Pre-Dawn 4 miler: 9/15

For other people Thursday morning is just garbage day -- get up early, take down the trash and recycling.  For me, it is the day that I get up early enough to run before work.  There is a practical reason why I force myself to run in the morning on Thursday, which is that by finishing my run before 7am, I give myself a full 48 hours of rest between the end of my run on Thursday and the start of my run on Saturday.  Aside from the practical nature of this run, I really enjoy getting up before most of the city is moving and hitting the streets.  I've spoken many time on the blog about how peaceful it is outside at the time of day.  But, it goes  deeper than the peacefulness of city and the morning air.  I have actually begun to enjoy the process of getting ready the night before, waking up early, making coffee before Hiroko or Basil (our cat) have moved.  My Thursday mornings feel more like a ritual than a routine and are something that I've begun to take a certain degree of pride in.  I've never really understood the value of routine or ritual, but I am beginning to understand the appeal.  This Thursday's run was a short 4 miler and nearly over before it really got going well. 

4 mile in 40:02 for a 9:53 pace.

1 9:51
2 9:51
3 10:19
4 9:37