I have a little cold. Basically, my nose is stuffy when I get up in the morning and then it goes away around 3 p.m. It’s really not that bad, so I’m pretending it’s not there. Forget I said anything about a cold. Cold? What cold?
Last night, I decided I would go for a morning 5-miler. I had a ton of stuff to do Friday (today). Holidayish stuff. The thing is, though, as I was drifting off to sleep last night, Brain was already giving me permission to skip the run. Sabotage!
When my alarm clock went off at 6, I got up. I was already sort of awake because my head was all stuffed up. I’m not sure why. I don’t have a cold. While I blew my nose a thousand times, Brain and Body had a fight. Body won because it told Brain it would have to carry Running Guilt around all freakin’ day if we didn’t go. (Brain is lazy and thought the run would be easier.)
So, I weighed myself (exactly the same weight as last week despite cookies and chocolates), put on my running clothes, had a piece of toast with peanut butter and a glass of water, and stashed my Zune in my iFitness belt, which I love (by the way). Outside, it wasn’t raining and it wasn’t even that cold.
It was a great run and I’m so glad I got it done this morning! Afterward, I decided the Pros of morning running totally outweigh the Cons.
PRO
– Getting it over with.
– The energy boost you get lasts all day.
– Having more time in your day.
– The sunrise (depending on the time of year, of course).
– Feeling awesome about doing something healthy before everyone else is out of bed. (Breakfast and coffee taste so much better after a workout.)
– It jump-starts your metabolism.
– It puts you in a good mood.
– There are not a lot of cars on the road.
– NO RUNNING GUILT.
CONS
– Waking up early.
– It’s dark outside, so it can be a little scary because you can’t always see things. (This morning I thought a leaf was blowing across the sidewalk, but then as I got closer to it, a bunny bolted in front of me. I nearly had a heart attack. I almost stepped on a bunny!)
Do you run in the morning? Any Pros I missed? Any Cons?
8 comments
I cannot wait to run again in the morning. Hopefully it'll be a little lighter out when I am able to because I'm a little gun shy about stepping on somthing again. We'll have to start up the Friday virtual runs again.I love the feeling of getting it done first thing in the morning and just being with my thoughts and hearing my breathing and foot steps. Best. Thing. Ever.
The quiet. When you have kids nuff said 🙂
I love your pro/con list … seems rather complete to me. I always do my long run on the weekends in the morning, but if I can't sneak out for a run during the day, I either do a late afternoon run when the hubby gets back or hit up the treadmill …
I think you covered it! I'm always a morning runner, too much chance of life getting in the way if I don't get out there first thing. Love the sunrise!
I agree with your pros and cons 100%. My biggest pro is feeling great for the rest of the day…there is nothing like it! And you are right, food tastes so much better!
I've always been more of an evening runner that a morning runner. I use my run time as my daily therapy – unwind from the stresses of the day. But, a few weeks back I switched to running in the AM. I'm liking the early AM – especially when I can get a sunrise as my wake up call.
I have always loved running in the mornings, for the reasons you said. I do what I can to avoid running in the evenings.Mostly, I just love the feeling I get after running and how much energy I have.
This is a great post. I have tried and tried to get my butt out of bed in the morning, but just can't seem to do it! Plus, I don't love the area I live in (it's not the ghetto, but there are apartments nearby, and well, just not “neighborhood” safe if you know what I mean) and so that would mean getting in my car to drive to my parent's neighborhood. Sigh. Let's be honest, I'm lazy. And NOT a morning person. LOL