The emotional stages of early-morning running

The stages of your really early morning run

Madeleine Kelly July 22, 2019

It’s hot outside. Like, really hot outside. Because of the extreme weather that North Americans are experiencing, many runners are waking up earlier and earlier to beat the heat. Here are the emotional stages of your early morning training runs.

Do I really need to do this?

The alarm goes off at 5:45 a.m. and you wonder, “How hot is it really going to get today?” The answer these days is: really hot. You know this, so you haul yourself out of bed with the sun and get ready.

Drink gallons of water

Chances are you’re still dehydrated from yesterday’s run, so you wake up and pound cold water before hitting the road.

Haven’t start running, already sweaty

As you stand outside and wait for your GPS watch to find satellites, you realize that without even beginning your morning exercise, you’ve already started to sweat–because it’s over 30 degrees with the humidity at 6:30 a.m.

The dreaded first 10 minutes

You know that the first 10 minutes of a morning run are going to feel horrible, but it remains kind of surprising every time. You have barely moved in (hopefully) eight hours, so going from sleeping to running is jarring for your body.

You talk yourself through the peg-legged feeling of the first 10 minutes, and finally find your stride.

This isn’t so bad

After you pass the roughly two-kilometre mark, you begin to feel human and find your legs. You’re congratulating yourself for running in the morning, imagining how great it’ll feel to leave work and not have to run.

Need washroom, can’t find one open

Some cities’ facilities don’t open until 7 a.m., and if you’ve found yourself running early enough, you may need a washroom before this time. Consider a route with a Starbucks or McDonald’s, which usually open at 5 a.m. so they’ve got you covered.

Oh crap, I’m running late

As you reach the end of your run your realize you have to pick it up to make it to work on time. Your last couple of kilometres turn into mild speedwork so that you have time to shower and eat before your morning commute.

Shower didn’t take

You get home and jump in the shower. Ahh, cold water. The only problem is, you’re still sweating after the shower’s over.

Leave work, don’t have to run

While the early-morning run takes a lot of conviction to complete, once you’re done there’s nothing quite like it. You’ll leave work that evening with pep in your step, knowing that the night is yours to do whatever you choose (read: go to bed early so you can run the next morning).