The Early Morning Run

I am a night owl through and through.  Always have been.  And until the infirmities of old age put me back in diapers again, probably always will be.

Would you prefer I use a picture
of my future self in diapers? (src)

So it was with great difficulty that I lifted my legs one. by. one out. of. bed and dragged my body down. the. stairs. at 5:00 5:20 am for an early morning run.

This was, of course, after I hit the snooze button a ka-jillion times.  Because I hate waking up (its the worse, isn't it?)

This is not Nugget, btw.
Its some random kid who hates waking up as much as I do. (src)

I was hoping to get out of the house by 5:30, but I was already behind schedule, plus I don't chew that fast, so I slowly ate my toast and sipped my coffee and almost got sucked into the world of twitter before I snapped out of it, laced up my shoes, and stepped out onto the front porch at 5:50 am.

The plan was 6 miles, which I needed to run in 55 minutes so that I would be home before DJ Research had to catch his bus to work.  Considering I didn't feel particularly peppy, I wasn't particularly optimistic about this goal.  But que sera, I was up and out.  Lets just get this done.

The first mile is always the toughest for me.  But luckily this one was uphill (I am learning to love the uphills).  It really got the blood flowing.  By mile two, I was feeling pretty good.  By mile three, I was thinking, "I need to run in the morning more often!"

(src)

And though it may have been the endorphins talking, I think early morning runs will be an important part of my training.  Here's why:

Improves my time management.  In order to run in the morning, I need to get things done the night before.  I can't lollagag on the internet, blogging and such nonsense.  I need to prepare Nugget's things for school and prepare my things for work/the gym, not to mention tackle that unending pile of laundry and prep for dinner the next day.  Ideally, I would do this every night before bed, but I frequently leave a few loose ends to tie up in the morning.  Can't do that with an early morning run.

Requires discipline.  Getting out of bed is so very difficult for me.  Not sure why.  The DJ can just pop right out of bed when the alarm goes off, but I have to hit snooze at least 20 times before I even realize its morning.  To go for an early morning run, I really have to work hard to acknowledge that I need to get out of bed the first time the alarm goes off.

Gets the run done early.  With my run out of the way in the morning, I can focus on Nugget in the evening before he goes to bed.  Tonight we played "Bubbos" (bubbles) after dinner!  Plus, as it warms up, running early is a great way to beat the summer heat!

Great way to start the day!  Wow, talk about a lot of energy!  I felt great all day, and even wanted to run  more!  (!!!  <---thought I'd throw in a few more exclamation points! For good measure!)

I finished my run this morning in 54:54 (8:55m/m pace), with 6 seconds to spare before the DJ had to leave for work.  But when I walked into the kitchen, he was still cooking his omelet.  Turns out, he had been planning to take the later bus anyway.  Good to know.  (I actually really like when he takes the later bus because it gives us a chance to have a few morning moments together.  Awwwwwww.)

So I'm going to toss early morning runs into the mix for my training this summer.  Just not tomorrow.  Oh no.  Tomorrow I am sleeping in.

Are you an early morning runner?  Do you like to run in the mornings?  Or do you run early because you have to?