This summer, my Wednesday mornings are going to start around 4:15AM. My poor showing in my last two marathons was due to too little mileage; one thing I’ve learned over the years is the value of a mid-week middle distance run. If I do a long run (16-22 miles) on Sunday, and I do a middling run on Wednesdays (10-12 miles, perhaps picking up the pace a bit during it), then I’m going to be much better off come marathon time.
Of course, with the temperatures starting to climb, and an 8:00AM class, that means I have to run very, very early. Getting up early isn’t hard for me; going to bed at a reasonable hour often is. Since I was a small child, I’ve liked getting up early; I hate being in bed when it’s light outside. I’ve never been much of a night owl either; much to my wife’s dismay, if I really had my way in all things, I’d go to bed at ten every night and get up at 4:30 every morning. When I’m eating right and light, I can do fine on 6 hours of sleep. If I start eating a lot of sugar or other heavy things, then I find I need another hour or two to feel rested.
I hit the pavement this morning just before 5:00, running a loop that takes me over into Glendale (for the locals, I ran from my house to the Rose Bowl, up Lida, past Art Center and into Chevy Chase Estates before swinging down through LCF and home). In the hills, I saw lots and lots of rabbits; the best time to see the bunnies is always right at dawn. I worry about them — the hills are so dry this summer, and they, like all the other critters, have to get closer and closer to people’s lawns and pools and bird baths in order to find water. That means a whole new set of dangers. I worried a lot about a lot of animals this morning as I ran, but I comforted myself with the certainty that the God who watches over me watches over them as well.
It’s a long day of teaching ahead — I do about six hours of teaching a day during summer school, all lecture or discussion moderation; it’s hard to be “on” for that long day in and day out. Caffeine helps, and the sublime endorphin high of a solid 12-miler will see me through the morning.
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