Today, I’m linking up for Tuesday Topics with KookyRunner and Zenaida Hope you’ll join in to share why you’re a morning or evening runner!
If you know anything about me, you know that I am an early bird. And a night owl. To be honest, I am flat out useless between the hours of 1:00 and 3:00 PM, which is pretty unhelpful to everyone.
However, since I started running, I’ve been a crack of dawn kind of person. It’s not necessarily my preference to wake up with a 4:30 AM alarm, but there are reasons I do it day after day.
It’s the coolest part of the day. Literally.
In the Sunshine State, even winter can be hot. Running before dawn can still be toasty, if not suffocating with humidity, but at least I’m not being pounded by the strong sun. I’ll take it.
My body feels best in the morning.
If running is the first thing I do, I feel energized. My muscles are reasonably loose and it’s a great way to pump myself up for the hours ahead. When I run later in the day, I notice my legs are heavy and sluggish and I don’t feel anywhere near as good as in the morning.
It’s when I have the time.
I have a fairly flexible schedule, but little man does not. Running in the evening is almost impossible because I’m the parent usually responsible for dinner and extracurriculars. Not to mention, a lot of my volunteer positions require my presence in the evenings, making it harder and harder to get out for a run after hours.
Morning runs are more reminiscent of race conditions.
Most races, at least in these parts, start super early in the morning. If my body is trained to get up and out regularly, then it’s not such a jolt on race days.
I don’t have to worry about working out the rest of the day.
I like being able to check things off my to-do list without having things hanging over my head. Once my run is done, I can move on to the next things.
Who doesn’t love a sunrise?
Enough said.
Truth be told, I would love to be able to participate in some later evening runs. It would be fun to join in with the MRTT groups in my area, or be part of the group runs that end up at a local bar or pizza joint, but the challenge of fitting it all into my schedule would really take away from the stress relief running provides me.
What about you? Do you prefer running in the morning or in the evening?
I also love morning run because it’s so nice to have that feeling of accomplishment early in the day
Get it done! That’s my mantra!
Yes, morning runs are the best! It is a great feeling knowing that your run is done for the day and you have the rest of the day to rest or do other things.
I adore that feelings!
I am definitely not a morning person at all. In the summer time, I do get out there by 8 but I don’t enjoy it so early. I do envy those who are able to get up do early and get it done
I would probably like being able to get out there a little later (4:30 comes fast), but the heat just makes it unbearable. That’s Florida summer for you.
Mornings are definitely the most convenient time to get those miles in! That said, I’m useless in the morning. Running is a thousand times harder for me early than later in the day. Which is probably why I’ve been such a slacker lately. The only time I CAN run is in the morning, and I just haven’t dragged myself out of bed to do it in awhile. Spring is coming though, so that usually helps!
I wish I was more versatile in my running times, but I function better first thing, before my body catches on to what I’m trying to do LOL. It’s all about trickery here!
running early morning is a difficult thing to do on a regular basis, especially for me. But I think it’s a good thing.
There’s this report I saw on Business Insider that stated that around midnight some athletes or professional experience their maximum capacity to exercise. You should also look into that.
Thanks for sharing.