The Best Time to Run

Last week in her Fitness and Nutrition column, Gina Kolata in the New York Times had an interesting discussion about the best time of the day to exercise.  She became curious when she realized her heart rate was always lower when she exercised in the morning as opposed to the late afternoon or early evening.  She first thought this might mean that since her heart rate was lower for the same workout, she was a more efficient exerciser in the morning.

Instead, after talking to exercise researchers, Kolata discovered the following:

• Speed, power, and strength are the worst in the morning
• The same workout, in terms of perceived exertion, actually appears harder in the morning
• Everything--heart, lungs, and muscles--is more efficient later in the day. 

Of course, this flies in the face of almost every road race start time, since most begin around 8am.  But it appears that the best time for your workout is late afternoon or early evening.

I was just thinking about this the other day.  I like to exercise early in the day because there are no excuses at 6:30am.  There is no place I have to be.  And I can get it done without having to fit it in later in the day.  But there are two drawbacks.  One, I have never been able to just roll out of bed, lace up my shoes, and head out the door.  Instead, I need at least 30 minutes of awake time.  And two, these runs always require more effort; they always seem to be more laborious.

On the other hand, the last thing I want to do after work is run.  I am tired, I want to relax, and I want to eat dinner.  I know myself well enough to realize that the likelihood of my going out for a run decreases with each passing hour; by the time 7pm rolls around, I can produce a whole litany of excuses for staying home.  Yet a funny thing happens when I do run in the evening: it is effortless. I can run longer at a faster pace.  I make a mockery of hills. I breeze down long straightaways. I feel more efficient, and my form (at least to me) feels perfect. Everything feels good. 

So the evening run is paradoxical to me: I dread starting it, yet I also know that it is easy once I get started.  The morning run is easier to start, but not as easy to power through.

Comments

[Jon Murray]

I'm glad to hear there's research or at least experts to back this up. During marathon training each year, I do the bulk of my runs (except for weekend long runs) in the evenings -- though not necessarily because I'm trying to optimize my energy output. It's a function of work (having a job that doesn't end until 7 or 8pm sometimes), my inability to drag myself out of bed early, and the fact that in Indiana, dusk doesn't come until 9:30 or even close to 10p at the height of summer. When I do venture out in the morning, I always seem to drag, even if I wake up and eat some cereal first.

[Benjamin Opipari]

Jon--I am the same way. I need to be up for probably at least an hour if I run in the morning. The problem is that I spend this hour drinking coffee, answering emails, and reading the paper--all sedentary activities that do little to get my blood moving and muscles warm. So if I do run in the morning, I'll often walk for probably ten minutes before running. This helps. Still, I am so much stronger in the late afternoon.