The FastDay Forum

hello

On a fast day today, feeling good, went for a jog at mid day and literally ground to a halt after 30 mins. I hadn't had anything to eat for breakfast - lots of fluids of course- but haven't felt this before. I have exercised on fast days previously with no problem. My OH says I should have a fluid electrolyte drink before I go in future. I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced this ? Any help to prevent this happening again would be great cos I felt horrid.

It sounds as though you ran out of muscle glycogen and did not get much benefit, if any, from burning fat - cyclists/marathon runners call this 'bonking' and it is just like hitting a brick wall. For my money, it was going out at lunchtime that might have been the problem, there would have been more muscle glycogen available in the early morning to support jogging for an hour or so. With time you should become better adapted to fat burning and be able to run for longer. Also, what time was your last meal - how long had you been without food?
Electrolyte drinks replace lost salts, how good they are at replacing them before they get lost I am not sure...

I only managed 10 minutes of running when I tried on a fast day, instead of my usual 40.

I only run on non-fast days now, but, at the risk of repeating myself on other posts, have increased stamina overall since adopting this WOE.

I would be interested, too, to hear of anything I could change which would enable me to run when I'm fasting.

I quite often have bad runs, even before starting 5:2. I also try to schedule runs on non-fast days, but even that doesn't always go well. It's never stopped me completely, I just run very slowly (even slower than usual). I enter alot of 10k races, and I never have bad runs then. It could just be adrenaline, but I do always eat a banana (and maybe more) at least an hour before start time.

I never have any problems exercising on a fast day. The morning after is the difficult one. What do you eat as your last meal the evening before?

I usually stick to something gentler such as walking on fast days. I don't mind a short swim or run the morning after a fast as I know I can eat afterwards.

I used to have this problem when cycling, which is a bit less intense than running I guess. But it really does improve over time - your muscles need to get better at burning fat, but there is still some decrease in maximum speed. It took me about 6 weeks to not "hit the wall" when riding - now I can do as much exercise on a fasting day as I like without a problem - for instance, a total of nearly 5 hours yesterday - riding, jogging, dance and intense pilates - but still might not be as intense as running.

I walk, not run, and the longest walk I have done so far on green tea and water is 16 miles. I think the fact that I eat lowish carb helps, because I am trained to "run" on fat. I appreciate that running and cycling are more intensive, so I wonder how far/long runners can go in a fasted state.

[carieoates]

This is how it goes for me.

Monday- 12k steps on a fast day, then a moderate impact aerobic/dancerscise class in the evening. This I repeat on Tuesday (without fast) Wednesday with.
Friday morning, class again on a fast day, then Saturday morning another class.
I believe that my body is used to it. If I'm getting a virus or on antihistamines (like I am at the moment) I will get tired.
So I'd just keep an eye on yourself it may be a sign.

I walk, not run, and the longest walk I have done so far on green tea and water is 16 miles. I think the fact that I eat lowish carb helps, because I am trained to "run" on fat. I appreciate that running and cycling are more intensive, so I wonder how far/long runners can go in a fasted state.

Theoretically anyway the limit on fasted-state distance (for a fat-adapted person) is the amount of fat reserves on their body whereas muscle and liver glycogen is limited to around (500 gms) 2,000 calories - approximately the 20 mile mark. My understanding (from several sources) is that there's no bonk or wall when fat-adapted though sprint speed is typically reduced.

The furthest I managed to run/jog, after a small breakfast, was 62 miles - but the last 20 were not fast!

12 hours in total, ran the first 30 without a break then stopped for half an hour to rest and drink, and stiffen up terribly. Can't remember eating, always struggled to eat whilst running and especially when really tired.