If you’re a morning runner (some people say that is a better way to do it) this question is pretty much irrelevant. I mean, start your day.
Me, I’m kind of “I run when I want to but mostly when I need to” person so wether it is in the morning, early afternoon or evening it’s all good. Don’t take me for some marathoner, though. Just a regular everyday guy who enjoys running on treadmills and running outside from time to time. As for the why, I run so that I don’t go mad, to kill stress, to relax and of course, to keep in better shape so that I can drink more beer. Anytime I feel I would just explode, I put on my Asics Kayano 20 running shoes on and either go out for a run, or find a gym where I can beat myself against the machine.
But the best thing always comes aprés run. For several reasons, so here are the reasons why to run in the morning afternoon or evening, and what to do after:
Running in the morning
Ok, so sometimes even I do this, but if you are one of those who want to keep killer fresh looks, do it in the morning. Now, sleeping over is ok too. Not because you’re a lazy-ass (or a night hawk, whatever) and you like to sleep more in the morning.
Anyway, if you do take a run in the morning it should most certainly be before breakfast. Those 4-5 miles (or when you feel strong, say 5,5 miles) are preparing you for a good day and an even better breakfast because mostly you will get home pretty hungry. But since you already burned like 10,000 calories or something, there is no problem with eating a healthy breakfast. I mean, like, really a lot. Like a boss.
Personal story: sometimes I surprise my body with a shower before breakfast too, but there are times when I just like to feel the sweat vaporising away from my body. Gross, I know, but it cools me off before shower and I don’t get too shocked when I do blast my body with gallons of cold water.
If you have to go to work, well then there is no doubt. You gotta shower right?
People say it’s better to go for a run in the morning because it does stuff to your muscles. Like, burns away the good acidic milky-something-something and keeps your muscles lean and shockingly sexy. So, there’s your science.
Afternoon run
The problem, or the benefit of an afternoon run is both the same: the whole day is about this. If you are not working from home (like I do sometimes), then this is only possible if you go to the gym nearest to your office. Which is OK. Actually if you look around big cities, they are all full of people who either go to gym or for a run in the nearest or fanciest park. This is why you always see people jogging in New York Central Park during lunch time. Actually you see them all the time if you pay attention, but the number of runners during lunch time is pretty big.
Anyway, so, afternoon run is kind of a stress relief exercise. I would suggest it to people who work at home, entrepreneurs. You do it because you want to forget for at least an hour that you are a manager and your people probably hate you (everyone hates the Boss). That you have customers who love you but always want to have your services for less money. And that you also have suppliers who are constantly late. Sometimes just reading all those emails makes you want to quit. Or puke. Or both. Too bad, if you own your company it’s really hard to get fired. Anyway a good afternoon run (just don’t do it immediately after lunch) is always “in ordnung” as the Germans say.
Why? Because for a whole hour, and maybe another 20 minutes after if you make time to go for a shower, you can forget about finances and management and clients and orders and all that crap.
Me personally, I just put some good old heavy metal music and use my supersonic Jarv Joggerz BT-301 Bluetooth Headphones (Amazon) and of I go: meditate on those bands with angry guitar riffs and powerful drums. Kidding, meditation is not really about heavy metal, but sometimes heavy metal and running go well together.
Also, if you still want to be available, these headphones are okay-ish because they have a built in microphone, so if someone calls during your run you can answer and chit chat. And even though they hear you puffing and panting, at least they do get an answer, or a quote, or something that sounds like “please can I call you back once I can breath normally again?”.
Luckily, if you are working from home, you will get calls only when something really important happens. Which can be often or not. Probably not (speaking from own experience). Now that’s the true calling and a great career, huh? Oh well, at least we have time to run.
So what happens after a midday run? For a reason well known to any runner, the pain of the morning and half of a day that looked like All Hell got Lose is finally gone. The energy is refilled and you are ready to take the rest of your long hours of work without thinking about burn out. So after an afternoon run, you can easily go back and do more stuff. Finish the projects you were working on, close the deals that needed closin’ and still feel you have energy and time to attend to your family later.
What about if you run at night? Batman style?
Night runs or jogs (is that a word?) are good for those who have spent their whole day in the office but are not yet ready to sit in front of their big-ass television set and grow their beer belly. Speaking of beer: I love the fact that people who run more can drink more beer. Why? Because you burn more calories ‘n’ shit and then you just put it back with beer’s empty calories, so even if you did have your usual dozen (kiddin’) pints, you’re still just on zero ground.
And then there are all those benefits of drinking a beer or two after a long run. Seriously. All them ingredients, and the hydration, and the relaxing power of Vitamin B (beer is full of that) just helps. Never hurts. Well unless you really drink a dozen. But that’s not the case with you. Cause you’re better than that and always stop at 10.
Finally THEN you can sit in front of your big-ass TV set and watch it until the day or actually, the night is long. Or be with your family because family is important even for runners. They love you, just think you’re a weirdo. But don’t cave in, never stop running. Just keep in mind not to drink when you’re around your kids.
Back to night runs. This is the perfect time to reflect on your day – and any given day is stressful when you’re a business owner – clear your thoughts, push away the daily job routine out of your mind and let the relaxation and peacefulness flow in. If you set your mind at ease during your long evening run you’re helping yourself a lot. It’s a great stress relief and a great way to reset your mind before going deep into the rest of the night. Or sleep. It makes you just a little bit more tired, but happy. Because running makes you happy wether you like it or not.
So what do you do after run? Smash your thoughts in the comments below and share it with us.
