It’s hard to beat being up early on a summer morning. When the dew is still on the grass, the world is still asleep and in the garden the birds are singing and there is a profound sense of peace. I was never a morning person, but these days are such a delight that I’m up with the larks and soaking in every moment, every sound, every smell.

I have trouble running when it’s hot, so in order to keep up with my training schedule – which I’m loving, by the way, now that I’m actually doing what I’m told – I have to run early, before the temperatures start soaring. So I’ve been out in the woods at the crack of dawn. Usually I run with other people and chat the whole way round our runs, but for once I’ve been hitting the trails alone. I love the aloneness of being the only person around. The slightest noise is magnified and I see so many things that I would normally miss. The deer don’t seem to mind me and sometimes the wood is a real cacophony of sound as the birds seem to compete to out-sing each other.

I’m amazed at the effect that early morning runs seem to have on my day. I seem to be achieving much more and somehow my head is clearer and my focus better. The time on my own gives me time to mull things over and get things straight in my mind, so although I’m suddenly inundated with work and should be panicking, on the whole I’m not. The early mornings seem to be giving me clarity and keeping my feet on the ground.

And they make my spirit sing…

Helen

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 5th, 2011 at 8:19 pm and is filed under Running, Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.