Why do a #5at5?

One of my favorite low-maintenance routine workouts is my #5at5 run.

Ever hear me mention it?


When I was training for Route 66 last fall, my coach had me doing  easy-paced 5-mile runs on most Monday mornings. Although my friend, Barb, wasn't training under a coach's instruction, she was also training for Route 66. Since her and I do a lot of our training runs together (because we often are training for the same races), it just made sense to do some of our easy-paced runs together.

Yes, we're quite a sight with our belts all aglow ...

She was not much of an early-morning runner, but was interested in becoming one (and, quite frankly, I was eager to have someone to chat with and keep me company). I invited her to run one of my 5-milers with me. I told her I wanted to leave my house around 5:00, so I'd be back well before 6:00. She jokingly said, "Oh, 5 at 5?" And, just like that, the #5at5 was born.

I know, I know....when there's 24 hours in a day, why choose to lace up and run at 5:00 a.m.? Especially in the winter, when it's dark and colder than usual...and, let's keep in mind, a 5:00 a.m. departure (with the body fully clothed and the muscles "warmed-up") usually requires a 4:30 a.m. wake-up.

Here's a few reasons why I do it:

**5 miles is a perfect moderate distance...it's not too far, but far enough that it's worth your while. As I said, I run most of these #5at5's with my friend, Barb. I have a 5-mile looped route (that I mapped out years ago). We meet up at the halfway point between our houses and go from there. On the rare occasion when I'm running solo, I have a different route I do that doesn't take me too far from my house when I'm alone in the dark hours (it's sort of a figure-8 route, near the college campus, so it's well lit with lamp posts).

The sun is just starting to rise....

**An early morning run is a great fat-burner because you're running in a "fasted" state. I'm not necessarily trying to lose weight, but there's always a bit of residual fat hanging around (and that's quite alright....but I don't mind whittling away at it either). Even with a small snack before I head out, I'll still be burning more calories over the course of five miles than what I consume prior to hitting the street....and most of that will be from stored fuel (a lot of which will be stored fat).

My front porch is my main "post-#5at5 selfie" stage

**Starting the day with a negative calorie deficit has its benefits.
--if you ARE trying to lose weight, it gives your metabolism a jump start
--if you're NOT trying to lose weight, you can eat a big breakfast guilt-free

**Getting it done early can give you peace of mind. It is quite freeing to have the entire day to not have to worry about the weather, or feeling fatigued after work, or running out of time at the end of the day. Here's a bonus: oftentimes, after a long day (which consequently starts at 4:30 on those #5at5 mornings), I'll actually forget that I ran earlier in the day...and it's a total happy dance moment when I remember that I don't "need" to run later.

The Vizi belt gets a lot of use on my early morning runs

**Bragging rights for being an early-riser. There's quite a bit of satisfaction in returning to my house before most of my neighbors are even awake. Also, in the spring, it's pretty neat noticing the days getting longer and longer and the sun rising earlier and earlier before I make it back from my run. Even in the winter, although the sun doesn't rise earlier, I don't notice it staying dark longer because it's usually still dark when I return around 6:00 anyways.

Sometimes we're out the door as early as 4:30 in the summer to beat the heat

So, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Bottom line, most of who run (and train for long-distance races) have some degree of craziness in our genetics or we wouldn't do what we do. If you'd like some tips on running in the dark, you can check out this post from last year: Running in the wee-dark hours.

What's the earliest (or latest) you have gone running? Ever done a #5at5?  Or does a #6at6 sound more appealing?

I'm linking with Suzie and Rachel and Debbie and Lora for the Running Coaches' Corner

And with Nicole and Annmarie and Jen for the Wild Wednesday Workout