Skip to main content

Morning Runs: A Pros/Cons List

It's that time of year when the weather is so oppressive that even waiting until after 7:00pm offers little relief from the heat and humidity. So I have switched my weekday runs mostly to mornings. This week, I have completed an astonishing three runs all before 8:00am (I know, that's not terribly early, but I don't have to be to work until 9:00am). I did two six-milers and a nine-miler. Here are the pros and cons, as I see them, of running in the morning versus the evening:

Pros
  1. My workout is out of the way for the day.
  2. I'm more energized going into work.
  3. My evening is free. I can do household chores that often get neglected, cook dinner, go to yoga--the options are endless!
  4. I get some solo running time.
  5. I get to see the sunrise. 
Cons
  1. It's more challenging to get started.
  2. I'm likely to eat more throughout the day at work (more than necessary).
  3. I'm too tired in the evening to do productive things.
  4. I (sometimes) miss running with friends in group runs.
  5. It can still get hot quickly, and the humidity is pretty much full-on 24/7 this time of year.
Obviously the list of pros outweighs the list of cons for me, or I wouldn't be making the change; but I do hope to spend my evenings doing more productive things. I'm just excited to have the free time right now. 

I've also added a protein mix into my diet for those days with morning runs, as my weekly mileage is creeping up and only getting higher in the coming weeks. I'm using the Garden of Life RAW Protein mix, which is vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, and soy-free. What's left, you ask? Grain, bean, legume, and seed protein. It doesn't offer as much protein as the whey and soy formulas, but that's okay with me. It's still 17g per serving that I wasn't previously getting. I have the chocolate flavor, and I won't go as far as to say it's delicious, but it's not bad, for a protein mix. It's also very low in sugar--less than 1g per serving--so it's unsurprising that the flavor isn't great. Ideally, I would make this into a smoothie with a banana, some raw honey, and almond milk. But I'm too lazy to get out the blender and then deal with the mess in my limited morning time, so I just add a little bit of almond milk and some water, stir it up, and call it a protein drink.

I'm off to Ohio this afternoon to visit family and friends. I'm hoping to get in an 18-miler while I'm there. The lows are currently in the 60s up there, so I'm very excited about running in the cooler temps!
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

People Liked to Read...

Surgery Chronicles: 12 Weeks and Progress

I'm now more than 12 weeks recovered from my second (and final!) foot surgery, and life is starting to feel a little more normal. When I last wrote an update, seven weeks ago (still blaming Irma for all of my delays), I had just gotten off of crutches but would wear my boot for two more weeks. I've been out of the boot and walking in shoes for just over five weeks. The constant discomfort I've felt in my foot from swelling is finally starting to wane. I work in the office now, I do my own groceries, and I even attended a work conference recently, which meant lots of walking at airports and the conference hotel, frequent standing, and few opportunities to elevate and ice. I was very concerned about how my feet, particularly the left one, would endure. And while it wasn't comfortable, I made it through, no worse for the wear in the end.

I joined a new gym/community center recently, with a new and beautiful outdoor pool, and I'm so happy that I'm able to use it n…
2 comments
Read more

Irma: A (Mostly) Photo Essay

For nearly three weeks I've struggled to find the right words to write about Hurricane Irma, which destroyed islands in the Caribbean, then hit South Florida, eventually coming up the center of the state. The Tampa Bay region got really lucky in the end, as it avoided a direct hit and the storm had diminished to a category 2 by the time it arrived. And now Puerto Rico is experiencing a humanitarian crisis after being pummeled by Hurricane Maria. My heart goes out to those people.

My plan when severe weather is forecast to for Tampa is always to go to my sister's house, as the area I live in is highly flood prone and she is on higher ground. This time was no exception; however, her plan was different. She wanted to leave, head north, get out of the state, and she wanted me to go with her and the rest of the family. But I was not in a place to pack up and leave. I had real concerns about my foot recovery; I was about eight weeks post-surgery and very newly out of the boot and in…
Post a Comment
Read more

Surgery Chronicles: I Exhale

I've really been holding my breath with this recovery, more so than the last one for some reason. After getting past the three-week point (which was two weeks ago, when I started to write this), I felt a little more at ease. Since then I've been changing my own dressing daily and slowly weaning off of crutches so I can now walk around in the boot—hands-free! I'm still a slave to icing and elevating as much as possible throughout the day. But the very best part? There's no other foot left to do. After this, I'm done, done, done. I can start to return to a life not defined by sitting and waiting and feeling confined and limited and trying my hardest to heal but having little actual control over any of it.

I wrote in my last post about the difficult emotions I'd been having throughout this second surgery recovery. I think I underestimated the psychological toll I would take doing one foot right after the other. And while there was a feeling of elation after gettin…
Post a Comment
Read more