I’m not an early morning runner. A lot of people in my running club are, and I look at their start times on Strava with deep confusion, blinking wildly through my bleary eyes.
I should be clear here: we’re not talking crazy-early. But I marvel at my friends who are capable of not only running at 7am, but meeting each other to do so. I imagine their jolly, witty selves galloping along together, basking in the early morning light, flying through interval sessions and bouncing up hills.
Before 8am, I just won’t make any sense.
This is a luxury of having a job which doesn’t start until 10am. I hear you, maybe things would be different otherwise. But at times in my life when I have had an early commute to work, I would just run in the evening instead.
So grew my love of evening runs. Nowadays I get so buzzed I can’t sleep, so I don’t do them very often. But there’s nothing like finishing the day with a good stretch of the legs. I love that you don’t need to save energy for anything else: there are no more tasks, no more places to go. It’s just you, the run and an endless darkening sky. A side of the world is winding down for the night while you and your rebel feet are stirring it up. The faster you run, the more endless it becomes.
With the lighter mornings of spring and summer, I do naturally get up earlier and feel more energised. Recently, I was wide awake and restless at 5:30am, so I headed out for a 5k. My watch was so confused I had to set the time manually. The GPS took ages to find me, and still ended up as a squiffy, drunken line.
I think I enjoyed it…? But I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was coming home from a big night out, and subsequently had to go back to bed, nursing a phantom hangover. I also felt a deep, quivering anxiety that I couldn’t quite place, until I remembered going to work at Wetherspoons for a 7am start and putting the heavy garden furniture out on my own. Usually while it was raining. Usually hungover.
Shudder.
So I won’t be making a habit of it. But there is something about moving your body before your brain has fully woken up that’s quite fun. The quiet streets and uninterrupted birdsong are definitely a perk, and I can see the appeal in getting the run done so you still have an entire morning left to play with. But some days, just running can be hard enough. And I love my lazy mid-morning run. I love being able to call it “lazy”.
I also love sitting up in bed and scrolling through the hard work my friends have already done. They make me feel excited about getting out there myself. They inspire me no end. I’ll just finish my coffee first.
