Improve morning performance - General running

Deb24

18/04/2010 at 19:29

I'm not normally a morning runner, perferring to run evenings, but as all races start mornings, and I'm busy training for 10k run in 3 weeks, thought I'd try running early today.

Ate porridge one hour before my run, plus one cup coffee and one glass water. Went out about 8.30am. 0-4 miles were awful, really slow, legs felt weak, energy zero. Miles 4-6 were better.

Any ideas what I can do differently? As I said, run in 3 weeks, and at this morning's pace, I'm really not going to achieve my goal time.

Thanks!

Home time

18/04/2010 at 19:45

i dont eat in the mornin

dont worry i always felt like crap when i started my a.m runs,

they still feel more of an effort but its great to get them over with first thing

relax they will get easier

Jon Smith 7

18/04/2010 at 19:55

I only run in the mornings on a Sunday and on race days. On those days I don't eat at all before I run.

18/04/2010 at 20:03

90% of my runs are before the world wakes up. I never eat before the run, just a good fruity drink or sports concoction. Eating an hour before running would make me feel awful.

Peanut Butter

18/04/2010 at 22:04

A glass of water when I get up and sometimes I have a toasted bagel with a little jam a couple of hours before a run with 500ml of a SIS energy drink.

Anthony Malthouse

18/04/2010 at 22:12

Hi all im upto 5k but want to increase my pace as well as distance what should I concentrate on to first?

Any advise will be great

Cheers Anthony

Jon Smith 7

18/04/2010 at 22:14

AM .......... I always go for 'time on my feet' ...... build up the distance and then the speed follows ... of course horses for courses

Madlot

19/04/2010 at 02:40

Yep, no food for me either, a bowl of porrige would be too heavy an hour before.Eat well the night before and keep well hydrated.
I get up, have a drink, allow myself time to wake up properly(20-30mins)5 mins walking,10 mins slow running, then go for it.
For me, there's no better time to run.

birkmyre

19/04/2010 at 05:59

Get up, drink of water, stretch and out the door.

I'm often half aslee,p but love morning running !

Wej

19/04/2010 at 06:18

Agree on the eating - I've always run in the morning (usually very early) and you don't have time to put fuel in in the conventional way. If you're worried about energy, make sure you get a decent carb-rich meal the evening before and a snack before you go to bed. The important thing in the morning is getting a good drink - your body will be fine without food, and you'll enjoy the breakfast when you get back far more!

lucy1982

19/04/2010 at 08:55

If your really worried about it then I find a nutrigrain bar or small banana about an hour before helps me! I love morning running and tend to perform better this time of the day however I need to little bit of fuel before setting off and it seems to work for me! Everyone is different though; Porridge is amazing fuel but I would give myself at least a three hour window between eating that and running!

Overall though - fluid is crucial and definitely more important in the mornings providing you had a good meal the night before! Hope that helps

Ewarwoowar

19/04/2010 at 13:32

When I run in the morning it feels like I'm running much slower than in the afternoon. I would sware that effort to get up to usual speed feels much harder than in the evening and I have to run slower as a result. However, when I check the time/speed I actually run just as fast; it just feels slower.

Have you tried timing your evening and morning runs to see if there is any real difference?

Madlot

19/04/2010 at 17:20

My times don't differ but my HR is lower when I run in the morning compared to the evening, feels easier too.

Deb24

19/04/2010 at 19:55

Thanks everyone for your comments. I really thought eating before running was the best thing, but I'll concentrate on the fluids more next time and see if that's better.

I did remember I'd had a couple of glasses of wine the night before too, so perhaps that didn't help....

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