Early morning blues

I’m not sure why I like running so much.

I have never experienced what is described as a “runners high”. I don’t ponder life or solve the problems of the world during a run. Most of the time, I just daydream.

Maybe the problem is that I run too early in the morning. I get up at 4:30 AM for my weekday runs (on the weekends, I will run at the more sane hour of 8:00 AM) and am by no means a morning person.

The early hour may also be the appeal for me. I like being out there before the world wakes up. My only companion is the paper delivery person that I see on occasion driving through the neighborhood. Other than that, it is just me and the road. I can’t see enough to be distracted visually. I keep the music on my MP3 player very low, so it is more background noise. I am able to hear the sounds of the world coming to life.

Anyway, I did run again this morning. Same slow pace, same route. I’m planning on trying to stay at this pace for at least a few weeks, until I’m certain that there are no problems (that whole heart thing). I say try, because even this morning I had to hold myself back from trying to beat my time from the last run (I actually did beat the time by a few seconds).

I just need to keep reminding myself – Life is a marathon, not a sprint.

--Maddog