Morning vs. Night Running

A big question I often  ask myself is whether it is better to run in the morning or at night. Both hold very specific advantages and it seems like both have their own avid supporters in the running community. So I have decided to make a pros and cons list of each time of the day.

Morning

Everyone says its good to get up and exercise first thing in the morning in order to start your day off right. Its good for immune system and those who do get up to do physical activity swear they have marked improvement of energy throughout out their day. But lets be honest. When that alarm goes off at 5 or 6 A.M. on a Monday morning, waking up and running a 5K is not at the top of my list of things I want to do. So here is the list of pros and cons.

Pros

• good start to day
• less traffic
• more time to the day
• helps metabolism start its day off right
• you have the rest of the to do everything else
• makes you feel good all day

Cons

• tired running is bad running
• muscles aren’t fully warmed up
• outside temps aren’t fully desirable
• bed head
• injury/soreness follow you the rest of the day

As for night running advocates believe it is the best way to relieve stress and unwind from a long day. A nice shower before bed usually feels pretty nice. But above all else that extra hour or two of sleep in the morning never felt so good. On the flip side after a long day of classes or work I wouldn’t mind turning on the TV and simply not moving a very long period of time. Who wants to run when their favorite TV show or sporting event is on? Not me. But just to get things right lets make a list.

Pros

• stress relief
• sleep later
• burns extra calories built up from the day
• night runs can be relaxing
• no natural time constraints (work or school)
• becomes cooler the longer you go.

Cons

• Can’t sit and relax after work or class
• miss night time free time (socializing, TV, Internet, etc.)
• night time dangers
• bugs
• lack of light

Hope this list helps weight the best and worse of these two options. However the best suggestion that I can give to is to simply run when you are most likely to enjoy the run.