May 2021 challenge: morning running
I spent May trying out early morning runs for the first time. As someone who has said I can roll out of bed and run, I've now learned that while true, it's not an easy thing to do.
Fundraising for JCWI in 2021
This is the 5th recap post of my 2021 monthly running challenges. These challenges are part of my fundraiser for the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI).
Recapping the horrors of UK immigration each month
As part of my fundraising efforts, I am also raising awareness about what's happening in the world of UK immigration each month.
I want people to understand just how much awfulness happens in 28 to 31 days. My recaps will be over on my Medium site.
Why morning running
I'm not a morning runner. Or rather, I'm not an early morning runner.
During the week, I run at night after work (this winter being an exception when I ran at lunchtimes). On weekends, I typically start a run late morning or early afternoon.
Point being I'm most comfortable running when I've been awake awhile and after I've eaten something.
I've often said the phrase, 'I can roll out of bed and run 10k', but I had never actually attempted this.
So for the month of May, I made one of my weekly runs an early morning run, starting at 5k and working my way up to 10k.
I didn't set any alarm. I woke up when I woke up, got dressed, and started running.
A video, a tree, and a treat
To document the morning running experience, I did a few things each time:
- I recorded a short video of myself right before I started each run. I wanted to capture how I really felt about rolling out of bed into a run.
- I passed the same cherry blossom tree and took a picture of it to show how it changed over the weeks.
- I incentivized myself by getting a treat after each run after a not-so-pleasant 1st attempt.
So this month please enjoy the delights of grumpy morning Lauren on video, a cherry blossom flowering, and snaps of all the sugar I was consuming.
Run 1: 6:45 am, 3.1 miles (5k)
I was not happy about getting up for my first early morning run. I don't mind waking up early. I mind getting up immediately after waking up.
But I did it. I was out the door by 6:45am, and while I was awake, my legs weren't.
I could definitely feel my body was not ready to run. I was sluggish. My right knee started hurting.
All in all, a rather negative start to my May challenge.
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| 2 miles in to a sleepy run. |
Video 1: shaking my head
Can't say I was interested in speaking first thing in the morning for my first run. Shaking my head no was about all I could manage.
Cherry blossom 1
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| The wind and rain trying their best to depetal the tree. |
Treat 1: biscoff brownie
Courtesy of Mimi's Bakehouse. There was an unreasonable amount of biscoff on this brownie, which is precisely why I bought it.
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| That's an unreasonable amount of biscoff. |
Run 2: 6:10am, 4 miles
I still wasn't happy about getting up for week 2's run, but I felt less grumpy about it.
Out the door at 6:10am. I veered off my normal 5k route a bit to bump the run up to 4 miles. This took me into the start of the trails I normally run which has this magnificent view of Arthur's Seat.
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| Good morning, Arthur's Seat. |
The weather was warm enough for shorts, so that called for stopping for a shorts selfie along the way.
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| Jumping because I'm wearing shorts. |
Video 2: no, but less of a no
Cherry blossom 2
Only realized after I uploaded the photo that I actually took a picture of a different cherry blossom for week 2. Well done, me.
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| Morning brain can't remember which cherry blossom to photograph. |
Treat 2: cinnamon bun
From 101 Bakery. Everything this bakery makes is amazing.
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| They don't overdo it with the icing. Respect to that. |
Run 3: 5:50am, 5 miles
Run 3 was the first early morning run I felt okay about waking up for. Dare I say I even looked forward to the challenge, but still had a bit of trepidation about how it would go.
It was also the first early morning run that was sunny, so I opted to do a trail run.
Despite feeling awake, I seemed to have been in an absentminded state because I ended up making a wrong turn on a route I've done many times before.
So at 6:15am I was starting my day getting lost in the woods, ending up somewhere I had never seen before.
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| Where am I? |
I had gotten lost in the woods during a run 3 days before and enjoyed the sense of adventure of trying to work out how to get back home.
