The 6 AM crowd at the club splits into two camps: those who cannot run without breakfast and those who cannot run with one. Both are right, for their own runs. The deciding factors are distance, intensity and what your stomach tolerates before sunrise.

For an easy run under an hour, most people can head out on water alone. Your body stores enough glycogen from the night before to cover a relaxed effort. Just drink a glass of water first, since you wake up mildly dehydrated whether you feel it or not.

When food becomes non-negotiable

Anything longer than an hour, or anything fast, deserves fuel. Keep it small and simple: half a banana, a slice of toast with honey, a few dates. Give yourself twenty to thirty minutes between eating and starting, and avoid fat and fiber before hard efforts, because they digest slowly and announce themselves mid-run.

Afterward, eat a real breakfast within an hour. Protein and carbohydrates together help you recover and stop the late-morning crash. Experiment on training days, write down what worked, and never test a new pre-run meal for the first time on race morning.