Half a Marathon Before Sun Up

At 4:00 am on a Sunday morning, many people are fast asleep, dreaming about the run they have scheduled for later that day.  At 4:00 am this past Sunday morning, I went on a 13 mile run.  It was dark, it was chilly, it was a beautiful run.  Cars honked at me only twice, I saw two other runners, and one group of drunks roaming Main Street in Manyunk.  Other than that, there were few cars driving by, and a random guy with a backpack that would turn around to watch me run by him along the Schuylkill River.

My route took me along the second half of the Philadelphia Marathon on Kelly Drive all the way to Manyunk.  As of now, I believe I have run almost every part of the Philadelphia Marathon in preparation for the actual race coming in a couple of weeks.  I believe familiarity with the course will prove to be advantageous to me when I am plotting out my pace and knowing different landmarks to take my Clif Block chews.  Next, I need to study where the water stations and Porter Potties will be located.

13 Mile Running Route (Credit to MapMyRun.com)

This is not the first time I have woken up before sunrise to run my long distance runs.  Typically, when I have work at 7:00 am, I like to get my runs in beforehand so I feel wide awake for performing my job.  Additionally, I need to run before I start my day; it is difficult for me to run after getting my day started.  Plus, I truly enjoy running that early in the morning because it is very peaceful around the area and allows me to avoid distractions.

 Philadelphia Skyline from Spring Garden Bridge at 5:30 am (Photo taken by Micah Sokolsky)

Typically when I have gone on my early morning runs, I have run through Center City because it is more lit and there are people around in case anything bad happens.  I do not own anything that glows in the dark to allow people to see me running, but I was sporting my lime green shorts and lime green socks.  Luckily, I do have shoes that have built-in reflectors.  Whether or not they actually work is beyond me, but telling my mom that I have them was reassuring to her.

In the end, I felt great during my run and have felt very comfortable while running.  After running 20 miles last week, this run felt and was much shorter.  My next long run is only eight miles and then the big baby:  The Philadelphia Marathon.  Let the countdown begin; I am almost there!