Racing in the morning

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Sep 2021
1:00pm, 25 Sep 2021
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speedy_cuttlefish
I wanted to get others thoughts and experiences with morning racing, and in particularly anyone who has struggled to run as well in the morning as they do at other times of day.

I find that I am very inconsistent running park run at 9am, but more consistent with afternoon or evening races. Occasionally it will go well and I will run a good time but quite often I find that I am well down on pace for a similar perceived effort level (e.g. 10 seconds per km slower). I always try and make sure that i am up 2 hours before and have a 2km warmup, but need to change something and am not quite sure what…
Sep 2021
1:26pm, 25 Sep 2021
1,885 posts
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Mushroom
Welcome to Fetch!

I personally prefer a morning run - I'm more motivated and enjoy cooler temperatures.

There's a whole spectrum on here though - you just have to see the variety of times people go out for runs. I'm sure someone will be along soon to share their tips.
Sep 2021
3:22pm, 25 Sep 2021
7,138 posts
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Surrey Phil
Like Mushroom, I prefer a morning run. It's cooler, better air and less traffic and people around.

I don't do parkrun but I would rather a race starts at 9.00 am than an hour later. You can breakfast anytime before midday but a mid to late morning marathon start messes up lunch.
Sep 2021
3:41pm, 25 Sep 2021
7,413 posts
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Dooogs
I'm the same, cuttlefish - I'm far happier running between 7-10pm (no, not for three hours) than any other time of day. I've barely ever done any evening races, though - they nearly always seem to be starting between 9am and 10.30am...
Sep 2021
9:03am, 27 Sep 2021
21,248 posts
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DeeGee
In the days when I used to put in a decent effort, I preferred evening 5 and 10ks to morning ones, and find I can put in a better effort at night for a shorter, fatser paced training run, but I can't run long after eating a proper meal, I'm too sluggish, so for HM and Marathon I fuel well the night before and then run either fasting or after a very light breakfast, and then eat all the foods.
Sep 2021
11:02am, 27 Sep 2021
15,522 posts
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larkim
If you race a long race in the evening you miss out on that "sitting in front of the TV tending to your legs" luxury!

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About This Thread

Maintained by speedy_cuttlefish
I wanted to get others thoughts and experiences with morning racing, and in particularly anyone who has struggled to run as well in the morning as they do at other times of day.

I find that I am very inconsistent running park run at 9am, but more consistent with afternoon or evening races. Occasionally it will go well and I will run a good time but quite often I find that I am well down on pace for a similar perceived effort level (e.g. 10 seconds per km slower). I always try and make sure t...

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