🌅the 5am run

i'm not a morning person. i'm a person who has tried every other time of day and failed.

evenings get eaten by work. lunchtimes feel ridiculous. weekends come with excuses built in. the only hour of the day that nobody else wants is 5am, and because nobody wants it, it's the only hour nobody can steal from me.

what i've noticed

• the first ten minutes are always a negotiation. i've stopped listening to that part of me. she's a liar.
• the city at 5am is a gift. runners nod at each other. stray dogs watch you pass. the light is slow and gold.
• problems i couldn't solve at 11pm solve themselves at kilometer three. i don't know why. i've stopped asking.

i don't run for the medals. i run because if i don't put the day under my own feet first, someone else will come and put it under theirs.