The Payoff

Not the actual sunrise this morning since I regrettably did
not have my camera. But this comes courtesy of photolvr35
on Flickr.

The alarm went off at 7:00 this morning. I know what you’re thinking, “He said he was getting up at 6:00 to ‘feel the day’ and squeeze in a morning run.” Everybody relax. On Fridays, I get to work from home, which also means I can cut out my commute and snag an extra 30-60 minutes of sleep.

However, this morning, as I said, the alarm went off at 7:00 and I wobbled. Do I really need to walk the dog longer this morning? She’s going on a hike with Rachel this afternoon. The rationalization was in full effect, as went through the motions of pulling on my warmups. The longer morning walk for the dog is secondary, I shouted in my head. The longer morning walk for you is primary.

Still wrestling with the idea, I slid on my gloves and tuned in my iPod, all the while thinking, If you don’t get out the door to walk long every morning, how are you going to get up to go run short every morning?

This morning, the payoff came almost immediately, and it’s not even ankle related. No, the payoff was this: a magnificent sunrise. My only regret is that I didn’t have my phone with me to take a picture.

Normally when I wake up, the sky is still dark or the eastern horizon is beginning to soften. Somewhere between taking a shower and getting out the door, night has officially receded and the sun blares through my windshield causing all traffic reports to reference the dreaded “sunshine delay.”

At 7:00 today, however, the timing was perfect. I stepped out of the house and glanced over to my left to see the fleece of clouds glowing like the orange embers of a roaring fire. All of the rationalization and second-guessing burned away.

Mattie and I walked toward the sunrise to start the front end of our 1.6mi round trip out and back. The sky continued to glow, changing from orange embers to the buzzing of neon pink signs. And when we reached the turnaround point near the 18th hole, a haze of pink water shimmered in the hazard where the reflection of the bare trees swam.

We stopped for a second to take it all in. Mattie sat down at my side as if appreciating the moment with me. It quickly became one of those times that no matter how much you didn't want to get out the door and run (or walk in this case), you're always glad you did.

We continued on with the sunrise at our backs until we reached the house again. By then, the sky had lost its palette of colors and instead reflected an ordinary crisp winter morning.

Today, the day felt good.