Sunday, January 9, 2011

Morning vrs Evening?

Hi Li Ly youre also a runner arent you? You seem to know more about running than I do. Please help me out, Ive only been running for about 4 or 5 months but one thing I havent figured out yet is: is it better to run in the morning or in the evening? Obviously in the evening it is warmer which means you lose alot more bodily fluids and burn alot more calories. But in the morning I feel like its not making any impact. What should I do?
Thanks from Steve

Hi Steve,
oh I'm glad I can help, thanks for reaching out to me :) I love talking about running.
There are both pros and cons for running in the morning vrs evening. For me its whenever I can squeeze in a workout, but i really need to be more consistent.

Morning Runs
Pros: gets you and your body more prepped for races, which usually tend to be in the mornings. Its definitely a benefit to have that under your belt when racing. Because its colder and people are usually more stiff in the morning, when they wake up to race at 7am for the first time, they're more easily prone to injury and cramps and they most likely don't have their morning routine and breakfast all worked out = upset tummy's at mile 10, or searching for port-a-pottys at mile 2 (it will be trial and error to see what foods and liquids and at what time intervals you should eat/ drink to give you the best workout)

Since its colder in the morning your body temp stays lower for a longer period of time which is a good thing = you can run longer & harder. If you feel that its not making an impact try to increase the mileages or intensity of the run (throw in some hills or sprint intervals). Also see if you can complete the same amount of distance you would in the evening by cutting your time down.

Some of the top runners actually wear a chilled vest before they run so it'll keep their body temp lower for the first few miles.

Cons:
Waking up early sucks.. Jk. Some people argue that because its so early and your body/immune system is a bit weaker in the morning, you might be more prone to catching a cold. But with the right clothes and after getting used to the mornings, that's easy to overcome. Just remember to stretch and get a really good warm up. you might need to warm up a bit more, like 10 mins more than what you usually would do in the evenings.

Evening Runs:
Pros & Cons: For me it fits into my schedule better. Usually after a full day of eating breakfast and lunch, you have more food energy to do an intensive workout, but after a long day of work or school your body & mind are more easily exhaustible. Also if you eat that slice of pizza for lunch, you'll really feel it during the workout, so it kinda sucks having to always remember what foods will affect your run later. Most of the top runners usually train in the morning and evening to get the benefits of both.

You can try to mix it up where you do longer distances in the morning some days, and shorter high intensity workouts in the evenings on other days or vice versa. :)

Hope this helps.
feel free to ask me any other questions you may have with running, I'm glad to help.
Lily

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