The 2:20 AM run - What the schedule is all about

Every day or two, I try and make it a point to go for a run at 2:20 AM in the morning. The 6:00 AM nap is the hardest to recover from for me. Psychologically, it's the final nap that separates night from day and as such is the last change for me to go to real sleep that night.

So, why do I love the 2:20 run?

• Running in the middle of the night is great. The street lamps are on, everything is quiet, deer are about, it's cool and refreshing out, and you feel like an explorer, it's very rare to see anyone.
• You get to start out the awake period before the nasty 6:00 nap by doing something active, running brings up my energy and the next period is usually a very productive one.
  
• It feels good

I have a nap in 3 minutes, so I need to run.

One last thing, running to me is a natural result of the sleep schedule. Usually, I don't want to dedicate time to do it, having to deal with showering after, and having more laundry. I now have time to easily do all those things, and I enjoy doing them now as spare time is no longer as costly as it used to be. These days I have the energy and alertness to make running less of a chore and more of a fun 30 minutes out side.

Time for my nap. After that, I'm taking a step outside.