pre-run food is genuinely the thing I got wrong for ages

Right so I used to just… not eat before morning runs. Like I thought I was being disciplined or something but I was basically running on fumes and then wondering why my splits were all over the place by km 8. Took me embarrassingly long to sort this out tbh. Now I eat something small about 45 mins before — usually half a banana and a bit of oat something, nothing complicated. And I have my matcha before that kicks in, which honestly just gets me mentally into it more than anything else. The big thing for me was realising it doesn't have to be a whole meal, it just has to be enough. Since doing marathon prep my long runs are 18k+ so going out empty is just not an option anymore. My energy through the second half is genuinely different now. Not dramatically, just… steady. No horrible wall at km 14 like I used to hit. Aye it took a bit of trial and error to figure out what my stomach actually tolerates that early in the morning — learned the hard way that a full bowl of porridge before a tempo run is a terrible idea lol. But once you find what works for you it's kind of a non-negotiable.