Eating breakfast too late, not hungry for lunch

[ExAstrisScientia]

I know there are several threads on this forum in which people ask about meal timing, and I have read through them, but haven't found the answer to my particular problem (perhaps it does indeed exist but is proving elusive).  

 

My workout schedule is variable, depending on my partner's and kids' schedules.  My partner is an airline pilot, and is away from home 4-5 days per week.  On days when he IS home, I wake up and get my yoga and run in early... usually I'll be finished with yoga and out the door for my run between 6 and 6:30.  On those days, depending on the mileage (I am marathon training, so this also varies), I come home and have my post-WO protein (and sometimes starch if it was a particular long or hard run), shower, and then have breakfast.  Usually I'll be eating sometime between 8 and 9, earlier if my mileage was shorter.  Then I am generally hungry again for lunch around 12:30, sometimes 1, which is perfect because then I have dinner around 5:30.  I go to bed at 9pm and really do not like eating past 6 for digestive purposes.  So, that's all nice, right?

 

However, on days when my partner is gone, I have to take my two kids along with me, which means hauling them to the track near our house.  On these days, we don't get out the door until 7 or 7:30.  I can't really push it earlier because of their own sleeping schedules, and I've even started packing them a breakfast to eat on the go to save time (and they love the novelty of this), but 7am is the earliest I can expect to leave.  So, on a day like today, I ran 6 miles, which took me about an hour.  I brought my post-run chicken breast with me and ate it in the car after I was finished, and by the time we got home it was about 8:30.  I started cooking my breakfast right away, but held off eating it for about 20 minutes so my protein could digest... so now it's pushing 9am by the time I sit down to eat.  

 

Because of that, I still wasn't hungry for lunch at 1, but ended up making myself eat a small portion of the lunch I had planned (two salmon cakes, a little bit of slaw, a nectarine, tall glass of water).  Hopefully I'll be hungry for dinner at the regular time.

 

What's the best solution for those situations?  Just eat a small lunch?  Or eat when I'm hungry, which means having lunch/M2 at... 2pm, or 3?  Then what about dinner?  I don't want to short change myself for food, considering my training, but this timing stinks!

 

Suggestions welcome and appreciated

[jmcbn]

So you ate your postWO around 8am,right?

It would be fine to have breakfast @ 8:30 if you could have something at home already prepared..... Failing that I'd make either breakfast or lunch to the small end of the template if you're not comfortable eating dinner any later. 

[ExAstrisScientia]

It was around 8:15 after wrapping things up at the track with my kids and getting back to the car.  Close enough.  I ate a pretty decently sized breakfast because I felt quite hungry (I did sprint intervals today and that always makes me ravenous), and went with a small lunch.  No problem doing that, but like I said, I just worry about missing out on calories over time.  I'm sure I'll get it sorted if I pay attention to my body, but the variable schedule frustrates me.

 

A week ago, I did try to eat breakfast first thing in the morning, wait a little while, and then run... I tried that once, and never will again, because I thought I was going to throw up.  And I waited 2 hours after eating.  I just run better before breakfast.

 

As for my long run days, I've no clue what to do about that - sticking to meal template/frequency - when I'm out there for hours at a time and it eats into my day.

[jmcbn]

Yeah, I'd probably opt for the bigger breakfast & smaller lunch too - morning sessions always have me ravenous! You can always eat to the higher end of the template at dinner too so you're not short changing yourself on fuel over the course of the day.

And no, eating pre-run has never been an option for me either....   

I assume you're having to factor long runs into your 'late' days? How long are we talking...?

[ExAstrisScientia]

Last week I did "almost 13" (it was supposed to be 12, ended up 12.75 because of my route)... I left at 6am, and it took me 2.5 hours (my LR's are rather slow, around 11 min/mile, but last week was even slower because I was recovering from my low-carbing).  Had my post-run chicken as soon as I walked in the door, showered, dressed, dealt with kid stuff, and wasn't eating until around 9:30.  I'm also a slow eater, so by the time I was actually finished it was close to 10.  That particular day, we went to see Star Trek (aw yes) and grabbed Chipotle before the show (ate around 12:30).  I had the compliant carnitas bowl with pico and guac, and was only able to finish about 2/3 of it.  I felt completely fine and satisfied until dinner, which was about 6pm, and I ate a typical portion of dinner.

 

So, to answer your question, the LR's range from 10-20+ miles, and can take anywhere from an hour and a half (manageable) to 4+ hours (yikes!)

[jmcbn]

Four hours, huh? That's kind of my ideal of hell......     

Long runs really aren't my thing, but one of the other mods here does endurance runs and keeps a blog which should give you plenty of info on how to fuel for those. On those days it's going to be tough to get all the meals in but you can 'pre-load' with starches the day before which will help.

Here's a link to her blog for you to take a look:

 

http://ultrarunnergirl.blogspot.co.uk/p/blog-page.html

 

[ExAstrisScientia]

Thanks!  I've enjoyed picking ultrarunnergirl's blog for fueling tips already... I'd love to run ultras one day so she's an inspiration!  

 

I think I'm just gonna have to do what I can do on LR days and make up for the calories the day after.  I already did that pre-W30 anyway because sometimes the long runs would kill my appetite for half a day or longer, so I'd only end up eating 1-2 "real" meals, but I'd wake up the next day ready to eat an elephant