A New York Times article once published a story about the best time to exercise. And according to research, it’s somewhere between 4 and 7 P.M.
Personally, I’ve done some runs during those times. And yes, I agree that my body feels like it IS the best time to exercise. However, my days are usually busy at exactly those times. So I relegate my runs at night.
If you take a look at my Nike running app data, you’d find that I’m a major night runner. One runner friend couldn’t believe that I would do my workout around 9 P.M. onwards. Sometimes I finish close to midnight.
Mentally, I feel that the evening is when I can relax. I’ve finished all my work and I’ve got nothing else to do. So I run. And yes, for us runners, this high-impact exercise is a way of relaxation. We’re funny that way.
However, when I signed up for a marathon, I needed to make a major change: become a morning runner -at least once or twice during the week.
The reason is because those long run Sundays really take a toll on my body. I need the whole day to recover. I could refuel properly, or have time to get a massage and just have more time to focus on recovery strategies.
In the past 10 weeks, I’ve been getting up before the crack of dawn and lacing up for the road. It’s always a love-hate feeling.
Usually, I would get to bed early only to toss and turn and worry about getting up late for my long run. Late morning has now taken a new meaning for me these days – anything past 4 AM is late.
It’s a great feeling to be able to finish my workout in the first half of the day. The changing sky view of the night moon and stars into sunlight is definitely a Mother Nature treat which is priceless. There’s also that positive vibe that runners (and also cyclists) spread around as we greet each other “Good morning!” while on the road.
Recently, I’ve had a buddy join me in these early morning Sunday runs (well actually, she rides her bike and I run). She asked if I would quit getting up so early once my marathon training is over. I mulled it over. And I’ve decided I’d keep my early Sunday morning runs going. She smiled.
