I don’t even know what the distance is. Maybe ten miles. On most runs, I don’t bring food. Outside of summertime, I don’t even bring water. But I think probably at that ten mile mark, both become necessary for positive outcomes.

And unlike on the bike, where multiple hours of exertion of fairly normal, heavier fare, like energy bars, don’t give me what I need. I prefer to stoke the fire with little bits of calorie, like goos and chews. In fact, if I know I’m going 10+, what I think works best is to start eating around mile 5, just a few chews at a time, and then, once the finish is just 2-3 miles off, get a bigger blast of sugar/caffeine into the system.

I don’t have a lot of experience at even longer distances. I think the strategy needs to shift again for those big, big efforts. Maybe you’d want to introduce some real food (egads) at ten miles, because you’re going to burn through all that easy calorie, the sugar suspensions and quick burn fuel, and you’ll want to give your stomach more substantial sustenance.

But I defer to you.

What do you eat when you run? How do you carry it? When do you start eating? And how well does your stomach tolerate on-the-go nutrition? Am I missing a trick? I usually am.