[Marathon Fool]

I am going to see a friend in hospital this evening, so I decided to get up early and go for a run this morning.

I got up at 6:30am got dressed, had a slice of watermelon and a glasss of water, stretched off and set off at about 6:45am. Within about 200 yards my legs felt so heavy that i had to stop and walk!:'(

I walked for about 1/4 mile before trying again but I still felt like I could hardly move my legs. Ran for a couple of minutes and the walked again. Came to a recently harvested barley field and ran again and felt ok. Ended up running home across the fields, but overall it was the worst run I've had since I started.

Does anybody else have problems with early morning runs? Should I have got up earlier and eaten and drunk something? Was it because I was still stiff from bed (ooh err )?

 

[richardsimkiss]

You're not alone MF... I've also suffered from said legs of lead on a morning run (hence why I try and run in the evenings!). Personally I think it's down to the muscles being so inflexible after a night's rest. Extract taken from something I wrote a while back

Muscles are most stiff first thing in the morning (just after getting out of bed), between this time and when the muscle is fully warmed up, the muscle is likely to stretch by up to 20% (Ellis, Henderson 1994:237)

I reckon that would pretty well explain my inability to run as well as I normally do!

 

[Marathon Fool]

That would explain alot. oh well, I'll just have to run late at night if I have something on in the evening.

 

[richardsimkiss]

I'm sure there must be some additional benefit to be had from training in harder conditions, (such as those presented in the morning when your legs aren;t playing ball)... though at the same time I guess that only holds true if we can stick at it and not turn around and come home after 2mins :lol:

 

[twinkle toes]

or even getting out of bed :notrust:

 

[Bill Reynolds]

Hello MF, Getting up at 6.30am?!....gentleman's time! When I worked for the Post Office with a 7.00 am start and a 6 10am bus to catch I was getting up at 4 30am to go runningI! I never had leg legs and at that time it was a all road route, i.e. no soft ground. Must have been mad as many days I was a double shift...

 

[MSI64]

Work up this morning and felt like a bus had hit me
Am just having breakfast and will see how I feel later

 

[Hrun]

I have struggled as I get up, feel great and as a result set off too fast. I need to make an effort to check my pace until I have warmed through. Otherwise I really struggle.

 

[runningshoe]

When I started running I always ran first thing about 6am. It wasn't until i'd been running for a couple of weeks that I went running in the evening, it was so easy!! I still mainly run in the mornings though for convenience, you definately get used to it.

 

[Marathon Fool]

Hmmm, well I've reverted to the easy option and decided to go out tonight - meant an extra 45mins in bed this morning too!

 

[m4tty]

Hi MF

I always run in the mornings as it is the only time I can get to do it. The first time I went out it was difficult but it does get easier. You may have to adjust your evening routine a little to accommodate. I try and get at least 7 hours sleep and eat a little earlier than normal so everything is digested before the morning run.

If you've always run in the evenings then your body is probably used to the routine and uses the day as it's recovery time. Switching to mornings has probably made your body say WTF!? :s

Running regularly in the mornings will help your body adjust but if you are consistently switching between evenings and mornings, it may take some getting used to.

 

[Marathon Fool]

Hi MF

If you've always run in the evenings then your body is probably used to the routine and uses the day as it's recovery time. Switching to mornings has probably made your body say WTF!? :s

Running regularly in the mornings will help your body adjust but if you are consistently switching between evenings and mornings, it may take some getting used to.

With two young kids and a busy job it's a case of fitting it in where I can.

I hadn't run on Monday so I thought I would be well recovered from Sunday. My plan this week was to run Tues am, Wed pm, Thursday (rugby training) pm, Fri am, Sunday pm. Bubt I don't think I am going to get very far on Friday am after training on Thursday evening!ush:

 

[m4tty]

Tough schedule, especially the Thursday pm and Friday am. Can you not switch the Friday am to Saturday stupid am? Or is this your lie in day? With two kids, I'm guessing that lie ins are a thing of the past.

 

[Marathon Fool]

What's a lie-in?

I'm trying to follow the "Get - me - round" marathon training schedule, so I'm trying to be rigid in which days I run. Iknow this probably isn't necessary in the early days, but when I am doing longer runs on Sundays I guess I will need as much recovery time as possible either side.

 

[m4tty]

I think you should really consider a Saturday morning instead of Friday. When you start to get up to the longer distances on the Sundays, a comparatively short (2-3 miles) on the Saturday morning won't do you any harm and your body should happily recover from that distance in 24-36 hours gap you will have. It is a damn sight more difficult to recover from Thursday night brutality to Friday morning run especially when you pick up the mileage.

 

[Hrun]

Why would you need recovery before a run ?

If it just your aim to get round then I would just run, more or less as much as possible. I did 13.5 miles yesterday on what started out as an easy run, but I felt good, kept going and got a row for my efforts when I got home cause mrs hrun was worried. I was out twice a long as usual.

So if you just want to be able to run, then run.

 

[Marathon Fool]

Have decided to miss rugby training tonight and run on Friday morning as planned. Had a good run last night, but still feeling my bruised heel, so a day's rest today probably wouldn't hurt.