Morning Glory

I am not a morning person, at least not an early morning person. I am more of a 10-10 woman peaking neither early nor late. This morning I broke from my usual routine to do an early run for my running buddy's birthday. I can think of no better way to start off a celebration of birth so I decided to join her in greeting the dawn.

I woke up around 5:45, stumbled into my running gear sleepily and headed out the door. Traffic was light at that hour and I made good time. I stopped in for a bit of pre-run coffee, even a little caffeine can make the difference between grumpy and pleasant in the early morning hours.

We drove to the post run rendezvous point and set out, the darkness was a sort of translucent inky blue. There was another pair of runners ahead of us for bit, but they turned off at a bridge and we seemed to be the only souls out at that point. I shook off my sleepy fog after about a mile and we continued on at decent clip into downtown, the sun rose almost imperceptibly. Running opposite of my normal route to work, opposite my normal time was energizing and the cool September morning air kept things fresh.

From town we headed back, up the Northshore trail and over the 40th street bridge, passing the thick commuter traffic. We ended the run at our breakfast spot -- calm and content.

I have never been a morning runner, running early only if a race start necessitated it, or when I needed to get a long training run in on a weekend. Yet, I can see the beauty of starting the day this way, so I plan on doing so again. I may never make it a part of my routine, but every so often a change of perspective is quite welcome.