If there is one thing that I’ve learned in my transition from student (which I have been for a large portion of my life) to working professional, it’s that what I’ve been told all along is right: “No matter how busy your life seems now (as a student), you have the most free time and flexibility that you will ever have in your life (aside from retirement possibly)”. And that is why I got some of the best training done as a graduate student. I could always count on free time during the day to get a distance run in or a track workout. Now that I work full time hours (and then some) at the Georgia Tech Athletic Association, it seems as if I have to plan ahead and figure out when there will be time to run the next day. There are many times when I have to resort to early morning hours; a time of day that I never imagined I would have to face, moreless head out the door for a run in it. But the interesting thing is that I never complete one of these early morning runs without passing by several other fellow runners or running groups out getting their mileage in before the rest of the world wakes up. That says a lot about the kind of people runners are – self-disciplined, dedicated, hard working, and maybe even a little odd!!

For those of you who are early morning runners, I imagine that proper nutrition is probably one of the last things on your mind. And I bet it is a pretty safe assumption that many runners embark on these early morning runs without having had anything to eat yet. A meal or snack may be difficult to work in, without having to get up even earlier than you already do, but there are some good reasons why it’s best to not “run on empty” that you might want to consider.

The endocrine system (hormones) has several responses to stress placed on the body. Running, one such stress, causes this system to secrete various hormones that are responsible for making sure that fuel is available for working muscles. The concentrations of epinephrine, glucagon, cortisol, and growth hormone all increase while insulin decreases in order to maintain a stable level of blood glucose. They do so by mobilizing non-carbohydrate fuel sources such as amino acids or fatty acids. This mechanism is critical in delaying the onset of fatigue. However, when blood glucose is already low (like after an overnight fast), the concentrations of these hormones increase quicker, depleting our body of fuel stores earlier. The ingestion of carbohydrates immediately before the start of a morning run will prevent the rapid increase of these regulatory hormones, also delaying the onset of fatigue.

There is another notable reason for including a pre-run snack before those early morning runs. Cortisol, one of the hormones mentioned above, is a very catabolic hormone. This means that it has a “breaking down” effect on body tissues. As cortisol concentrations increase naturally through exercise, there needs to be enough circulating carbohydrate in our system to keep these levels “in check”. If not, the end result could be that our bodies are left more susceptible to injuries. Any time tissues are being broken down, they are much more vulnerable to becoming injured. Cortisol can have the same damaging affect to our immune system, making us more susceptible to various infections.

This logic applies to you, no matter what time of day it is when you typically do your running. Any time you head out the door for a run, be sure that it hasn’t been too long without some sort of meal or snack. You might try a small bowl of cereal, half of an energy bar, a cup of sports drink and a handful of animal crackers, or maybe a small bagel. By doing so, you will increase the likelihood of a “feel good” run and you will decrease your susceptibility to running related injuries.