I'm not a morning person but that's the ONLY time i can run!? HELP!?

Question

I have always been a night runner, thats when i do my best and i really feel in the zone! Im a busy college student and my summer schedule doesn't allow me to run at night, unless i wanted to at 1 or 2 in the morning! I'm the farthest thing from a morning person but if i want to keep running I'll have to at 6 in the morning. Any suggestions? Would coffee help wake me? I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO!!

Answer 1

You've got a tough situation, I'm not kidding.  I am a morning person from the word go, my college-aged kids are not, and they sometimes struggle like a snake under a car tire to get out of bed and get going.

Getting up early has a lot to do with regularity of going to bed and waking up, and higher quality of sleep.  A few recommendations:

-same bed time and wake up time each day.  Even as a morning person, I need to do this to discipline my body to get up when I want to.  You'll find after a couple of weeks, you will actually be adjusting to the early rise time easier.

-don't do coffee 3 or 4 hours before bed.  Try to eat your last meal or food 2 or 3 hours before bed.  There's something about eating earlier and eating light that makes sleep easier to get into.  And the caffeine in coffee, well, you can understand that can affect sleep as well.

-with this, keep the same bed time and wake up time 7 days a week - even weekends.  By doing so, you are further making it easier for your body to adjust to the earlier wake up time.  Getting up early 5 days a week, and late on 2, means each week you will continue to struggle to slide out of bed.  Not a fun thing.

-get up an hour before you want to run, start drinking coffee.  It helps "get you going" in more ways than one.  Some say that it takes an hour for the caffeine in coffee to hit, but I think there's at least a psychological boost in gulping a few cups down.

-if you like to run with others, it's a good idea to find a group or create a group of at least 2 other people to run with at the early time you want to run.  Set the same time every day, or at least 3 days a week, to run together.  I've noticed with one of my not-morning person friends that he's been getting out early and regularly when we've got a group of 3 to run together with - and when the "group" doesn't wait for anyone but leaves at the set time.

-if you don't run 7 days a week, get up at the same time anyway and do some alternate workout at the time when you would normally start running (walking, weights, bicycle, swim).  Again, this is a matter of getting your body accustomed to this schedule, and staying used to it.

-if you like competition, sign up and pay for races 4-6 weeks out.  Having paid for a race in advance increases the incentive to train for it.  Remind yourself before bed and when you wake up, "It's only 4 weeks til the race, I've GOT to run today."  "It's only 3 weeks . . . "  Etc.

This will help!

Regards,

Running_Dad

P.s., Granted, your muscles are warmer and you're probably more awake in the p.m., but like anything else, the earlier you schedule your run the more likely you will do it!  I find early morning running = higher consistency in 'getting out there'.

Answer 2

i run for life. all i can say relly is to eat a chocolate bar i know sounds stupid but it works, and splash your face with water to wake up a little more. this will get you freshened up to run. after your run have a shower that will clean you up ready for the day. also a little run around the block wont hert at night . this will allow you for a dreamy warm sleep. hope i helped

Answer 3

you just have to not think about it, plenty of times I've just jumped out of bed and started running while still goggy...in a few minutes you'll feel good as new.