There is often a debate about whether we can/should run on an empty stomach. Questions also arise about when and during which workouts it is not bad to run on an empty stomach and what are the benefits of doing so?

What I will say with certainty is that the three mandatory workouts of each microcycle in the proposed plan must be performed to the letter. I will also mention that they have one common characteristic, they are demanding workouts. Generally, in interval workouts, in fartlek workouts and in tempo workouts, we run at paces where lactic acid metabolism is carried out to a lesser extent than its production, and in long distance workouts we run for a long time at the point of equilibrium between lactic acid metabolism and its production. Therefore, we must run at specific paces which, in combination with the time of activity and the breaks, are not very comfortable and to be performed correctly, it is required:

• to rest our bodies as much as our training plan allows.
• Our energy levels to be high.

So to keep our energy levels high we should not deprive ourselves of food.

Possibly, food deprivation could occur during all or some of the remaining workouts. These workouts are not as energy-demanding and if we were to run fasted, it would be done with the aim of losing weight and reducing body fat.

The above also does not find me in agreement. If we want to lose weight and reduce the percentage of fat, I believe that the most correct way is to increase the weekly kilometers in combination with a proper targeted diet so that it does not negatively affect our performance in training. The increase in the weekly kilometer volume is achieved to a certain extent with the passage of time during the training plan. We observe that there is an increase in kilometers from the period of basic preparation to the special training/competition period based on the plan. We can add other kilometers by increasing the kilometers in optional training, but if the body can withstand it and it is not at the expense of mandatory training.

Finally, in the event that we cannot apply what is written in the previous paragraph, for the best final result, which is achieving the optimal finishing time, it is preferable to be a little heavier in the race than to deprive ourselves of food in order to lose body weight and not have the workouts take place at the indicated times.