Run: 5.4 miles in :43:45 min. @ 5:00 a.m

Weather Report: Partly Cloudy, 58°F, 81% Humidity, Winds: CALM; feels like 58°F.

Pace: 8:17 min./per mile avg.

"Don't use the excuse, 'I don't have the time.' Getting up an hour earlier is tough for about a month; then it becomes routine, and you'll actually feel better for it."~Howard Elakman, club coach

Well, get back to me in about eleven hours and I'll let you know how that sentiment is working for me...

For me, running in the morning, has been more of a challenge of late. I have to get up, have a cup o' joe, stretch, collect my thoughts, and watch the clock when I run--so that I leave enough time to get ready for work before the need to leave home and drive out to suburbia arrives.

Last night before settling down to read, I got the bright idea to wake up early and go for a run. There was a time, about two years ago, when I regularly woke up at the pre-crack of dawn to run, but, in the past two years, my training schedule has shifted to a post-work day state. While, for better or worse, my schedule will open up in a few weeks with Summer Break, allowing for many training hour choices, I have been toying with the idea of extending both my miles and my recovery time through a careful fluctuation in training times. For example an early morning run on one day, followed by a late afternoon run on the next... that way it's like having more than a complete a day, or twenty-four hours, in between each run.

This morning's run was workman-like, so effective, and while my pace was nothing special there certainly was the potential for more--what with the cooler temps, quiet course and all.

Breathe in, breathe out... YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!