How bad for you is it really if you work out later at night? It seems to me that if you do it later, it will make you sleep better, being tired and all. But it doesn't seem to be working lately, I can't sleep and I'm awake for longer than I should be and have a hard time waking up in the morning. When is the best time?
Running after 8pm tends to keep people awake at night....something about the energy being released into your body. It is physiological.
If you run at around 8pm - you will not be hungry at 9pm (running delays hunger for a while...) - but by 10pm-11pm you might get quite hungry...and this means eating late at night....which is a good recipe for putting on weight (sleeping on a bunch of undigested nutrients).
If you do run late, then eat a meal...try to go for a short walk after the meal, or take a spin on the exercise bike.
Another trick is to eat foods high in fibre, but low in sugar. Protein is a good way to end the meal (a nice piece of French cheese). Also a nice cup of ovaltine or hot chocolate with milk might induce sleep, as does a bottle of beer.
Running in the day is better by far, but sometimes other commitments dictate that my run'll be late.
I'd rather run late at night than not at all.
BUT,
Any decent session raises the metabolic rate sufficiently for you to need a few hours calming down time before you'll be able to sleep soundly.
I was out late last night.
Black night, no moon.
Ran on a cyclepath, 6 mile out, 6 mile back; comfortably hard tempo run.
Crashed into a bollard once - Ow!
Stumbled on detritus many times - no twisted ankles, thank goodness.
Nearly collided with a man walking along miles from anywhere. We saw each other when about a metre apart and both screeched and recoiled in panic and terror - would have been funny to see, but I don't want to repeat it.
This session turned a mundane run into a mini adventure, but it'll be a while before i do it again.
On this part of the globe it is almost compulsory in summer.
20 miles at midnight is no big deal.
There was a Marathon in Australia that started at Midnight
on New years day.(the y2k).
Started at the turn of the century but only lasted a couple of years.
Ran it in 2002 but the time was slow due to the Heat.
Was still about 26 degrees celsius and humid.
I am a shift worker and often run late at night.
I often put a star,in my running diary, beside the workouts that I feel I have excelled in.There are plenty of stars beside the night time training sessions.
It is so much easier to stay focused.
Depends on what you are doing, a short recovery jog won't disturb sleep much in opposite to a hard work-out that will definietly ruin your sleep.
If a decent session raises the metabolic rate sufficiently for you to need a few hours calming down before a sound sleep....
How come I always want to take a nap after my long run? Or does a nap not constitute a sound sleep. Just curious.
i used to do my 2nd run of the day at night after my bartending shift, usually anywhere from 11pm to 1 am. sometimes it was ok, sometimes i couldn't see very well and would get this dizzy feeling while running though. Rarely i would do a longer run (8-12 miles) after work if i had been too lazy to go before. They usually sucked pretty badly.
Never really had any problems sleeping after a hot shower, a beer and 20 mins of tv though.
The heat is on wrote:
On this part of the globe it is almost compulsory in summer.
20 miles at midnight is no big deal.
There was a Marathon in Australia that started at Midnight
on New years day.(the y2k).
Started at the turn of the century but only lasted a couple of years.
Ran it in 2002 but the time was slow due to the Heat.
Was still about 26 degrees celsius and humid.
This is a strange post. I like it.
Hot shower, cold beer, ol' faithful (wife doggie) puts me out like a light after a good run. My wife says I do my best work after dark...
Mark Nenow ran his second workout of the day at 10pm M-F
27:22 road 10k and former American Record Holder for track 10k. semed to work well for him
WOW, love to see fellow night stalkers out there. It is always my best run of the day (night)...Maybe it goes to with my fastest track times coming from night meets/relays. I don't think there is anything wrong with it and I prefer the night...always less gas emmisions and other things. The problem of sleeping differs from time to time....I sleep well after my runs or sometimes don't..that I don't have the answer. KEEP it up.