Calling all early morning runners(6am or earlier)

I have a commute most of the time of ~60min, so the way I do it is 430 wakeup, 445 in the car headed to work location, 545 arrive/start running, usually done running by 645 and my building has a shower so I'm at my desk at 7. I drink my coffee in the car and there's a porta-potty ~1mi into my usual route if need be. If I'm planning to run harder that day I might take a gel, otherwise I just roll with the black coffee.

If it isn't a commute day I wake up ~45min before I want to run (long enough to get moving a little bit, make a cup of coffee and hit the toilet).

The trouble you may run into is going to the bathroom. I wake an hour earlier, but this only works about 1/2 the time. Coffee only for me. Luckily there is porta potty enroute. Your first few miles will be slower than normal. but then the back half may be faster because it is cooler and or less windy in the morning.

You feel great all day compared to just half the day (lunch running) or the end of the day (evening running)

Highly recommended

I’ll agree with that, running in the afternoon or evening is harder for me then morning runs, but recently have been going out between 5:30-6 and you’re right the first few miles are slow and rough on some runs then much better. Some runs suck all together.

Coffee is a must, some water and I’m out the door. Super stiff(need to roll more) and tired/barely awake. I’ve been giving myself 30-45min before heading out. No idea how people do this year round

When I ran in the morning I disliked it. I only did easy runs in the morning.

I would wake up between 5:00 and 5:30, throw on shorts and shoes, drink a glass of gatorade, do some light dynamic stretching/warm-up and be out the door within 30 minutes.

I didn't have time to wait for my morning poop schedule, so I would feel uncomfortable on some runs, and I definitely wasn't going to risk trying any faster efforts. I always felt stiff, low on energy relative to running at any other time of day.

The only purpose to early morning running I can see is adding miles to get huge mileage volume or just squeezing in runs at the only time available in your daily life. Definitely not ideal.

What works do me is getting out the door very soon after getting up, often still half asleep, so as to not give myself time or a reason to not go out the door.

I get up at 6:21, go to the toilet, get changed and am usually out the door at ~6:30. I found that I used to be hungry when I woke up, but over time it went away. I cap my runs at an 60 mins.

I sometimes get a stiff Achilles, so I always start off slowly for the first mile or two while I get into things (and wake up properly). If you’re doing something faster make sure to warm up properly (probably a little longer than you’re used to just in case.

Full time job, 1 year old daughter, hour commute to work, don’t finish till 7pm a few days per week so running at 6am is a year round thing for me.

Most days I wake up or at least try to wake up 45 mins before I leave. First I drink water, as much as feels necessary, I then get dressed and immediately head for my morning poo. About 15 mins or so of foam rolling, light drills just to get the body moving and then off I go.

Major key for me was laying out all my kit the night before just like you would for a race, not drinking coffee beforehand to avoid developing dependence on it and trying my best not to eat too soon before bed(this one seems to help most in the reduction of wild poos).

Wake up At 3:30 M to F, Moka Pot espresso, out the door after dump at 4:15 am. Hour commute in LA and have to be at work by 7:15 am. Traffic horrendous after work and don’t like running after work. Been doing it 4 yrs now. Weekend sleep in and run in the sun. Glad no kids though. It would kill me.

I run first thing in the morning because (a) I just can't stand to run with anything in my stomach, and (b) it's the only time I can be sure of actually having the time to myself to do it.

On a typical work day (pre-COVID work-at-home!) I would get up about 4:40 am, start the coffeemaker, get dressed to run, gulp down half a cup of coffee, use the bathroom (hopefully both #1 and #2), and hit the road about 5:00 am. Typically I run for about 90 minutes. On the rare occasions when I can't make #2, I run several small loops so that if caught by surprise I can get back home fairly quickly and take care of it.

On weekend I usually sleep about 45 min later and give myself an extra 15 minutes or so to wake up and warm up, so I start more like 6 am. Only in the middle of summer, when it quickly gets too hot, do I start my weekend runs at 5 am.

This has been working for me for about 35 years. I do need a little more time to warm up in the morning at age 61 than I did at age 30.

And even when doing long marathon training runs, I never eat before running. For runs longer than about 16 miles I carry a couple of gels and down them during the run.

Wake up and roll out of bed. Throw on shorts, socks, shoes and head out. I have been half asleep many runs but that doesn't usually matter too much.

