Which do you prefer and why? Which is most common among athletes?
Which do you prefer and why? Which is most common among athletes?
In high school, I ran easy in the morning around 5:15 and had practice in the afternoon at 3:00. Some of those morning runs I was still so asleep I don't know if it was worth sacrificing the extra sleep.
In college, we worked out in the morning at 7:00 am and did our second run "easy" in the afternoon anytime between 1:00 and 5:00, on your own or with another teammate or two. Our coach didn't want us fretting over the workout all day, not paying attention in class, etc. Plus, it cut down on drinking big time.
It took me a while to realize I had to wake up at 5:00 to eat, use the bathroom, do any necessary rehab/therapy in the training room, etc., and that I couldn't roll out of bed and hammer out a hard session.
After college, I mixed it up usually depending on my work/social schedule. If it was a Friday afternoon and I knew I had to attend a happy hour, I would obviously work out in the morning. If I had an important meeting or presentation early on the workday, I would save the workout for the evening.
Do what works for you.
I agree to do what works for you. Just make sure you're not running the workout on dead legs or adding junk mileage to dead legs. I've had success doing my double before and after and at various times of the day. It depends on many factors only you can figure out once you have more experience doing them.
If I run first thing in the morning I am incredibly slow. My shakeout runs are 30 - 45 seconds slower than easy pace but it doesn't feel all that easy. It just takes awhile for my body to wake up and get going. For this reason I save the workouts for the afternoon.