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?
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