I am not a fan of fasted training. I have said it before. I will say it again. If you are an endurance athlete and you want to perform at your best, you should eat before you train. Carbohydrates are fuel. Skipping them on purpose before a session is, in most cases, leaving performance on the table for no good reason.
And yet, this morning I went for a fasted run.
A friend messaged me and asked if I wanted to go for a run. It was early. I had not eaten. My usual approach would be to have breakfast first, wait an hour, and then head out. But the window was now. He was ready now. And I wanted to go.
So I did. No food. No pre-run carbs. No banana, no toast, no nothing. Just shoes and out the door.
Why It Was the Right Call
Here is the thing. Training is not just physiology. It is also psychology. And on that particular morning, the best thing I could do for my training was say yes to a run with a friend, even if it meant breaking one of my own rules.
Because the alternative was skipping it entirely. The alternative was waiting around for the perfect conditions and then maybe not going at all. The alternative was being so rigid with my approach that I missed the opportunity to just enjoy the sport.
That matters more than people think.
Performance Is Not Everything
Triathlon is a sport that attracts perfectionists. We love data, structure, optimisation, and control. And all of those things are useful - up to a point. But when your relationship with training becomes so tight that you cannot bend a rule without feeling like you have failed, something has gone wrong. This is one of the core principles I keep coming back to.
It is a privilege to be healthy enough to do this sport. It is a privilege to have a body that can swim, bike, and run. And sometimes the most productive thing you can do is loosen your grip on the plan and just enjoy the movement.
A fasted easy run is not going to derail your season. Missing a fun morning with a friend because you had not eaten your pre-run oats might not derail your season either - but it will slowly erode the thing that keeps you coming back in the first place.
Sport Psychology Matters as Much as Physiology
We spend a lot of time talking about zones, thresholds, periodisation, and recovery. And all of that is important. But the mental side of training is at least as powerful as the physical side, and it gets a fraction of the attention.
Athletes who enjoy their training are more consistent. Athletes who are more consistent get better results. It is not complicated. If your training plan is technically perfect but you dread every session, something needs to change.
Joy is not a weakness. Fun is not a compromise. They are part of the process.
When to Break the Rules
This is not permission to throw your plan out the window every time something more fun comes along. Structure matters. Consistency matters. Following the process day after day is what builds fitness over months and years.
But there are moments where the right call is to break your own rule. When a friend invites you to ride. When your partner wants to run together. When the sun is out and you just want to move without looking at your watch. Just do not let Strava ruin the experience by turning every casual run into a competition.
Those moments are rare enough that they will not damage your training. And they are valuable enough that they might be the reason you are still doing this sport five years from now.
The best training plan in the world is useless if you stop enjoying the sport it is designed for.
So yes, I broke my own rule this morning. I went for a fasted run with a friend. It was slower than it would have been with fuel on board. It was not optimal. And it was exactly what I needed.
Loosen your relationship with training. Hold the plan firmly, but not so tightly that you cannot let go when it matters.