The alarm went off at 4:45 yesterday morning. Ugh. I had the best laid plans to get out of bed and do my 12-mile long run in preparation for Bataan. I finally got out of bed at 5:00, realizing that I was awake and had a solid 7 hours of sleep, at least. It wasn’t even cold outside so I really had no excuse at all!

I ran down dark streets, some barely lit by lights. By the time my body realized what I was doing, I was almost home. I got in about 9 miles, according to runningahead.com.

I went with my Camelbak as I hate carrying anything in my hands but without music. I couldn’t believe I stomached nine miles with no music and no one to talk to! I ran all over the Northeast, which in itself is not very scenic until the sunlight started reflecting off the mountains.

My rewards for getting up and running early? A beautiful sunrise and fresh coffee when I got home, and at least 1000 calories burned by 7 AM.

I had to work late last night, until 8:15 or so, but surprisingly I found I wasn’t any more tired than if I’d gotten up at 6:30 or later.

This morning I didn’t run, but I did get up when Aaron did and found that I have more energy and motivation to get even little things done, like making the bed! Woohoo. I’m almost glad I didn’t run this morning; it sounded like our house was going to blow over last night! It’s so dusty you can barely see the mountains…