Becky is a 68-year-old woman in my 7am strength training class.

We started training about the same time and we seemed to be pretty matched in what we could lift.

One day, we started chatting about nutrition.

"Oh, I never eat before I come here," Becky said. "It's too early and I'm just not hungry."

(I bet you know where this is going.)

Of course, I had to offer my unsolicited advice. I told Becky that she really should try eating a little something before working out.

"Why?" she asked.

Fasting is a form of stress, I said, and when combined with the stress of running or lifting, your body will use every trick it has to slow you down and conserve energy.

Not only will your performance on today's run or workout suffer, but you will slow down the recovery process, which can even affect your training the next day.

Cortisol, one of our stress hormones, will remain higher after a fasted run which signals your body to conserve fat and even burn muscle.

Becky decided to try it and proudly tells me every day what she had for breakfast.

And you know what?

Becky is now lifting far more than I can, despite being nearly 20 years older.

Is it the breakfast that's doing it? We can't say for sure, but it's certainly helping.

Need some pre-run snack ideas? I've got you.

yum, yum (5 minutes)

Make those long, cold runs more fun with audio books! Special offer just for Planted Runners! Just $0.99/month for the first 3 months Limited time offer. Auto-renews at $14.95 a month after 3 months. Cancel anytime. Offer ends December 16, 2025. save today →

ask me anything

Q:

I'm getting stressed out about my heart rate when I run! I feel like I'm running easy, but then I look at my heart rate and it's too high. Then I think it's rising even more because I'm worried about it. How can I get it lower when I run so I can stop wasting my training?

A:

Here's a quick solution: hide your heart rate on your watch. ❤️

You can keep the data and look at it after your run, but remove the HR on your watch view so you can't see it while you are running.

Heart rate readings can be helpful in a few situations, but if you are so focused on getting your watch to read some magic number, this is not helping you.

HR data is great for spotting trends. For example, if your normal, easy runs are 140 and then they are at 170 for the next few days, there could be an issue with your heart. This is rare, but HR data has saved lives by prompting worried runners to see the doctor.

Another great use of HR data is your resting heart rate. If your HR is low in the morning before you get out of bed, this can indicate increasing fitness.

But using HR data during the a run can be problematic. Here's why:

• there is no universal heart rate range so what's easy for you might be wildly high for someone else
• wrist-based HR monitors are not accurate and can pick up your cadence instead of your heart beats
• HR is a lagging indicator so it tells you more about what you just ran instead of what you are running now
• HR is massively affected by weather, stress, sleep, caffeine, temperature, diet, illness, genetics, and your zodiac sign (okay, the last one, maybe not, but you get my point!)

A better solution to understand if you are truly running easy is to get to know your breathing.

If you are hufffing and puffing and only able to say a sentence, that is not easy. If you can talk as easily as walking, that's perfect.

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podcast

The PR Training Lab is back! Go behind the scenes with me as I create a custom training plan for one lucky runner.

In this episode, we feature Leigh who has a unique goal:

🏃🏽‍♀️47 years old

🏃🏿training for 50 marathons in 50 states

🏃🏼‍♀️3-5 races a year at “party pace”

Learn how I create a custom marathon training plan for Leigh and how it differs from a performance-based plan.

Don't forget: if you’d like to enter to win a free training plan created live on the show, write an A​pple Podcast Review​ and then go to theplantedrunner.com/prlab​

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inspo

"Motivation often increases after you begin. The lesson is not to wish you had more motivation, but to make starting as easy as possible."

— James Clear

Have a great run today, Coach Claire

P.S. Black Friday is coming! I've never done this before, but I'm planning a special deal just for my favorite runners this year. If you want to get on the VIP list and find out first, just click here.​

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