Oh glorious mornings

The long weekend afforded me two opportunities to work out in the morning. Saturday I grabbed Amy for a long run in the Rattlesnake. We started about 11am, which isn't all that early in the morning, really. But it had just stopped drizzling and the sun was starting to peek out, so it seemed earlier than it was. Beautiful run through neighborhoods bursting with flowers, then along a rushing stream, and a few miles of trail winding around big ponderosa pines with arnica abloom in the understory. Gorgeous. Warm, but not hot. A little muggy, but we appreciated how the rain had softened the trails just a tad. Lovely. A total of about 8.25 miles, roughly 1 1/2 hours of running. And it was so nice to have the dreaded Long Run out of the way so that I didn't have it looming over my activities for the rest of the weekend.

Monday morning I awoke naturally (i.e. sans alarm) at 5:30 am. I toodled around the house for a bit, then headed back to the Rattlesnake. I unloaded my bike and started riding, enjoying how quiet the streets were on a holiday morning. The grass is soooo green right now, the cottonwood trees are blooming and smell terrific, and birds are singing their hearts out. I couldn't stop smiling as I cruised along enjoying a nice, long warm-up. Then came the hills-- first a gradual downhill stretch that got me a little chilly. But I quickly warmed up as I climbed to the top of the Lincoln Hills neighborhood-- a steady climb in lowest gears for about 12 minutes. It was so gorgeous, though, that I didn't mind. Then as I flew back down the switchbacks, the views of Lolo Peak and surrounding mountains were just stunning.

Back at my car, Jenny was waiting for me. I stashed my bike, then we took off on a 4 mile run. I couldn't stop commenting about how beautiful everything was. I was probably a bit annoying at first, seeing as how I'd been up and already gone for a ride and was reeling with adrenaline, whereas she'd just gotten out of bed about 20 minutes before meeting me! I appologize, Jenny, if I was one of those annoying too-chipper Morning People! After the run we stopped for coffee and crepes, then I headed off for the rest of my day. Again, it was so nice to have my workout done with early in the day.

I love working out in the mornings. And I love being out in the mornings. I don't necessarily love to get up early, though! But really, I don't typically like to get up EVER, regardless of the time!

I wish I didn't have to be at work at 7am most mornings. To get a workout in and get cleaned up and to work by 7 means getting up quite early. But now that it's light out by 5:30 or so, it shouldn't be too bad. So tomorrow I think I'll rise and get my fartlek run done in the early morning light. Do one of you East Coasters want to call me and make sure my butt's out of bed by about 7 your time?! Remind me how much I love running in the morning!