Early Morning Sessions

St.Brigids · 30-07-2018 10:34pm #1

Hi,
What are peoples feelings on doing a session(intervals, tempo etc) early in the morning say 8am?

TFBubendorfer · 30-07-2018 10:52pm

As long as you are properly warmed up it's perfectly doable.

8 am is not particularly early in the morning, btw

St.Brigids · 30-07-2018 10:58pm

Would have thought the same thing, however being told I am doing myself no favours doing it that early?

Swashbuckler · 30-07-2018 11:09pm

I find morning sessions very tough as the body isn't fully awake for me even with a warmup and I usually haven't eaten. In terms of whether you should or shouldn't do them in the morning I can't think of any reason why not. They may just feel tougher. Although not ideal to be doing sessions on an empty stomach I would think.

coogy · 31-07-2018 12:05am

I've become completely accustomed to early morning starts now, particularly at the weekend. It wouldn't be unusual for me to be up at 5:45am and heading out the door by about 6:15.
Great feeling when you return home and the rest of the family are just waking up!!

TFBubendorfer · 31-07-2018 7:25am

St.Brigids wrote: »

Would have thought the same thing, however being told I am doing myself no favours doing it that early?

You won't quite hit the same numbers than if you were doing the session in the afternoon because of physiological factors - you hit your physical peak in the afternoon and the morning numbers will always lag behind by a small margin.

However, it certainly won't do you any harm, provided you are well warmed up, if that's what the warning was all about.

If early mornings suits you better than evening sessions then there is no real compelling reason not to do them in the morning.

overpronator · 31-07-2018 8:06am

Most races are in the morning, before noon anyway so it's probably not a bad thing to get used to. Not that I do it myself!

St.Brigids · 31-07-2018 9:43pm

Well I have been doing session before work and now being told by coach not to.

Swashbuckler · 31-07-2018 9:44pm

St.Brigids wrote:

Well I have been doing session before work and now being told by coach not to.

For what reason?

St.Brigids · 31-07-2018 9:45pm

Saying it is not doing me any favours and I will run myself into the ground? Was did 6x 5mins off 1 min

Swashbuckler · 31-07-2018 10:03pm

St.Brigids wrote:

Saying it is not doing me any favours and I will run myself into the ground? Was did 6x 5mins off 1 min

It's hard to tell what he means without knowing what the rest of your training looks like. Out of context, running morning sessions is no issue but in the context of you running multiple hard days in a week, or not recovering or not getting enough sleep your coach may be right.

skyblue46 · 31-07-2018 11:08pm

St.Brigids wrote: »

Saying it is not doing me any favours and I will run myself into the ground? Was did 6x 5mins off 1 min

5 mins at what pace?

St.Brigids · 31-07-2018 11:12pm

was at 10k pace

skyblue46 · 31-07-2018 11:18pm

St.Brigids wrote: »

was at 10k pace

Ah grand. Anyway back to your question. I work shifts and do sessions at any time between 6am and 8pm. I can't say I noticed any difference between them.

St.Brigids · 31-07-2018 11:21pm

Thank a million for the backup. I work 10-6. Morning suits better as anything can come up in the evening. I really didn't think it made much difference myself.

Duanington · 01-08-2018 10:48am

They can be a little tougher on the body ( and the mind) but I can't think of any reason not to do them, we have to work with the windows of opportunity we have !
I've done Saturday morning sessions for quite a while now, sometimes out on empty and while they can feel that bit tougher, I think once you don't fret over hitting certain numbers you can't really go wrong

BeepBeep67 · 01-08-2018 12:16pm

Preparing for a morning session begins the night before, experiment with what you eat, how much you eat and when you eat and obviously when you need to hit the hay.

Lazare · 02-08-2018 10:01pm

St.Brigids wrote: »

Hi,
What are peoples feelings on doing a session(intervals, tempo etc) early in the morning say 8am?

Currently doing my Wed sessions early mornings, around 5:30. Marathon training, so it's long runs with stuff, hence the 5:30.

I don't have a choice, but if I did I would still do sessions early morning. When you run early, you're forced to sleep well. 10pm sleeping does wonders for recovery.

Trampas · 02-08-2018 10:11pm

I sometimes fall out of bed into my running gear and out the door 5:30-6am. Do my usual 10-15 minute warm up.

I could do anything from 1km to 3 mile intervals or longer tempo runs.

If anything your heart rate might be a few beats lower.

Nothing better than having your run done early than having it hanging over your head all day

St.Brigids · 02-08-2018 10:19pm

Trampas wrote: »

I sometimes fall out of bed into my running gear and out the door 5:30-6am. Do my usual 10-15 minute warm up.

I could do anything from 1km to 3 mile intervals or longer tempo runs.

If anything your heart rate might be a few beats lower.

Nothing better than having your run done early than having it hanging over your head all day

Thanks a mil, This is how I feel also. I prefer to have it done. Its not nice having it sitting over you after a day of work, if you can get it done earlier at a reasonable enough time.

RayCun · 03-08-2018 6:25am

Your heart rate being a few beats lower points to the problem, actually. Early in the morning, your body is just not as ready for a hard session. You are unlikely to be able to hit the same paces and the same effort levels as you would a few hours later.

If you look at professional athletes, they don't roll out of bed and straight into a session. They do their hard work after they've been up a few hours.

We're not professionals, we have to fit our training around work and other commitments, and sometimes that means doing sessions first thing, or late at night, or squeezed into a lunch break. But just because that's when we have to do it doesn't mean it's a good time to do it.

Swashbuckler · 03-08-2018 7:25am

I'm still a bit puzzled as to why your coach thinks you're flogging yourself. It points to more than just early morning sessions to me.

MY BAD · 03-08-2018 3:13pm

Early morning sessions are grand, I suppose there is a higher risk of injury if your not fully warmed up. If I can't get to training in the evening I'll do an morning session but I won't preform at the same level as you would in the late afternoon. Two main reasons, your core body temperature is cooler in the morning so muscles aren't firing on all cylinders and your body produces more testosterscone during sessions in late afternoon compared to morning. It's good practice for your body if you plan to race in the morning doing am sessions but I find I race better in the evening.

St.Brigids · 03-08-2018 8:40pm

Swashbuckler wrote: »

I'm still a bit puzzled as to why your coach thinks you're flogging yourself. It points to more than just early morning sessions to me.

He said I can't continue to do them early as i'm hardly awake. That will have to do them in the evening or else just run.

MY BAD · 08-08-2018 9:24pm

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

Preparing for a morning session begins the night before, experiment with what you eat, how much you eat and when you eat and obviously when you need to hit the hay.

Out of interest what's your evening routine if you've a early morning session planned?

Early Morning Sessions

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