7 Reasons Why Running in the Morning Rocks
Posted on 14. Jul, 2011 by Joe in Other
Photo courtesy of Maxxr_ via Flickr
It’s safe to say I have been in a bit of a funk since completing the Buffalo Marathon at the end of May. Nowhere near as bad of a funk as last year, post Buffalo Half-Marathon, but a funk all the same. For some reason, this week finally started to see some of the rust come off. I’m getting back into my running groove. I’m not completely sure what to attribute it to, but I think my run on Sunday was the catalyst. I did my longest outing since the marathon, and I decided to mix in some trail work. Now mind you, it wasn’t anything out of Born to Run where I was running through desolate jungle paths. Instead I ran to the park just down the road from my house. I can’t even begin to calculate how many miles I have logged in that park between the half-marathon and this year’s full, but trust me it is ALOT. Despite all those miles, I never bothered to veer off onto the several miles of nature trails that the park possesses.
Big mistake by me.
The run, originally scheduled for 60-75 minutes almost eclipsed 90 minutes as I literally couldn’t find my way out. But, I didn’t mind. It was exquisite. It was different enough to finally break me from my funk. I was enjoying running once again, instead of just doing it because I thought I should. As a result of that rejuvenating run through the nature trails, I stuck to my schedule for the balance of the week. It included two morning outings. Tuesday morning it was a grinding track workout at the local high school. I had the place to myself and was able to go full throttle without anyone worrying that I was about to explode with the guttural coming from me. Thursday morning was my heart rate interval workout, which ended up being another great run. Both of those great runs got me thinking. I need to extol the virtues of the morning run. I mean, I named my blog after them and all, correct? So here are seven reasons for you why a morning run absolutely rocks.
1. The Birds – Yes, they are there during the day, and maybe even at night. But, they have to compete with the constant din of cars and trucks, horns and stereos, and the general daytime craziness. At 5:30 AM when I get out the door, there is none of that. I stick to the neighborhood streets, so there is little if any traffic and the sound of the birds chirping seems deafening. But, it’s a good deafening. If you listen close enough, you can almost feel them willing you on.
2. The Sunrise – During the cold, hard mornings of the winter, it is downright painful to get through my entire morning run without seeing the sun. However, I have learned to embrace those days because it makes that magic morning in March truly magical. The day where I first make the loop at the end of my usual route and head back home. At that point, I catch my first glimpse of the eastern sky. Sometime in March is when that magic happens where the sun is just starting to rise and it is splashing that part of the sky with the warm hues of pink, red, and orange. It’s at that point I know spring is on the way. Witnessing the sunrise is payment 100 times over for getting off the treadmill.
3. Getting a Leg Up – Especially during my training stretches, where there are days I just don’t want to be out there, it is a great pick-up to give myself a figurative “pat on the back” for being out there while so many houses I run by still hold people nestled in their beds. I convince myself I am getting that “leg up” by being out there in the wee hours of the morning, getting something done for myself while others are still on square one.
4. Running Faster – This is especially noticeable now that I am back into my heart rate zone training mode. It takes a great deal more effort to get my heart rate up in the morning than it does at lunch time or after work. I am sure this is a combination of my love of coffee (which doesn’t get consumed until after my run) and the general stresses of life and work. Regardless, it is far more enjoyable to let loose like I did this morning on my intervals than to have to take twice as many walk breaks to get my heart rate back in line.
5. The Launching Pad - Back, pre-parenthood, when I would make frequent trips to the gym after work, I would plow through my workout. Then I would drag myself home, have dinner, and collapse on the couch. That workout drained me of my last gasps of energy. Now, when I run in the morning, the complete opposite happens. Perhaps it is some sort of biological phenomenon or perhaps it is mental. Perhaps it is a combination of the previous four reasons I listed out. Whatever it is, I feel 100x more energized on mornings I run than those that I do not. Running in the morning clears my fog, lifts my spirits, and allows me to get to 6:30 AM with something crossed off my to-do list for the day. And I love it.
6. The Fresh Air – I could be full of it, but when I walk out that door in the morning I take a deep breath every time. Whether it is the bitingly cold air of dead winter, or the moist warm air of the dog days of summer, the morning air smells and feels different. There’s no exhaust from the vehicles, everything is so undisturbed, and it feels so pure. There’s no such thing as an “air quality alert” at 5:30 AM because of lost ozone or something similarly crazy. Absolutely the best time of day to simply breathe.
7. The stillness – For some odd reason, it is never all that windy at dawn. I’m sure there’s a good meteorological reason for this, but it doesn’t really matter to me. It just is. This stillness makes for the perfect environment to just be. You can think, you can meditate, you can plan your day, admire the sunrise, or listen to the bird. Whatever you do, it is simply the perfect place of peace. To think I let 3 1/2 decades of my life slip by without enjoying it.
So, there you have it. Just some of my reasons why running in the morning rocks. Do you do daybreak runs? Why? Or do you have another time of the day which has just as powerful characteristics for yourself? I’d love to hear them.
Keep running!
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