Go Running at 5:30 in the Morning

Today, I got up at 5:20 and went running at 5:30. In theory, I got up at 5:20 to "practice" getting up at this time to drive my friend to the airport this weekend at an ungodly hour, but then it occurred to me that duh, that's usually around the time I get up.

While I can probably think of better things to do with one's time than go running at 5:30 in the morning, I've managed to do this twice this week, and kindof like it.

First, as some of my friends know, I don't like walking/running on sidewalks. This poses a problem when walking with 2 year olds, because walking on streets exhibits bad model behavior. In fact, it seems to be bad model behavior if I do this near anyone who has kids under 5 or so. But at 5:30, there are hardly any cars or toddlers walking about, so I can run in the middle of the street (or at least in the middle of a lane) w/o worrying about cars or worrying that I will be a bad influence on the 4 year old who is being told by his parents that he must walk on the sidewalk because the street is "dangerous". I saw maybe 2 cars total on my 35 minute run today (and no toddlers).

The sun is just out enough that it isn't scorching hot or too bright, but light out. It is the right brightness and the right temperature.

Maybe it is the rebeliousness aspect of it, or perhaps the novelty of it, but for some reason, I can keep running for longer without stopping or getting tired when I run very early in the morning. I enjoy running in the evening as well, but for example, on a day like today, there is no way I would've gone running in the afternoon. Too hot. But this morning, it was just cool enough that it made my run enjoyable.

I also like that I feel like I've done something "productive" so early in the day.

I can't do this every day, but I think I'm going to try to do it at least a few times a week.