Time restricted eating and marathon training

Hi all
I've only run 2 marathons, Athens 2016 (4:13) and Antwerp 2018 (3:44) and I'm running Amsterdam in October. My ultimate goal is to get to a BQ time (sub 3). Currently following Floris Gierman's free pdf guide.

I always run on an empty stomach as my runs are before work at 5:30am generally and finish anywhere between 06:00 and 08:00am.

I'm interested in time restricted eating with an 8 hour feeding window.

Question: must I eat and therefore break my fast within a 30 minute window of my run i.e. eat at 8:00am and fast from 16:00....or postpone eating until 11:00am so I can eat until my usual time of 19:00 (2 hours before bed)?

Any advice appreciated!

All the best 


    Why do you want to do time restricted eating?
  • Health benefits. Also supposedly beneficial for endurance athletes.

    The Phil Maffetone/Tim Noakes high fat low carb makes me feel 100% better...this is just an additional tweak.
  • HA77HA77 ✭✭✭

    I really don't think you're going to get any performance benefits. I certainly wouldn't be waiting for 3 hours to eat after running, particularly after a long run or hard session.

    Sounds like a bit of a risky diet to me. You could easily end up affecting your ability to run a good session in the morning if you haven't got things right the previous day.

  • I'm definitely more inclined to finish eating earlier. So straight after run until about 16:00. 

    Listening to Joe Rogan, Tim Ferriss and Rhonda Patrick podcasts...it just sounds like a worthwhile experiment but was hoping someone out there was already successfully doing something similar.
  • HA77HA77 ✭✭✭
    I don't think people have done it because it's not really optimal for marathon training. I think it's much more important to focus your mental energy on your training, sleep and general diet. Avoiding snacking in front of the telly in the evening is probably a good thing but to putting a strict window on your eating seems silly.
    I agree with HA77.   Don't eat rubbish food and unnecessary snacks.  Eat within 20 minutes of finishing training and make sure you eat well the night before so you get the best out of your training in the morning.  Eat as varied a diet as you can to maximise your intake of vitamins and minerals.

    I've never heard of Joe Rogan, Tim Ferriss and Rhonda Patrick, although I just googled Tim Ferriss and can't believe anyone would take any notice of that stuff, self help gurus just make a lot of money out of gullible folk.
  • Self experiment. Perhaps finish your last meal by 1800, and have breakfast at say 1000. I don’t follow the ’golden window’ of 30 minutes post run any more, and have only noticed benefits. That said, why not be flexible? Perhaps wait for a later first meal on easy and recovery days, but have a slightly earlier one after very long or intense runs. Keep a diary of how you feel on a daily and weekly basis and see what works for you. Good luck and keep us posted. 
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