I don’t like to get up in the morning. In fact, I’m fond of saying, “If I have to get up THAT early, there better be Class-V rapids involved.” (I love white water rafting!)

That being said, when training for a long-distance race it is easier to fit in longer training walks if you start early in the day.

Deb and I met at about 7:30 this morning to start our 6-miles at a park in Westerville. The rest of the Buckeye Striders were arriving at 8:00 and we wanted to get 2 miles in before they arrived.

It was dark with temps in the low 30s when we started. We walked straight out on the bike trail for 1 mile, then walked back in time to meet the others. When the group gathered, we turned around to walk out 2 more miles and back for our total of 6.

Around mile 4 I noticed how beautiful the day was. The sun was up, the temps were rising (slightly), there was no breeze, the trail was very pretty and I was walking with friends! I was very happy I had crawled out of my nice warm bed before the sun rose to be here with these people!

Could there be a better way to start a day? Well, OK, only if there are Class-V rapids involved. (But this is a close second.)

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