Why We Run in the Wee Hours of the Morning

I realize the consistency of my posts has lacked one vital ingredient: consistency. My life has been too busy any more to get too much work done on the computer but still I'll do my best to get a post or two up here per week.

This past Sunday my training schedule called for an 18 mile pace run. It's a bit early in the training regimin (week 3) to be doing that sort of distance but this is a new workout that I really wanted to try. So 18 it is. The problem is I'm scheduled to run a 5K also. What does one do? Then it hit me: I'll run the 25K that's right in my back yard, bike to the 5K, and then run that for a total of just over 18 miles of running (not to mention the logged biking).

I woke up at 5:30 to do the 25K. The area that I run it in is nothing special. It has some rolling hills, goes by some lakes and a few swamps, but is completely on the road. And I've done this loop now over dozen times so there's nothing amazingly new to learn about it. But there's something about these early summer mornings that transform familiar landscape into a paradise. No one is around, everything is still and quiet, there's ample light but no sun, dew covers all the still plant life, and there's a subtile mist coming off the lakes and swamps that have a cooling and calming effect. This past Sunday during the 5:30 run I felt as though I had my own slice of heaven here on Earth. It was a time that seemed to transcend all we know about the physical world. It was a time that I wished would have never went away.

I love summer! Tis a terrible shame we have to put up with winter in order to have an enjoyable summer.