are morning runs beneficial

I am just after your advice/wisdom/experience on whether early pre-work runs are beneficial. For me, I normally get up around 6.30am but could get up earlier in order to fit a morning run in. A morning run could start around 6.30 for about 30-40 mins. My problem is that I totally hate it. I have tried morning runs a couple of times but feel as though I am about to have a cardiac. The most I can can manage is a steady plod. What I am after is your advice on whether even just a steady plod/slog on the roads is better than nothing (it is, at least, a time of the day when I not in demand from either work or home) or am I just better staying in bed and doing harder sessions as and when I can fit them into a busy work/home life. Thanks for your help.

sorry - I have just seen another similar thread. I will look at any advice given there.

Good for weight loss as you are going out on an empty stomach!

Must partly depend on whether you are comparing 5-6 morning plods each week with only getting out once or twice for good runs later in the day or whether, without the plods, you'd still get out for at least four good runs. In the first case I'd say you have to be gaining something, in the latter, maybe not.

thanks for that. That is common sense and clear logic. so I guess a morning plod is still better than nothing if it happens that this is the only time in the day I can get out.

I think it's the best time of day to run. But then I run to work so am killing two birds.
I think (instinctively, don't ask me to back it up) running on an empty stomach is also good in some way to do with energy-efficiency / using the right energy sources.
And it appears to keep the weight down very well too.
And you're less likely to duck out of a run if it's the first thing you do in the day rather than at the end of a tiring working day - for me anyway.

I run a hilly 3.5 miles around 7am most mornings - yes they can be gut wrenching slogs BUT what I find incredibly helpful is that your body doesn't lie at that time of a morning so the time comparisons are an excellent source of information about your state of fitness.

I usually plod round in c.28mins, but after real hard training that can go up to 32mins - in which case I don't push my evening session hard again until the morning run comes back down towards the 28mins. Pre race or tapering I give the same effort and the time comes down to c.25mins - so I have real proof that I am rested and ready.

I know it takes all sorts but at 52 this is the sort of "listening to my body" that keeps me going.

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Originally Posted by Bobster

. My problem is that I totally hate it.

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there is your answer right there.
doesn't really matter about the theory or whether or not its good. If you hate it its not a good plan for you.

training 101 - enjoy

I think morning runs are good if you only intend to go slow. I find that if i have a cup of tea or coffee and just wake up for 20-30 minutes after getting out of bed then i'm fine to run steady for about 30-60 minutes, any longer than that and i need food in me. I cant run just out of bed, always feel like i'm about to die. Having said that, i only run in the mornings when i know i wont be able to run in the evening due to other commitments.

It there many people out there who have no choice in having to do very early morning runs. I have a young family and my main job on the weekend is getting them to their various activities on Saturday and Sunday morning. I need to be back from my Sat/Sun run at 9am. So if it is a long run I have to get up earlier. I was up at 4:30am back in early January to get in a 4 hr run in preparation for "The Trigger" so a couple of hrs of it was with the head torch. Regularly I have been out at 6am winter or summer to get in 3 hr runs.

It is a shocker when the alarm goes off and horrible thought getting out but once started I enjoy them. I have seen some lovely dawns :)

I tried running in the morning, before work, years ago! Quite liked doing it once I got out, but felt it actually didnt really agree with me physically for some reason. Maybe it was psychosymatic!!

Morning runs are great but I always have my breakfast first. Likewise if I go for a run when I get home from work I will always have a jam sandwich or something first. I hate running on empty.

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Originally Posted by Stolly

Morning runs are great but I always have my breakfast first. Likewise if I go for a run when I get home from work I will always have a jam sandwich or something first. I hate running on empty.

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Completely wrong I am never as light as when I weight my self after a long morning run on an empty stomach:thumbup:

If you are targeting a morning race - for example a marathon that starts at 9 am or thereabouts - then morning runs are very important. Are they in general better than runs later in the day? Only if you feel good running at that time. If you feel sluggish/slow in the mornings but not later in the day, then run later in the day.

I have no "facts" to back this up - it is 100% opinion.

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Originally Posted by Mike T

I have no "facts" to back this up - it is 100% opinion.

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I must admit that on some of my regular routes my best times have been set on the evening runs.

But when the conditions are nice I love them both.

I'm a night owl and my body clock seems to be such that I find lunchtime/afternoon and evening runs easier. I tend to feel stiff and tired first thing but, having said that, over the last year I have done more morning runs (due to running in company or racing) and I often have to get up much earlier than normal to do them and I would say that it sets me up for the rest of the day really well. Its just the creaky plodding feeling that I get when I set off that tends to put me off.

You say you hate morning runs so you are already setting off thinking its going to be horrible...I know that feeling and am a big culprit myself but I've decided this year that I can change my enjoyment of things by changing my mindset and it really works. As fellrunners, I believe we already have strength of mind and willpower or we'd never get up those really steep hills, if you think you ought to run in the morning you need to find a way to think of it as a positive thing or you'll never enjoy it.

Couldn't agree more Hes, mindset must be right, hard to do, takes lots of practice but worth it in the long run.

I found early morning runs helped my training when i used to average 75 - 100 + mpw back in the late 1990s. They were all run at a easy pace and were 5 miles in distance, 5 - 6 times a week. These runs helped by refreshing the body from the previous nights hard session and adding a little extra mileage to improve endurance. On race days i would also do a 20 - 25 minutes run just to wake the body up and get the mind in focus for what was to come and also found this to help.

just warm up properly, by that I mean at least 10-15 minutes of fast walking. Then you can do anything. I just did a 45 min hill session with 4 sets of 3.5min fast running 3.5 min fast walking after 20 mins of all out fast steady climbing, on nothing but a small cup of coffee. I have no choice to do my runs in the morning due to family commitments and I guess my body has adapted fine. I do most of my training at low intensity normally though. If I do get the chance to run at another time I usually opt for pre-lunch runs. Even if you go out feeling hungry that feeling soon disappears.

In answer to the question I think pre-breakfast runs are extremely beneficial.

I do the odd morning run (before work 6am) 2-3 times a week as well as my after work runs. i do em on an empty stomach i only do 3-4 mile at easy pace on the fells just to help up the milage with a faster pace in the afternoon, tried upping the pace once and thought i was gona have a heart attack think its to much to push it after just waking up! so morning runs are just to loosen the legs off and get a few extra miles in for me, its also nice to be on the fells 1st thing.

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Originally Posted by Mike T

If you are targeting a morning race - for example a marathon that starts at 9 am or thereabouts - then morning runs are very important. Are they in general better than runs later in the day? Only if you feel good running at that time. If you feel sluggish/slow in the mornings but not later in the day, then run later in the day.

I have no "facts" to back this up - it is 100% opinion.

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i find no connection.. in the states marathons often start soon after dawn.. normally I hate morning runs, yet up at 4 am and a 7 am start for a marathon works fine.. I just seem to be able to get going for a race when I couldn't for a run..