I did not feel quite the same so early in the morning when I had to go to work afterwards. So I pulled out my phone to work out where I was.
I made it over to the field I was looking to run through and decided that this was the place to stop for a running shorts selfie.
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| Took 3 photos, only to end up posting the 1st attempt. |
Shortly after then, my headphones warned me my batteries were low and finally died at 3.75 miles. Really wasn't expecting my early morning run to be that dramatic.
Video 3: feeling awake, sun is out
Cherry blossom 3
You can tell the sun is out because it was in the wrong direction for me to take a photo where you can actually see it.
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| Too dark to see, but the cherry blossom is starting to deblossom. |
Treat 3: salted caramel corn-flaked stuffed cookie
From Tasty Buns Bakery. This was beautiful.
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| Gooey and chewy. |
Run 4: 5:30am, 6.2 miles (10k)
So much for my enthusiasm for run 3. I was back to not wanting to wake up for my final run. Maybe that had something to do with the overcast weather.
Maybe it had something to do with knowing I was heading off to run 10k at 5:30am. This was the first and only morning run where I saw zero other runners.
And not just zero runners. I ran along the cycle/pedestrian path alongside the bypass and passed no one. I have never once biked or ran along that path and seen absolutely zero people.
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| Nobody else on the path. |
It's almost like regular people not involved in fundraising challenges like to sleep in.
Still, nothing to pick up my mood like stopping for a shorts selfie.
Unfortunately, the power of the shorts didn't help the second (uphill) half of the run which was very, very slow.
Still, nothing to pick up my mood like stopping for a shorts selfie.
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| Jumping to distract myself remembering how early it is. |
Unfortunately, the power of the shorts didn't help the second (uphill) half of the run which was very, very slow.
It doesn't matter, though. I did it. I'm not speaking in hypotheticals anymore: I can in fact literally roll out of bed and run 10k.
Video 4: not feeling it, but running 10k
Cherry blossom 4
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| Goodbye to the pink. |
Treat 4: proper hot chocolate
From that box in the Meadows called Uplands Roast. They blow-torch a marshmallow in front of you. Beautiful sight. I went out in the pouring rain to get this.
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| You know it's good hot chocolate when you walk through the worst rain to get it. |
Running reflections
I didn't think morning running would be a particularly interesting challenge, but it ended up feeling like the most challenging month yet.
Not something I looked forward to
It kind of reminded me of running monthly half marathons last year. I didn't look forward to doing those.
Similarly, Monday nights in May had an extra bit of dread to them knowing Tuesday was the day I chose to do early morning runs.
This month has showed me how much I value the post-wake up, pre-get up period.
It honestly feels like checking Twitter first thing is the healthier option in life.
Running on an empty stomach is okay
One thing I was pleasantly surprised to learn this month: I can run without eating or drinking anything.
I'm an odd runner in that I'm someone who actually likes to run after a meal. I need to feel fuel in my body. But I learned this month that I can run on an empty stomach and actually feel okay.
Not once did I feel like I needed fuel. I mean, sure, I was doing some slow running. But that had more to do with my legs just waking up, than a lack of food-induced energy.
Rolling out of bed is a phrase I should stop using for running
While I already said it's now been proven true I can literally roll out of bed and run 10k, I'm thinking it's now time to retire this phrase. I'll just accept I'm capable of what I set my mind to and leave it at that.
I say this specifically because I'm thinking of the sentence in my 2020 half marathons recap post where I said I probably could roll out of bed and run a half marathon. It would just be awful.
No need to experiment. I know it would be awful, so let's just not go there.
Still not as awful as the UK immigration system, though, am I right?
And that, folks, is how I transition into my call to action to get you to donate to my JCWI fundraiser. Thanks in advance for your recognition of their great work and me doing silly running things.
June running challenge
Park runs
Not to be confused with Park Run. I'll be doing 4 runs in June where I will be running through as many parks as I can in the north, south, west, and east of Edinburgh.
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