The Benefits of Running Early

As most of you know, we are pretty much in the hottest part of the summer. My part of New Jersey is supposed to be hitting the high 90’s by the end of this week and I’m not sure I’m ready for that. One thing I can do to avoid experiencing these high temps is by completing my run before work as opposed to after. This means I’m up and out the door before 6 am but I am completely okay with that because there a some great benefits of it. Today I’m sharing my personal benefits of getting a run done early in the morning.

I’d much rather run when it’s 77 than when it’s 95!

Lower Temperatures
It tends to be a lot cooler in the morning which makes for a much better run. If you happen to get out of the door before the sun comes up (wear your reflective gear and bring a light!), that’s even better because then you don’t have the harsh sun beating on you.

Sprinklers!
I’m not sure if this is every neighborhood, but the sprinklers tend to be going early in the morning around me. This gives me the opportunity to run through them when I start to get a bit toasty.

Peace and Quiet
Not many people are out and able before 6 am so that makes for a relatively quiet run. Those are the runs I enjoy the most because I can focus more on my thoughts than paying attention to all the people around me. I tend to run without headphones in the morning for two reasons. One, I like the quiet and the occasional bird chirping and two, for safety reasons. I like to be able to be hear my surroundings just in case.

It’s Done With!
This is by far the greatest part of an early morning run. I’m usually not too awake when I start my run, so once I figure out what’s going on, I’m already feeling good! It’s so nice to realize later in the day that I can go right home and relax after work because my run is already done with for the day. Some days I even forget and it’s a nice surprise later on!