I’ve been finding these last few days that I’m waking earlier and earlier for my morning (recovery) run. This morning I awoke at 4am with my alarm set at 5am,. Well after 15minutes thinking this is ridiculous waking so early I decided that 4:15am was no ‘as’ ridiculous so off I went into the morning. As always I was glad I did as as I ran my old faithful 10k for the 166th time (thanks Strava) I got to witness another great sunrise. There really is something wonderful getting up as the sun starts to peak  over the horizon. The light is amazing and you normally face the new day alone, basking in the solitude. My go-to 10k takes me through Star Swamp just as the Sun rises and I deliberately  set my alarm so I’m hitting a certain part of the swamp as the Sun welcomes me.

Every time I see the sunrise I think of all the people asleep in bed who just get up , crawl to work in a zombie like state and never get to experience the ‘sunrise that could cleanse the soul‘ that I experience almost daily.  These same people look at me with disgust when I tell them what time I rose and embraced the day,  explaining that I’m running in the middle of the night. Maybe their night not mine.  On a good day I get to experience the sunset over the ocean if I can get to the bike path in time. On many times I’ve ran with the sunrise in the morning and finished the day racing the sunset. How good is that ? I’ll tell you , bloody good.

As well as experiencing the sunrise you normally get to run through your local park alone or experience the city waking with very little traffic, well I do in Perth, it’s probably different in major cities but it’ll be quieter anyhow. Th early morning really is a magical time experienced by the few and that’s the way we like it. Living in Perth we are blessed with such a runner friendly climate. Nine months of the year it’s just about prefect all day and for the three summer months, where the temperature can get brutal, you take solace in the early morning when the temperature is kinder. I then bring out the bike and cycle to and from work after my morning run as this is great cardio (I’m an old fashioned cyclist who actually pedals. With the number of motorised or electric bikes on the bike paths actually meeting ‘normal’ cyclists is rare. When did it become the norm to ‘cycle’ to work on an electric bike without actually doing anything ? The world has gone crazy people with the same people then ‘clip-clopping’ into the local cafe and sipping their frothy light frappacinos’s cacooned in lycra. )  I have been known to say the odd derogatory remark about cycling but as a means of commuting in the Summer heat there really is nothing better. As for the lycra and coffee addiction, I can put up with it. Actually any excuse to drink good coffee should be embraced anyway. The lycra and headscarf, testing but after a while you get use to it and before long you’re ‘clip-clopping’ into cafes with your cycling gear fitting right in. (Although I’ve never drank a soya, light, frothy frappaccino , yet ?)

So what was the point of this post. I do seem to have ‘dribbled ‘on for longer than normal. The point is get up early and go and enjoy the sunrise and then run late and experience the sunset. They are both worth the effort and who knows if you running around King’s Park in Perth one morning you may end up in a ‘Paul Harrison classic’. (see below)

I attached a great photo of the sunrise in Perth take by one of my favourite photographers Paul Harrison, a very talented man.