#87 - Wake Up Every Morning At 5am For A Month

Typically winter in Brisbane records overnight / morning temperatures of around 11 degrees.  For us here in Brisbane, that's about 20 degrees less than what our bodies are typically accustomed to.  I'm speaking very broadly of course, but generally we are adapted to a warmer climate.  June 2011 has seen some slightly cooler than average temperatures, yet for the entire month of June I woke at 5am and went for a 30 minute run, sometimes braving single figure temperatures.  The coldest morning was 5 degrees.

I didn't deliberately choose June.  I believe June chose me because waking every morning at 5am was something which eventuated naturally and automatically, without a pre-conceived strategy.

Surprisingly it was rather easy to wake at this hour as I found myself really enjoying it, once dressed, outside and running.  It did not come without the usual nagging thoughts of going back to bed, especially since the purchase of an electric blanket. 

There are four other people in the neighbourhood who are also early morning exercisers, and I soon found myself recognising them and seeing them in roughly the same places on the same streets at the same time, morning after morning.  There was Asian Lady With The Pink Gloves And Big Straw Hat who was very focused on her power walking.  Also, The Couple With The Two Dogs who were regularly spotted walking rather casually near the local bowls club and Big Running Bloke who would pass me after about 5 minutes into my run, with a breathless "g'day" and a smile.  

Then there's the local bakery, a family run business which was always open, beckoning me inside with its delicious baked pastry aroma filling my nostrils from no less than a street away.  Countless times my tastebuds wanted to run right into that bakery however my feet carried me past the bakery and around the corner into a leafy suburban street where families, couples, the elderley and children were still counting sheep, snoring peacefully, oblivious to my 100 Things To Do and the waking sounds of the neighbourhood as night turned into dawn and birds started their morning chorus lines and feeding frenzies.  They were missing out on the most serene and delicate part of the day. 


Early mornings are truly exhilirating and a sunrise is a miraculous, moving event which can be experienced every day.  Beautiful sunrises occur unpredictably by chance.  You have to risk a few to get a good one.  Kind of like finding a life partner.  Which reminds me... Statistically speaking most people find partners close to home, often within a 5km radius... I wonder if Big Running Bloke is single???  Might put my running shoes on in the morning...