Why am I so much slower in the mornings?

I work as a doctor, currently in fellowship (cardiology).

As a result I do all my runs at 4am, including workouts.

Your muscles are stiff, not adequate blood flow to your skeletal muscles.

The answer for you is simple. It works amazing for me and it's something I read that Floyd mayweather does during training .

Take a hot shower as soon as you wake up.

Stand in the shower stall for about 10 mins, do a few stretches while you're taking a shower. Let the steam enter your nostrils (singers have been known to inhale steam to open up their airways prior to events).

And let the water hit your legs, calves. And the water should be hot, but not unbearably hot.

Oh and drink a little bit of caffeine prior to the hot shower so by the time you're done with the shower the caffeine begins to take effect.

I only use caffeine on workout days. Ok easy run days you don't need it.

Heartdoccc wrote:

I work as a doctor, currently in fellowship (cardiology).

As a result I do all my runs at 4am, including workouts.

Your muscles are stiff

No, doc, the muscles are loose in the morning, not stiff. If they feel stiff to you, that is because you are walking awkwardly. But as adrenaline levels rise, so does muscle stiffness, allowing a more springy stride.

what it is wrote:

Heartdoccc wrote:

I work as a doctor, currently in fellowship (cardiology).

As a result I do all my runs at 4am, including workouts.

Your muscles are stiff

No, doc, the muscles are loose in the morning, not stiff. If they feel stiff to you, that is because you are walking awkwardly. But as adrenaline levels rise, so does muscle stiffness, allowing a more springy stride.

Why can't I touch my toes in the morning, or my knees for that matter?

Back in the day we were told start out 1 minute/mile slower if you were running first thing in the morning. Usually go for an easy 30-minute five miler? Head out the door at 7 mins/mile until you feel awake and warmed up.

Heartdoccc wrote:

Oh and drink a little bit of caffeine prior to the hot shower so by the time you're done with the shower the caffeine begins to take effect.

I only use caffeine on workout days. Ok easy run days you don't need it.

And this...is why I post here. Tried the shower trick and the get-out-of-bed shuffle jog and ran this morning like it was the afternoon. Problem solved. Thank you guys!!!!

My normal run is 8 miles at 5 AM

If I do the same route at 5 PM it is normally 3- 6 minutes faster. But at 51 these bones take awhile to loosen up.

what it is wrote:

It's a lack of adrenaline. It builds up during the day. Unless someone wakes you up by making a very loud noise such as banging on your door, or any other scary scenario, in which case your adrenaline level will shoot up dramatically.

The solution is simple. Begin each of your sleepy morning runs with the crisp crack of a starter pistol.

i'd love to see that article. i cannot find it online anywhere.do you have it by chance?

a dog wrote:

are you a fast twitcher? Hadd has written that ft'ers tend to be more sluggish in the morning without sugar in them.

You may feel better if you poop beforehand.

(seriously)

drink a cup of coffee, give yourself an hour to wake up, do active stretching... boom

get used to it if you want to run seriously past college in the real world

what is it,

The reason you can't touch your toes in the am is because of imbibition. The intervertebral discs (the discs in your back) take on fluid during the period of time which you are supine (lying on your back). The lack of vertical forces on your spine allows the disc to take on water during your periods of sleep. When you wake it takes about 30-60 min being vertical for the discs to lose some of the fluid they took on during the night (same reason you are taller in the morning).

When you flex forward (attempting to touch your toes) the discs do not compress as well (natural function of water to not compress so well), this causes a relative limited range of motion, as you are unable to flex the lumbar and the thoracic spine completely. This is the same reason you are more likely to injure your lumbar spine in the am as well.

There are those of you who can touch your toes in the am, these individuals probably have hyperflexible hamstrings and pelvic tilting allowing most of the flexion to come from the hips/pelvis and not from the thoracolumbar junction.

I hope this answers your question about not being able to touch your toes.

Unfortunately, I am not going to delve into the reasons why you are slower in the morning. There obviously is a lot of speculation on the matter, but there are also some hard facts with regards to the matter. I will leave this to you to figure out.

Because you touch yourself at night...

I learned something new today. Thank you.

I'm a terrible morning person but have begun to do many runs early due to family obligations. Only thing that works for me is to get up early, drink some coffee, eat something light, and then hit the bathroom. Usually need one hour awake minimum before beginning run, although 90 minutes is ideal. On race days I get up 3-4 hours before the race. If you're properly rested otherwise, sleep the night before a race doesn't matter much. In fact, I've generally learned that I can train equally well on less sleep, just takes a few months to adapt.

some excellent advice in this thread, thanks guys.

now my question: I have the same issue, usually don't do workouts in the morning because of that. if I have to, I have to do them at a slower pace. so, I'm feeling as exhausted but running slower. the question is, is the training effect lower as well? any differences for R,I,T,M pace training? (just using JD's paces here because everyone knows them)