Benefits of running at night

Venturing into the darkness for a run has its benefits, but certainly has its downfalls, if you aren’t prepared. A level of night running experience is required for many events, one which comes to mind is the Arc of Attrition.

So, why do many runners choose the night over day, are they caped crusaders or just plain crazy?

Why choose to run at night?

• Since being active and awake throughout the day, your body is more loose and flexible. You can increase the effort of the training session.

• Destress after a long day. Get the endorphins and the positive thinking flowing.

• Hear / see nocturnal animals and species. E.g. Tawny Owls, Bats and Badgers.

• Witness a beautiful sunset, or see the stars…whilst shooting for the stars.
  
• Run at a better pace due to the cooler temperatures and potentially gain a PB.

• Smoother sessions due to less car / foot traffic. We all hate stopping for people and cars.
  
• Improved technical running skill. Running at night is harder due to lower visibility, but when progressing from slow to faster running you can better train your foot and eye coordination.
  
• Provides tranquillity due to lower light and noise pollution. The atmosphere creates a great environment for thinking and just admiring the area around you.

Considerations

• Use familiar routes – knowing the area means you can concentrate more on not eating the floor, rather than trying to find your way around, use already created routes found on trail apps.
  
• Ensure you know how to correctly use your GPS systems and navigation. There are many tutorials on Youtube for gaining insight into using whatever device you own.
  
• Take your time, enjoy your experience. Listen to the sounds, if there are any. Enjoying the experience is a large part of running, why else would we continue to do it.
  
• Take your phone, yes for safety, but also to capture the mesmerising sunset. If you use Garmin you can activate the tracker and add a designated person who will receive notifications when you start a run, annoying for them but at least they know you’re safe.

• Manage your sleep pattern and recovery, you may struggle to sleep if you run just before trying to sleep.

• Always take your torch and or headlight plus spare batteries. Although it’s exhilarating running down a hill in the darkness, falling and injuring yourself is not fun! 

Conclusion

It turns out those people who run at night, maybe aren’t cape crusaders but just understand that night runs have great positives when you consider all precautions.

Next time you are organising the training runs, why not add one or two evening runs and see if your technical skills improve or you feel much better after the day.

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