before i moved to NYC, i rarely worked out in the mornings. and in that sentence, rarely = never.
i wasn’t a morning runner. i was more of a wake-up-half-an-hour-before-i-have-to-leave-the-houser. bounding out of bed and into gym clothes wasn’t a routine i adopted regularly until about two years ago, and it happened all at once. i literally decided one day in May 2012 that i was going to start working out every day before work, and BAM, i became a morning runner/boot camper. and i haven’t looked back since.
it didn’t take me long to absolutely love working out in the morning. it’s the best way i can think of to start my day. no matter what else might happen, i’ve already accomplished something that feels great. plus, it frees up evenings to see friends or relax or do school work or date or whatever else i might want to do. win-win. also, the gym/running path isn’t quite the same madhouse at 6:30am as it is at 6:30pm.
one amazing thing about being a runner is that you really can run wherever and whenever. you just lace up and go, no questions asked, no equipment necessary, no stressors too big that you can’t pound into the pavement. now that the weather has been lovely, i can run outdoors basically anytime. so for on those rare mornings when i just can’t get up (generally Wednesdays, as Tuesdays are my killer late night school days), the longer days provide me with another option for an outdoor run.
last night after class, i took advantage of the amazing evening and became a night runner for the first time in agesssss. and my morning-runner self actually loved it. pretty sure the beauty of the evening had a lot to do with that…
how incredible is that sky?? kinda makes me hate ever having to be indoors.
what really surprised me was how great i felt. i thought i might be exhausted after a long day of work and school, but i felt so energized and was really looking forward to this evening run all day. it was just a short one, but i definitely felt sprightlier and stronger than i have on my morning runs lately.
those are the best splits i’ve had in a long time (maybe ever?), and i was shocked that i had that in me at the end of a long day. kinda makes me wonder if i should start putting one or two evening runs into my weekly workout schedule. those first two miles felt like i had wings in my Newbies, i swear. i felt awesome…
until i turned around at Chelsea Piers, that is. it took all of two steps north-bound on the river path to realize that the wind had been my best friend running south, but made the last mile and a half brutal. i pretty much hated my life for that stretch and certainly felt like i was going slower than i apparently was, and i actually felt annoyed that it was going to mess up my speedy-ness. 🙂
so although i definitely won’t stop working out in the mornings, this one run gave me two things to contemplate:
1. adding some night running to my schedule, and
2. speed work. i know i recently said i didn’t think much about that, but maybe it’s time i start. because i wouldn’t mind challenging myself with my running a bit more — and that run felt pretty darn good.
Questions:
When’s your fave time of day to run? Do you find yourself operating better at a specific time?
Thoughts on speedwork? What do you do, what works best, etc?
runthisapple.wordpress.com 
I like running in the mornings but admittedly have a tough time getting out of bed to do it. So far, the majority of my runs have been around 6:30pm at night or at 7:30am in the morning on Saturday’s. I do like the idea of getting things done before work and knowing that you have your evenings freed up to do whatever you want!
but as long as we get it done, that’s what counts, right? 🙂
Nice run and I do agree with you that running (unlike swimming- which takes forever for me to get ready), is so easy- you put on your shoes, etc, and literally run out the door!! It’s a great and very freeing feeling! I love running first thing in the morning!! I just did speedwork today and ugh, it was tough! 5×1000’s!! It hurt!!
haha nice job girl! i need to do more of it.
🙂 🙂
I like the mornings and also I do a lot of my runs on my lunch breaks. I do like running in the evenings, but I don’t get to do it very often because I have a little kid and my husband works nights. Those are such pretty pictures and very nice splits!
I wish I had track access for speedwork but I do it on a treadmill instead. Not ideal, but it goes by pretty fast and stays interesting because of the intervals.
ahhh, i could never run on a lunch break here unless i went to the gym — no showers at work! that’s nice that you have that option. thanks! 🙂
Way to go on your run speedy lady! Great job!!! I wish I could run in the morning but I’m at work by 7-7:20AM, which means I have to be out the door by 5AM to really get a good run in. I know plenty of people do this (I USED to do that), but right now I have a hard time getting up that early. When my BF and I move, I think I’ll be able to run in the AM though.
Oh my gosh, the wind on the west side highway is deadly! I used to run there when I lived in Chelsea. I love working out in the morning but since I started my current job, I have a hard time getting up early enough!