The 9 to 5 always becomes that little bit harder in the winter months, doesn’t it? You find yourself working all through the day, and when night approaches, you swiftly leave the office to relax and plonk yourself in front of the latest ‘thing’ on Netflix. Even worse, in more recent times, that ‘office’ has likely become your living room or bedroom; making detaching yourself from these environments after a long day even harder. Well, what if we told you that night running could be the answer?
Usually, you’d take one look outside of the window and determine that it’s too dark to even contemplate going for a run. You tell yourself you’ll go in the morning. That’s a lie. Before you know it, you’ve overslept and are now 40 minutes late for that all-important zoom meeting.
Come and find that running routine once again by incorporating some night runs into your evening. Below you’ll find ten of the most essential tips to get you started on your new night running journey.
Safety Before Everything
If you want to run in the night, then you need to understand that safety is of utmost importance. You should be able to set forth on your night run without the lowest risk possible. Here are some key things to remember before lacing up those trainers:
Tell People – If running alone, it’s good practice to let others know where you plan to run. This way, you’ll always have a person aware of your whereabouts, and they can check in on you at any time.
The Route – Make use of those street lights and make sure your route is well-lit. You can do this by plotting out your run around your neighbourhood and choosing a place you’re familiar with. Alternatively, if you live in the countryside, be sure to go out with a head torch on.
Be Seen – It may not be fashionable, but god is it life-saving. Wearing hi-visibility clothing is a must for any night runner who wants to alert drivers on the road.
Leave The Headphones At Home
Who would have thought that you can actually run without music? Well, you can and you should use this rare quiet time to reflect on your day, and give yourself some much needed headspace.
Running at night without having the full use of your ears is not something you ever want to do. It will increase your chance of injury and make you lose touch with your surroundings. Sure, that playlist may be fire but it will play just as well in the daytime.
Meal Prep To Save Time
Picture the scene – you just got back from a 5k night run, and you’ve bloody killed it. Well done. But now you have zero energy to make dinner because it’s all been used up on your late night excursion. So, you pick up the phone and make an order for your favourite takeaway. Trust us, we’ve all done this in our lives.
The answer to stopping this from happening is to meal prep, meal prep, and meal prep. It will save you time, and it will save your bank balance as well – leaving you with more funds for to spend on running gear.
If you know you’ve got a busy week of night running planned, then make some bulk meals on the weekend. This way you’re going straight from running to eating a hearty meal giving your body the recovery it needs.
