Through our after-hour runs through the night, we picked up three things we thought worth sharing with people considering changing when they run - and why we will be coming back again and again to running at night.
1st off – night running makes you feel like the world was made for you. There’s no battling for bitumen or feeling under-pace as someone over-takes. It’s you and the city and the run. That’s it.
2nd – if unsure, call someone. The biggest fear of people we talked to was running alone. An easy fix for this: call someone. Make the night run your chance to connect with those people you’ve been meaning too. Whether on the phone, puffing away or in person sharing the city, people are generally free after hours during the week, so invite them along and have a story to tell together the next day.
3rd – you’re more awake than you think. Call it the dark alleys off to the side of your running route. Call it your night-vision kicking in. When we ran at night, we found we were more present on the run and took in more of the world around us. Even when we got home (despite the hour) we felt fresh and limber and yet, had no problems with sleep (another common fear people have when exercising later in the day).
As a special bonus for those Zurich locals (or those dropping by sometime soon), we have for you to download and use one of our favorite night routes along Zurich to run. Take a look at it here on Strava, save it to your run device and when the sun slips away, don your night running gear and go carefree on your own night run.
