You want to go for a run, but you don't want to go for a run on an empty stomach.
There are a couple snacks you can have about an hour-two hours before your run, so you
don't have too much food in your stomach, but you don't have to start your run famished.
A couple of hours before your run, maybe you can have a couple of waffles with some peanut
butter, maybe a yogurt.
How about some carrots with some cheese or maybe a banana with some peanut butter.
But try have these solid foods about 60-90 minutes, two hours before your run, so you
don't have too much food in your system.
That could also cause a cramp.
During your run; if you're running for about 45 minutes to an hour or longer; you do want
to start take in calories so that you're fueling you run, so that you can go longer.
There's sport nutrition available today in goo packets, maybe even chomps or gels.
Visit your local running store and they can help educate you on proper nutrition.
After your run you want to make you're getting quality carbohydrates, and some lean protein
to repair the damage that you've just done, in the workout that you had.
Maybe you can get some oatmeal with a little bit of yogurt.
Maybe you want to have some brown rice with some lean fish, some tuna, some salmon.
Maybe a bowl of cereal, a glass of chocolate milk is a good option.
But after your run, if you've had a long run, you can have your big meal.
But about two to three hours later, make sure you're going back to your daily intake.
On the day of your long run make sure you have a nice big meal, to replenish all the
fuel that you just burned.
But after that one meal, make sure you're going back to your regular-sized meal throughout
the day, so that you're not taking in more calories than your body needs.