Normally, I am a morning runner. But the past few weeks have been a battle between me, sleep, and my alarm clock. And sleep has won. So I’ve been doing some after-work runs. As I run, I like to come up with the reasons that I like running at different times of day. Here they are:
- The Smells: you just can’t bottle these. The smell of freshly cut grass while someone is mowing their lawn as you run by. The smell of sunscreen wafting through the air as you run through the park. And my favorite summertime smell? The scent of lighter fluid and charcoal as a grill is fired up. Also, the smell of hamburgers cooking on the grill. There is something about that that just screams SUMMER to me!
- The people: There are people out and about when I’m out running! It’s nice to see other people running, biking, gardening, BBQing, etc. I like saying “hi” to them as we pass each other.
- The dogs: So many people are out walking their dogs when I get off work. I can’t have a dog at my house and my parents and their dogs live about 45 minutes away so it’s nice to see and pet other pups!
- Seeing the sunset. While I like to see the sunrise, there is just something special about a sunset too.
- It’s a nice way to end my day. Good stress relief.
- It curbs my hunger. True story. When I get home I’m usually famished, but after a run, my hunger isn’t as strong, therefore I make better choices. Winning!
- I can take out my day on the road. After a superbad day, I set out for 5 miles, wound up with 7 and by the time I got home, the stress was gone.
That’s all I can think of. I have another list of why I like running in the mornings too.
(This is all part of my plan to psych myself up for tonight’s run. I slept in this morning. No regrets!)
Runnin' Down a Dream 