Morning runners (Read 1057 times)

I feel your pain. I rarely get to bed before midnight.  One trick I recommend, is finding a gym near work.  You lay out your running clothes the night before, shoes, everything.  Hang up your work clothes right near the bag.  Work shoes on top of the gym bag. Underwear and socks in the bag.  Set the coffee to start brewing at 4:00.  Alarm goes off. You don't need to think. Dress up in your sleep.  Grab the coffee, work clothes, gym bag. Out the door.  Drink the coffee on the way to the gym (you are likely beating traffic, too, because it's not piling up while you're home running).  The coffee kicks in just as you head into the gym, hang your stuff, maybe use the bathroom. Off you go.  Some days you run on the treadmill, other days the streets near the gym.  Some days you lift weights.  Then, shower and off to work.  

This would actually work pretty well for me--I work on a Navy base so finding a gym isn't a problem.  

Only downside is there's a general order against running outside with earphones--major downer for me!

My issue is that if I get to bed late (I try to be asleep by 10) it's really hard to get up.  And as I try to increase mileage, it becomes more difficult to wake up early enough to get my run in and get to work on time.  Also, when work gets stressful I tend to not sleep well and then sleep in rather than wake up for my run.  I was hoping that some other morning runners might have some suggestions on how to quickly get on the road in the morning, and also any tricks you might have developed to get the most out of your morning runs. 

 As others have said, you just have to make it happen.  You've outlined the reasons the other times don't work for you, and they are familiar reasons to me.  So, if you're going to run, you're going to have to get up early, which means you're going to have to get to bed early.  Some things that help me, either logistically or mentally:

You could probably cut down on your alarm-to-out-the-door time; not sure how you're spending it.  As others have said, have everything laid out in advance.  I really just roll out of bed, into my waiting running clothes, and go.  I haven't found it necessary to eat before weekday runs (sometimes I do before longer weekend runs, but I don't have to start as early those days). 

My weekday run lengths vary, as most people's do.  With a day or two of longer workouts, the extra 30 minutes I get on the shorter workout days feels like a luxury, and keeps the early mornings from being too much of a grind.

In the evening, beware the chair (to borrow an ultrarunning phrase).  I try to take care of everything on my evening to-do list (including picking out my running clothes for the next morning), even get ready for bed, before I plant my butt in front of the tv or computer. 

The more you make a regular commitment to early morning exercise, likely the better you'll get at riding through stress insomnia.  I'm very sympathetic to that, and used to have a big problem with it.  But now that my alarm has been going off so damn early to run for a number of years, I've found my need for sleep really overrides my hamster wheel stress brain much more easily.  It's been one of the nicer benefits to early morning running, honestly.

Alarm to out-the-door is definitely my main issue as far as time.  There is admittedly a lot of futzing around on the internet, but I also have to take care of my business or things get pretty dodgy around mile 4.  I do think I can shorten that up though.  

Thanks for the motivation and suggestions everyone--sometimes you just need people to tell you to suck it up! 

 

 

Second, see if there's a fellow runner who will join you in the mornings--the accountability helps.

This is what I was going to suggest as well. I run twice a week with another runner at 530am. I will do on my own at 630am, but the days we meet at 530, those are good runs. When she first asked if I wanted to run early, she wasn't sure I would and I wasn't sure if I wanted to, but I was willing to try it. I'm glad I did.

Alarm to out-the-door is definitely my main issue as far as time.  There is admittedly a lot of futzing around on the internet, but I also have to take care of my business or things get pretty dodgy around mile 4.  I do think I can shorten that up though.  

 

 Would it be possible to do a running route that put you near a restroom after a couple of miles?

Ive never been able to get out early in the morning. Now that I have two kids under 3--theres absoluyely no chance in reliably getting up before them and getting any miles in. I have to get up by 5:15 as it is.

When I do get in the groove, all my running is at night - late. I go out around 8:30pm. Sometimes I hit the nearby trail, or I'll do the neighborhood run. I also joined the gym by work, and just use it for the showers. I eun in the neighborhood and park by the gym and use their showers. I need to do that more.

So are you guys running with headlamps in the dark or are there streetlights where you run?

I've been limiting myself to starting my morning runs about 30 minutes before sunrise as there are no streetlights within about 4 miles from my house.  I've run with a headlamp in the dark in the evenings before, and it wasn't ideal, but it did work.

Just curious on whether most of you are running under streetlights or running with a headlamp or both?

Thanks, Nathan

I haven't tried a headlamp, but I do have these nifty gloves (Saucony Ulti-Mitt II) that have a clip-on light I can use to light the path in front of me.They might be uncomfortable when the weather gets warmer, but I don't run much before 5:30 am and the days are shorter in the summer. There are streetlights in my neighborhood, but there are many long, dark gaps in between so the the light helps.