Early early morning runs

I would not sacrifice my sleep over trying to get a run in. 3am is wayyy too early, unless you're going to bed at like 6pm.

Assuming your shift is 7am-3pm, simply just take your run after your work, or run in the evening. But sleep must be prioritized.

why do you need to be up at 4 to be at work at 7? have you considered whether that's why the tank is empty for an evening run?

why do you need to be to the office at 7? that sounds like school hours. in which case there's a track sitting right there.

to me it would seem like if 7-3 is a mess go back to 9-5 and you can either run early but not insanely so, or get in an evening workout before you tap out.

failing that, run at lunch or run someplace near work before you go home.

my experience you have to get more efficient to do sports around work as an adult.

Yeah, I’d agree with the recommendation to run near your workplace after work. It’ll mellow you out for your drive home too.

in my experience, running after work is nice, because my body is typically looser from daily activities. In contrast, morning runs always start out extremely stiff, so I spend most of my time easing into it. Plus, those early morning runs are incredibly cold.

The early morning runs are pleasant, however, thanks to quietness and clean air.

Can you take a nap when you get home then go run after? I do this and it has helped me get runs done at 530/6pm when otherwise I wouldn’t. Sometimes those runs are surprisingly good.

The answer is yes and this may actually improve your fitness if overall time does not decrease.

For almost all my adult life (45 years or so) I have been an early morning runner, although usually not as early as you're suggesting--more like out the door at 5 am. I do it then because (1) I have a very hard time running with anything in my stomach, and before breakfast is the only time when I'm both empty and not hungry yet; (2) that's the only time of the day when I can count on being able to get out reliably--there are never any proverbial fires I need to put out at that time; (3) it's peaceful and quiet with little traffic, and in the warmer months that's the coolest part of the day. On rare occasions when I need to be somewhere earlier than usual, I just start earlier as you're suggesting. I have gone out for runs at 3:30 or 4 am and found it quite enjoyable, although as you suggest it's hard to go fast right after waking up early.

I think you should try it. Some people are just not morning people and running before breakfast will never work for them. But your post indicates that you have done this before and it seems to work for you. You're not a professional runner. Find the schedule where running fits best into the rest of your life, rather than trying to fit your life around running.

I napped sometimes immediately after work on days I was really tired. I made a point though of NOT going home to do it. If I dove into bed for my nap it was pure hell getting out of bed and running. I'd usually nap in my car or on a couch in the faculty room. I could never nap for more than maybe 15-20 minutes as opposed to an hour or more if I'd napped in bed. The 15 minute naps took most of the edge off my tiredness and usually the rest went away rignt after I'd begun to run.

Seriously? The benefit of getting into the office early is you finish early and have the evening to yourself. Do your runs in that time. That's the time your schedule has given you, so use it.

At several points in my life I ran 3 or 4 times a week around 10 PM. You can drive home, eat, hang out with family, maybe take a nap and then run at 10pm, get done by 11 shower and go to sleep around 12.

I found that more sustainable than trying to do early early runs.

71 yrs old. Down every night at 9:00 and up every morning at 3:00. On the road at 4:00 and off by 6:00 (longer runs off by 7:00). Been working for me for past 10 years.

I hope you make a really good living. An hour commute each way is brutal. I had a 45 min commute for a few years and ended up moving closer to give myself some time back. Now I’m at an 18 minute commute and flexibility on hours as long as I’m in around 9AM.

If you can’t change your circumstances, run early. I prefer getting the run out of the way. The first mile is always tough, but I sit all day at a desk and I find after work runs even more difficult.

You can also shorten your prep time for running. I would think you could wake at 4am, out the door by 4:20 and back by 5:20 and on your commute by 6am.