I eat a banana ~1 hour before hard efforts but otherwise just roll fasted.

When I first started running, I would run whenever I could fit it in. (This was pre-marriage/kids) I always had stomach issues. I knew a neighbor that was an avid runner and I asked her about stomach issues and she said, "I have one solution that works for me...coffee!"

Literally, from that day forward i would drink a cup of coffee about 1-hour before my runs and it worked like a charm.

As I got older, married, kids, etc., I needed to get my runs in early so I would usually get up around 4 am, make a cup of coffee, read walk around and once the stomach issues were behind me, hit the road.

The running group I run with a few times a week meet anywhere from 5:15 - 6:00 am (weekends). Since we have a pretty decent group of regulars, they have become good friends. I always joke that our social life is from 5:30 to 7 am. Several of the guys in the group are the ones who fall out of bed into their shoes and are there at the start and are still sleeping. And they always have to ditch off into the woods to brown pin somewhere...

I wake up at 4am, 2 cups of coffee, bowl of cereal, start the run between 4:50-5:00. Usually hit up a porta potty 2 miles in for a bathroom break. Get in 70-80 minutes, in the shower by 6:30, breakfast, leave for work at 6:55. I used to not eat or drink before going, but I’ve found I feel way better giving myself an hr to wake up. My last 30 min of running are usually 30-40sec faster per mile, than my first 30 min with the same effort

Here's what my routine looks like on weekdays (pre-COVID anyway...can get up a little later now without a drive to the office/schools closed). For context, I have two toddler boys and both my wife and I work full-time.

Up at 4:30

Get dressed

Double shot of espresso (Jura A1 machine)

Put on shoes, do a little dynamic stretching

Poop

Out the door by 5

Back by 6

Shower, get dressed

Help get kids ready, eat breakfast

Head to office by 7:30

wake up at 5 am, take a sip of water or two, 10-12 miles and then breakfast

* Up at 4AM grab the clothes I laid out the night before.

* Go downstairs in underwear and brew a cup of coffee.

* Drink coffee and if doing a workout also eat a banana.

* Go to the bathroom.

* Get dressed and put on shoes.

* Do a minute or two of foam rolling on my calves.

* Out the door by 4:25-4:30

1. wake up 5:00, get out of bed immediately, no snoozing! hoka slippers are right by my bed side, helps me get walking.

2. pour auto drip coffee, eat banana

3. sip coffee while scrolling through phone for about half an hour. Take a glug or 2 of water if I feel like it.

4. coffee poop

5. get dressed, head out the door around 5:50, first mile is almost always about a minute slower than what I end up averaging that day but that's fine. and I usually stop to pee somewhere during the run, maybe that's the coffee, but that's also just a fun part of running.

I LOVE running early in the morning. The earlier the better and almost always predawn at the start. Nowadays I do a mixture of tempo and easy runs on an isolated wooded trail. Sometimes a fartlek. Saturday is reserved for long runs. And I always run in a fasted state.

Like others I just have a cup of coffee and then out the door. And having to relieve myself is never an issue since I'm usually the only one out there that early. I used to include track workouts when I was racing, but those too were in the early a.m.

I use to do a morning run, but not anymore. Never really liked it, especially in the winter.

Woke up a 5 out the door by 5:30

Drank a glass of water

Little to no stretch

Always pooped before heading out, if I didn't it was going to be a problem

Legs always stiff and uncomfortable the first mile

Never ran more than 5 miles and rarely pushed hard

Did a light stretch afterwards, showered and headed off to work

When I stopped competing I could no longer do morning runs

EarlyAF wrote:

What’s your routine? How early do you get up before your run? 30min 60min? Do you eat? Drink?

I’ve been struggling with energy in the AM and not sure if I need to wake up earlier to feel more awake during my run or what. Wanted to hear about what some people are doing out there

I run before work, around 4 am. I get up 5-10 mins before I run, max. I do not eat, may or may not drink a small amount of water. I also run after work, and do most of my mileage then.

During normal times and during my kid's school year:

I wake up at @4:00 (no alarm).

Go downstairs

Cup of coffee from Keurig

Go into basement man cave, drink coffee and surf the net (weather.com, letsrun.com, Drudge)

Poop

Put on Seth DeMoor (or other running ) video and get into running clothes and stretch while watching

Out the door by around 5

Since the shut down, I get up a little later