digestive fluids in your stomach, but can be an irritant to the body (think how much it burns when you get chilli in your eye!) and can aggravate the stomach lining causing diarrhoea if you are not used to eating them regularly.Stick to foods you enjoy and know pre race day to avoid any unpleasant surprises.

Too much fibre too close to a run can also have unwanted effects. Fibrous foods such as whole grains, fruit and veg are generally healthy and leave you feeling fuller but they can also make you need the loo. Try to eat 2 - 4 hours before the start of any long run or race to allow your body to digest properly. If you don’t have much time, then opt for a lower fibre meal like greek yoghurt, honey and red berries or a banana.

5. Make sure you hydrate

Running when you’re not adequately hydrated makes everything seem much tougher, you fatigue more easily, are prone to muscle cramps, can feel faint or dizzy and your heart has to work harder to pump blood around your body. Not good.

The NHS recommends drinking around 1.2 litres of water a day but if you’re exercising, it’s hot or you’re a big sweater, you may find you need more. To ensure you’re well hydrated try and drink fluids at regular intervals throughout the week – downing a big bottle of water just hours before your run won’t make up for poor hydration in the previous days, it’ll just be flushed out by your kidneys and mean added loo stops. Take some water with you on your runs as well and drink to thirst.

Image by Veloforte

While some iron-stomached runners might be able to head out running after eating a Sunday roast with no ill effects, most of us need slightly longer to digest. If you’re eating a big pre-workout meal you should aim to do this 2 - 4 hours before you lace up to give your body time to break it down. For lighter meals, such as your lunchtime sandwich, you’ll probably find two hours is long enough.

If you need an energy boost between your last meal and your run, or you want to eat something light before an early morning jog, try a healthy small snack containing simple carbs for energy one hour to 30 minutes before you lace up. Half a Veloforte energy bar is a great option — save the rest for afterwards — or a couple of our soft and squishy, all natural energy chews.

Easy run, up to 60 minutes

Image by Veloforte with @drbeccasalmon (IG)

Runs over 60 minutes

If you’re running long distances you may find your energy levels begin to dip as your glycogen stores deplete. Avoid the wall – that bonking feeling when your glycogen stores are zapped and there’s nothing left in the tank – by fuelling your run with a pre-run snack or a small, easily digestible meal that contains around 30g of carbohydrate. A sweet potato and tuna, porridge with nut butter, a bagel and hummus are all good. Or a Veloforte Avanti bar, which contains 40g of dual-source carbs and some helpful natural electrolytes.

Early morning runs

If you like to get your run out of the way first thing, you’ll be familiar with the breakfast dilemma. Get up early and have breakfast or enjoy an extra hour in bed? If you’re going out for less than an hour, go ahead and keep hitting snooze, your body should have enough stored glycogen to get you through on an empty stomach.

If you’re heading out on a long run you’re going to benefit from putting something easily digestible in the tank. If you can’t bear to get up an hour earlier to eat some porridge or a bagel for breakfast before you lace up, try a Veloforte energy bar to give you some quickly absorbed energy and top it up on the run with the fuel that works best for you mid-run. If you find you’re in need of a caffeine boost on an early morning run, our Doppio and Desto energy gels deliver 75mg of natural caffeine as well as energy-boosting carbs.

Image by Dan Francis @bydanfrancis (IG)

Now that you’ve got your pre-run nutrition sorted you might also want to think about what you should be eating afterwards? And here are three simple steps to good post-run fuelling.

Make it timely: Aim to eat something within 30 minutes of a long run or hard session to keep your blood sugar levels stable and kickstart the recovery process.

Eat protein and carbs: Eat foods that are high in carbs to replenish your glycogen stores and combine with protein to help your muscles repair and recover. Some good options would be yoghurt with fruit and nuts, a wholemeal bagel with peanut butter, a shake such as Veloforte’s Vita or Nova Recovery Shake or a natural food bar such as Veloforte's Forza orMocha Protein bar both of which have the ideal ratio of Carbohydrate to Protein for recovery, 3:1.

Replace your salts: If you’ve been working out in hot weather or sweating excessively you may need to replace some of the sodium you’ve lost. Try the Veloforte electrolyte sachets which contain sodium to help prevent cramps and stimulate your thirst so you rehydrate fully.

Your window to take on more protein to help repair and rebuild healthy muscle mass is a little longer. Within 2 - 4 hours, aim to refuel with a balanced meal of lean protein, slow release carbohydrates and plenty of colourful veggies. Real food performs best!

Why Veloforte?

Image by Veloforte