Pre-Workout Nutrition: Such a Tricky Lil' SOB

Alright my animal masticating ninjas, I am going to try and tackle a topic today that is even more complicated than the last topic, and yet in my opinion much easier to figure out. 
What you eat (or don't eat) before tackling an athletic endeavor, can sometimes be the difference between crushing your workout or your workout crushing you.  This becomes a pretty big problem in the Crossfit world because our WODs are so varied that our pre-workout nutrition usually needs to be too, and people don't like having to figure out what works best for them and what makes them run to pooper half way through "Helen".  Pre-workout nutrition is complicated because it is different for everyone and for almost every workout.  Yet it is fairly easy to figure out once I have divulged to you my little secret.  Are you ready? Here it is- Trial and Error. 
You have got to see what works for you.  For myself heading into a workout with a full stomach of food, no matter what the workout is, crushes my performance.  However I've seen people eat full meals before "Fran"-like WODs and crush PR's.  On the other side I'm also not a huge fan of consistently going into a workout in a fasted stated, I've just never read anything that shows me the hormonal benefits of this outweigh the hormonal damage it can cause.  Now every once in a while fasted training might not be a bad idea, but doing it consistently, in my opinion, can crush someone.  I personally feel my best when I go into a Metcon with having eaten something about 1-2 hours previous.  This leaves my GI feeling comfortable and at low risk for gastric emptying mid WOD, which I don't have to tell you is fairly important if I'm doing something for time. 
With all that being said about the complexity of this subject, I'm not going to let you tackle this like a blind linebacker.  Let's throw out a few starting points for you guys, and then we can discuss (in the comments) if someone has tried these how they think they worked and what they do differently.
Suggestion #1: Eating for lifting Heavy stuff
This pre-workout eating seems to be one of the only suggestions that I think comes pretty close to working for most people.  Eating a large portion of delicious dead animal and a little bit of caffeine (a little bit does not = 10 shots of espresso) seems to charge people up pretty good for heavy lifting efforts.
Suggestion #2: Short Intense Metcons (those being sub 15mins)
This is where the guess work on your part begins.  Generally smaller meals with a little bit of protein, a small whack of carbohydrate, and a decent dose of fats will do the trick nicely in these instances.  Now the type of carb will not only depend on which ones you feel best with but also how long before you workout do you like to eat your meals.  If its a few hours before I see no problem with downing a some delectable veggies, but if you like to fuel up a little closer to game time, I would suggest maybe some yams, sweet potatoes, carrots, or even a little fruit to help light a fire underneath your performances ass.  Now the amount of these foods is also going to depend on you and what time you eat them and if you feel best performing with you tummy feeling full, slightly hungry, or empty.
Suggestion #3: Mid-Range Metcons (those being in the 15-35min time frame)
These wods are a little longer and might tap into your glycogen stores a little more aggressively, but generally from past experiences fuelling for these tends to still be along the same lines as the shorter Metcons.  Here again I feel a meal of protein, carbs, fats does just fine.  Again my personal favorites are yams, sweet potatoes, and carrots.  The only difference with these types of metcons, in my opinion, is that I generally like to hit this feeling slightly hungry or light in the stomach, but again you WILL need to play with it and see how you feel.
Suggestion #4: Long Range Efforts (35min+ these should be done rarely as punishment for people who kick puppies)
These efforts are a little outside my wheel house, but here is my suggestion for them.  Fuel what you're doing.  You are going to need a little more carbohydrate in these instances but that doesn't mean you need those super gels, or that you can't do long efforts while eating a Paleo diet.  Yams/Sweet potatoes are solid for this kind of need for carbohydrate.  I'm not a huge fan of veggies for these efforts seeing as on some of these, such as marathons, you'll need to fuel mid efforts and get the glucose in your system quickly.  Carrots I find work alright and so do bananas but eating an ass ton (which is an exact measurement) of fruit, I personally feel, isn't good either.  This is an instance where throwing back some kind of carb dense shake might not be the worst idea but be smart about it and don't just chug down some crap in the name of needing more carbs.
I will remind you here that these are only suggestions and that you will need to play with what works best for you for each different WOD.  Also be smart about fueling.  If you know a food sends you running to the crapper like Usain Bolt on laxatives, don't eat it before a workout.  Watching what other people eat pre-WOD is a good place to start but in no universe imaginable is it the end all be all of what the best thing is to eat before working out, even if the person have a sub 2 Fran and a 325# Clean and Jerk.  Tinker with your pre-workout nutrition, ask yourself what seems to work best for you, and as always grains will never be the answer.