Is running at night basically worthless?

I live on the West Coach and during the Winter I am sometimes forced to run during the night. I live in an area with essentially no street lighting. My pace is virtually the same for my night runs as compared to my daylight runs. I accomplish this by wearing a 250 lumen headlamp. Additionally I have a reflective vest that also has built in LED lights so I am extremely visible. This setup has worked for several years now; so I highly recommend.

I always used to run faster at night. Something about the nice, cool weather and running at night made me run a lot faster.

ArthurNotInMyYard wrote:

;; wrote:

nothing to add other than I notice the same thing. The darkness either makes me more cautious or raises my perceived exertion...there's just something about seeing far down the road that makes me run faster. I have done it a fair amount, and I've never been able to run comparable times to daylight unless it's cold and I'm trying to stay warm.

Conversely, running in darkness always had the opposite effect on me: I was able to run faster, with less perceived exertion, precisely because I couldn't see as far down the road as during daylight hours. It was like I was floating through space with the planet rotating beneath my feet. In his book The Four-Minute Mile, Roger Bannister described a similar sensation when he would train at night by running laps around a cricket pitch.

What you describe makes total sense - I know that feeling of the earth rolling along beneath you! I think I come at it from a different perspective. When I run at night or on enclosed paths/streets with limited sight distance, I feel myself hold back because I'm scared of an obstacle I cannot see. So for me, I am most able to feel myself vibe out and float along when I'm on a trail in an unobstructed field under a big sky - I don't worry about obstacles and I start to tune more into myself and I start to glide. I could see how someone else might get to that state in the dark. Interesting to hear another perspective.

Not running at the moment but I hated when I missed the chance to get my run in during the daylight and had to run in night. If there is no proper lighting around you feel like you are going faster but whenever I looked at the watch I was disappointed. The sun literally gives you energy

Definitely depends on the person. For me it's the exact opposite I run faster at night. I think it's because my work for the day is done so I know this is all I have left to do and I better leave it all on my route.

Kind of sad to admit but:

I'm from the Northeast and live in the midwest currently. My #1 goal in life is to move to the west coast of Florida in the next 2 years. I literally fantasize about running around the (humid, but tolerable) streets near the ocean around 9pm. I've done it before on vacations and I find it peaceful and atmospheric, like I'm tuned in to the universe in a way that I have never experienced elsewhere. Big night running fan.

30 years ago, I would run at night often, if there was adequate lighting. Dogs were the worst part of it. However, I would not even try it these days. Too many people looking to do something bad, and too many people driving with a cellphone in their faces.

Not a good look wrote:

Kind of sad to admit but:

I'm from the Northeast and live in the midwest currently. My #1 goal in life is to move to the west coast of Florida in the next 2 years. I literally fantasize about running around the (humid, but tolerable) streets near the ocean around 9pm. I've done it before on vacations and I find it peaceful and atmospheric, like I'm tuned in to the universe in a way that I have never experienced elsewhere. Big night running fan.

What's sad to admit there? You sound like you found a time and place where you vibe with the natural world, and you dream of being able to experience it more often. And hopefully you get to see it come true!

when I had to run early in the morning even with a headlamp my runs were significant slower. I got much faster once I stopped the early morning runs. For me it was because I was still sleepy from just waking up and too dark to run fast without getting hurt, falling on something, etc. Even for some reason track workouts were slower, I felt better when it was mid morning and I could see.

A night runner is the ultimate guerrilla warrior! He can infiltrate deep into enemy territory, plant a land mine or spy on his fortifications, and float back into the hills before dawn. He is one with the shadows and the whispering breeze. Only the moon knows he is there.

Black Diamond Sprinter headlamp is nice. We have two. USB charged and has rear red light. Good for dog walks as well.

daypire wrote:

I am over a minute slower at easy pace than I am during the day when running at night and workouts are right out, even considering them. Might be because where I live is sparsely lit and I run along sidewalks of major roads, with a lot of stoplights and half lit neighborhoods. How do some people do this for like half the year?

I’m so confused by this post. There’s no traffic at night so the stoplights should be no issue. Even if the neighborhood is pitch black, normal human eyes adjust. Do you have no HS track near you for workouts? Running at night is 10 times easier for me

i run 80% at night. cooler temps and lighter winds. Definitely run a faster pace at night. 

I'm originally from the NE. Live in South Florida now. Winter nights are great for running. I just did 7, 75 degrees and relatively low humidity tonight.

daypire wrote:

I am over a minute slower at easy pace than I am during the day when running at night and workouts are right out, even considering them. Might be because where I live is sparsely lit and I run along sidewalks of major roads, with a lot of stoplights and half lit neighborhoods. How do some people do this for like half the year?

Coffee, buddy. COFFEE.

I definitely run better at night, and there is a very real sense of what Bad Wiggins refers to. Part of it is a mindset.

elleP wrote:

when I had to run early in the morning even with a headlamp my runs were significant slower. I got much faster once I stopped the early morning runs. For me it was because I was still sleepy from just waking up and too dark to run fast without getting hurt, falling on something, etc. Even for some reason track workouts were slower, I felt better when it was mid morning and I could see.

early morning runs I find I am slower for the 1st mile or 2, but otherwise little difference between that and daylight runs. I actually don't mind running track at 6:30 am in the fall. I've had some good track workouts, and there is enough light from the parking lot. Usually by the end it is twilight. plus no-one else on the track, and don't really need to see much being on a flat predictable, surface; keep turning left!

My basebuilding summer before my best XC season, I did all my runs starting around 2 am. I lived in a crazy hot region, and didn’t want to fry in 110-degree daytime temps. I actually knew a runner who died of heat stroke there a few years earlier - this was definitely part of my thinking. I was out in the country so I’d sometimes see absolutely nobody at all in two hours of running. My pace never suffered in the darkness, I don’t know why anyone’s would.

Running is easier at night.

Our pain threshold is highest near 10pm and the lack of far visibility aids focus.

To the guy who said he fantasizes running in Florida at night, I promise you it is one of the least fun things one can do. The humidity is ALWAYS there and more limiting than altitude, IMO.