Last Monday, I was thinking about this, close to the end of my 13 mile long run, shifted from the previous Sunday due to rain:
Ran a half mary
Before work
Before breakfast
Before sunrise
What the hell am I doing?
So it's not my best work, but it's all I had. I don't dislike running, I think, but I really can't wait to get MCM over with. I'm impatient while running, wanting to finish up, but also needing to stay on pace. I can't run too much faster, for fear of messing up my next run, and of course it hurts to run faster too. On my EZ runs and LSD runs, I generally take my time until the last couple of miles, and then I step on the gas because I desperately want to avoid missing my target time.
Despite all this, I enjoy the morning time. It's dark. It's cool. It's quiet. And I get to run down the middle of the street, all to myself. In the dark, you have to adjust your running. In the dark, you stay off the sidewalk, unless you want to step into hidden souvenirs left by dogs the night before. In the dark, you get prepared to run into a lot of cobwebs, at all the same places, like the spiders never learn. In the dark, I look up and see Orion in the sky, and I remember my dad teaching me to spot it when I was probably about 1st grade or so, and it's still there, and so is he. In the dark, when I'm running, I don't feel sleepy anymore. I feel good. Even if I don't know what the hell I'm doing out here.
5 comments:
Nice post... I too have lost all my night owl-ness. Want to or not, I am trained to be up at 6am seven days a week. My dog makes sure of that. Come evening I am just out of gas.
Also, I think (?) I owe you a very big thank you.
very early dawn is my most favorite time of day, between 3:30 and 5:00 a.m. especially when the sun rises as you run.
Give me the middle of the day when the sun is at it's fullest. I worry about tripping and falling and not being seen by some speeding vehicle.
Really cool post - I feel like I just went for a morning run. Your descriptions remind me of what it's like to run this time of year when it gets darker in the mornings. I'll look forward to seeing Orion.
oh my, i feel your pain. I just switched from morning runs to night runs (don't ask, it doesn't make any sense now that it's getting dark earlier)...but i too cannot WAIT to get to oct. 30. is that a bad thing??
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