Any suggestions on getting up for a morning race and feeling awake/not sluggish?

Drink some 5 hour energy.

I have the same problem - tend to do my running at lunchtime and early evenings and find that effort (and heart rate) required to run in the mornings is significantly higher.

For key races with 9am starts I wake up around 5am and immediately go out to jog for about 10mins. Then follow usual routines (I usually have 2 cups of black coffee and a cold-ish shower to help wake up). Find that my body is 'tricked' into thinking 9am is more like lunchtime and usually performs as expected.

RunnerDoom wrote:

I have the same problem - tend to do my running at lunchtime and early evenings and find that effort (and heart rate) required to run in the mornings is significantly higher.

For key races with 9am starts I wake up around 5am and immediately go out to jog for about 10mins. Then follow usual routines (I usually have 2 cups of black coffee and a cold-ish shower to help wake up). Find that my body is 'tricked' into thinking 9am is more like lunchtime and usually performs as expected.

this is what I do too - a shakeout run around 3 hours before the race - wakes me up and gets me more ready to run fast early.

eat breakfast 2 hours before, get up before that, maybe jog for like 5 minutes or so before breakfast

Get up early (perhaps up to 4hours before). I've gotten up at 4:30 for an 8am start before. Obvously coffee helps. Caffeine hits me hard and can cause digestive problems for me. However, if I drink 4-6oz, it's enough to kick start my body without causing other issues. Lastly, a cool or cold shower will get you going.

I do most of my runs in the evening and when I try to train in the morning my pace is significantly slower, but for races this strategy works well and I usually don't notice any problems.

Thanks all, how can I work on getting up earlier when I usually get up around 9-10 AM? Should I practice sleeping earlier and slowly wake up earlier and earlier in increments?

Shake out run.

Or do something exciting. I live 3/4 of a mile uphill from campus at my college. This year I plan on riding my bike full speed down the hill to catch our early meet buses, the idea being that it'll get the blood flowing and some excitement building.

I try to gradually get my wake-up time to where I want it over a week or so.

I also find it's more important for me to get a good nights sleep (and maybe sleep in) 2 nights before, then keep it on the short side the night before - i feel more alert that way.

Try leaving the curtains up and waking up with the dawn light - makes me feel a lot fresher (but my girlfriend hates it!)

roll in the sheets w/ the wife or GF

shower

leave for race

jump start your day wrote:

roll in the sheets w/ the wife or GF

shower

leave for race

will german be ok with that?

what i do is focus on good sleep 2 nights before and a quick shower race 2-3 hours before the race. but im generally too pumped for a race that i dont have trouble waking up. falling to sleep is the bigger problem

Cold water

Thing is for a 9 AM race, I was thinking of being up at 4 am because that will give me time to wake up. so i was thinking, gradually start waking up between 7-8 am, then the day before the race, take a long nap in the afternoon. then go to sleep around 10-11 and call it another nap, waking up at 4 am. how does that sound?

question...?? wrote:

Thing is for a 9 AM race, I was thinking of being up at 4 am because that will give me time to wake up. so i was thinking, gradually start waking up between 7-8 am, then the day before the race, take a long nap in the afternoon. then go to sleep around 10-11 and call it another nap, waking up at 4 am. how does that sound?

Goodness, that seems extreme. I'd say wake up at 7:00, have a cup of coffee, and be done with it. That strategy has never failed for me, plus it gets things moving to the point where I can get all bathroom requirements out of the way a good hour before the race. You're going to be a little more amped for a race than you are for your daily run anyway, I would think.

But to each their own, I guess.

That sounds awful. Here's what you need to do. Wake up at 6:15ish, roll out of bed, put your running shoes on, run(or even walk if you want) for 5-10min, come back and do some quick stretches if you like, eat a small breakfast, and you're ready to go!!

The thing is that this is an important race and I want to be completely alert. The past races/workouts I have done have all been in the evening so I've had plenty of time to wake up, move around, etc. I always seem to go slower on the morning runs.

4:30 seems extremely early.

I'd recommend a 6:30AM wake up. Walk for 10 minutes then jog back home. When you get home, take a cold shower and eat a good breakfast. Don't do anything special like drink coffee unless that's part of your normal breakfast. If you have time before you need to leave, get in a good stretch.

Leave well prior to the race so you have time to get there and walk/jog the course (unless it's a track race). This allows your body to warm-up and you'll be able to know what the course is like. Stretch out, stay loose and do a few striders right before the race. With the adrenaline and mindset of a race, I'm sure you'll be fine.

Best of luck!

question...?? wrote:

The thing is that this is an important race and I want to be completely alert. The past races/workouts I have done have all been in the evening so I've had plenty of time to wake up, move around, etc. I always seem to go slower on the morning runs.

I think you waited a little late to plan for this race. I once read Gelindo Bordin adapted his 'biological clock' to Seoul time while training for the '88 games. He did workouts based on the timezone in which he was going to race. That seemed to have worked out OK.