Heavy legs
I normally run in the morning. However, due to work and family schedules, I ran at night twice the last two weeks (7:30-8:30 pm). On both occasions, my legs felt like lead and my calves cramped. Even after a longer than normal warm up, I struggled to maintain my marathon pace for a few miles and was not able to hit the workout targets. Also, my heart rate hit 165 during the warm up and maxed at 190. For comparison, it is very unusual for my heart rate to go above 180. Is this my body telling me not to run at night or a sign of something else?
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On the PM side your body has just carried you around all day you have a bunch of stress going through the mind and body, it is late something your not really use to doing at this time and the body doesn't like it. So that how it responds.
There is nothing wrong with you. Some of us have to train in the PM and some in the AM when the body gets use to something and you switch things around the body responds in different ways.
And this is also not something that will happen every time you have to run at night. What this is good for is to use as a reference for your 'pace' versus 'RPE' versus "HeartRate' experiences. Having an idea of the interrelationship of the three will serve you well on race day (e.g. CoachP running to a certain HR at Kona last year versus a specific pace)
@ William - One other thing to consider is hydration. I typically WO in the AM, but when i need to get in a run or ride after work, i try to stay hydrated during the afternoon. For me i need to really focus on hydration. I'm an AM coffee drinker but in the afternoon i don't normally consume any liquids. That's why when i'm planning a WO after work, i try to hydrate during the afternoon. Could be a contributor to why you are seeing a higher HR.