Running at different times of day can help keep training fresh and dynamic.
How was your morning run? If you answered, “Which morning?” there could be a problem.
Many runners fall into the habit of always training at the same time of day. While this might be convenient, it could be holding you back.
Studies have shown that training at different times of the day—sometimes in the morning, sometimes at lunchtime, and sometimes in the evening—can lead to positive metabolic changes and improved endurance. Okay, it wasn’t a large-scale study (in complete transparency, there was only one subject- me) but darn it, I certainly perceived gains when I started to mix it up by training during different points of the day.
I’ve also noticed that two smaller training runs in a day seem to yield better results than one training session of the equivalent duration (i.e., 1+1=3). Intuitively this makes sense, since you are stimulating physiological adaptations to exercise twice in the same 24-hour period.
While I don’t profess to being a fitness coach, I can say that varying your workout times goes a long way toward keeping things fresh and dynamic, potentially helping to prevent burnout as well.
If you’re feeling particularly adventurous, try a midnight run during the next full moon. If the run itself fails to invigorate you, those zombies and werewolves are bound to keep you on your toes!