Can I adapt to late day workouts?

Evening elliptical

Today's run (street): 3.4 miles

It wasn't much, but I managed to get in a second weekday workout this week. I decided on Tuesday that I would get back to early morning activity, starting with a 4:00 AM elliptical session. Although I'd laid out my workout stuff the night before, I woke up with a sinus headache and didn't want to deal with additional fatigue before a long drive to my office. I passed on the workout.

There's a lot happening at work right now and the energy of the day (along with a well timed hit of nasal spray) put me in much better shape by the end of the workday. I decided to do my elliptical session when I got home, even though I don't particularly like late day workouts. I had scheduled all my hybrid elliptical workouts in the mid-afternoon, so I was somewhat conditioned to the time.

My concern about doing a 6:00 PM workout was that I'd be too wound up at bedtime to fall asleep. That turned out to be a non-issue. In fact I had a great night's sleep. I may aim for after-work runs and elliptical sessions going forward, rather than return to 4:00 AM workouts. I hope I can sustain the late day energy.

I worked from home today and got out during the time between middle school and elementary school drop-offs. It was nice to have relatively empty streets and the 55° temperature, cloudy skies and moderate humidity made for great running conditions. I wore my Spiras and I'm pretty convinced at this point that I run better in more minimal running shoes. I feel guilty having the expensive, well cushioned Saucony Triumphs because I don't feel that I run that well in them.

Today's run was really nice. Besides the good weather, I felt energized and seemed to be running better than usual. I naively expected to finish my run and see numbers that matched my pre-2015 performance. Compared to how I have been running, I did measurably better, with a :40 per mile improvement over last weekend. At the same time, I'm still over a minute per mile slower than I was in early 2014.

I'm thinking about a Bethpage run tomorrow morning and, if I'm up to it, I'll aim to do my longest run in 2015.

Better late than never

Today's run (street): 3.3 miles 

We're back in Long Island after a couple of fun days on the Cape. I'd considered a repeat run on the Shining Sea Bikeway before we headed out, but Falmouth was engulfed in wind and rain. I figured I'd get in a run when we got home, if time allowed.

Although I far prefer to run in the morning, I sometimes consider going out for a few miles in the afternoon but rarely after 4:00 PM. In terms of performance, I tend to run better later in the day, but I don't enjoy the experience very much.

At 3:30 the skies were clear, with enough cloud cover to allow me to go out without sunglasses. I wore my Brooks for my planned easy run, but for some reason I went out fairly fast. I soon realized that my pace was too quick and I took down my speed after about a half a mile. I didn't feel like I was running all that well, but I was doing this workout more for fitness than for performance training.

I settled into a rhythm and toughed out my my goal distance of 5K. When I got close to my house, I saw my wife and daughter driving down the street where I was running. It was fun to see them because, after hundreds of times, it was the first time they'd seen me running in the neighborhood.

Even though it felt more like a plod than a run, I ended up pacing in the mid-9's. I'm sure that had to do with the time of day. I'd like to finish the long weekend with a trail run tomorrow morning. I'm hoping I run better when I get on the trails.