Running at 4am
4 am's stupidly early, beyond any reasonable hour to be awake.
It is a habit I have been trying to develop and maintain for the past year. I never liked running in the morning or afternoon, especially knowing that people have the same idea.
While the rest of the world is asleep, I'm awake. If running is not you're forte, I'd say everyone should try waking up earlier. Not as early as 4 am though.
As life continually demands our full attention during the day, we can have some 'me time' in the early morning to get shit done. If you have no time, make time.
We have a finite amount of time, so we need to be selfish about it.
And the 4 am wake-up is the developed solution to that problem.
Prep Work
Most of the effort for this habit is in the sleep schedule that can support enough hours to be a perfectly functioning human being for the rest of the day.
8-10 hours is the recommended healthy amount. But knowing us, seven might be the best we can get. My schedule usually looks like a 9 pm bedtime for the 4 am wake-up.
How productive are we between the hours of 8-12 pm? Between those times, we're whining down from the day's work: using our phone, watching tv, playing video games.
We certainly need time to do leisure; not every waking hour needs to be productive.
If you're delaying the time to sleep, though, through these activities, you might as well fall asleep anyways.
Be disciplined with your sleep. Hell, to wake up at 4 am and immediately run after is a whole other discipline in itself. Given time, you and the body will adjust to the new sleep schedule.
It's up to you to hold yourself accountable.
I won't go into depth, but the general tip with falling asleep faster is no blue light. Reading is a great activity to do before bed as well. A quick Google search will get you the sleeping tips you're looking after.
Let's also make waking up and running easier for us.
Wear your activewear and socks in bed, have a glass of water beside you to drink after waking up, have the house keys next to said water.
Making a habit doable with the least amount of resistance makes us more inclined to follow through with it.
The key takeaway with preparation, make it easier for your future self—the morning you.
Waking Up
I've found waking up with purpose easier than waking up with no purpose at all.
Realising that 'I get to run' jumps me out of bed as I hear the 4 am alarm from my phone. You might get to the point you'll wake up 5 minutes before the alarm just thinking about it the night before.
Now it might be tempting to fall back asleep again. It's the easier option. You're already in bed; what is forcing you to get up? There are no immediate consequences, just more sleep and comfort.
I don't study Physics or any sciences, but I like to use Newton's First Law of Inertia.
"An object at rest stays at rest, and an object in motion stays in motion..."
There is nothing harder than trying to wake up with two hours of sleep, feeling the heavy weight of fatigue. As the object, we will not be in motion, waking up, as we did not start it through preparations.
When you wake up, get up as soon as you can. The push will create a snowball effect of you eventually starting to run.
If you're already outside the house, you're less likely to go back to bed. But if you wake up and are still in bed, you will remain at rest.
Some people also suggest putting the alarm across the room to force yourself to get up and turn it off.
Whatever method gets you up and out of bed, use it.
Running
I'm no athlete nor a personal fitness trainer.
I don't think a lot about how many kilometres, but starting small is a generally good idea. We're only starting, so don't go running a marathon.
Dragging ourselves out so much outside of our comfort zone might create a rubber band effect, discouraging us and starting back to square one.
You could even start by walking. Get used to the idea of doing something active in the early morning.
My usual routine is running four kilometres in half an hour. I'm probably only doing a jog, but half an hour does it for me. Of course, you can rest between each run. I wouldn't know if I could survive constant running for that four kilometres. And again, don't burn yourself out.
Running in the dark is also scary.
The first time doing it, I checked behind my shoulder if I had someone chasing after me. Rest assured, I've only encountered having to turn in the other direction. Yeah, don't run towards strangers when it's dark.
That also leads me to run with headphones.
I don't run with mine because I don't want to be get jumped. I want only my phone mugged.
Honestly, it's up to personal preference if you want to be running with music.
I'll link a video of David Goggins, the guy who got me inspired me to do 4 am runs in the first place, explaining to Joe Rogan his take on listening to music while working out.
Early Wake Up is Freedom
Discipline equals freedom - Jocko Willink
Back to why we should run at 4 am.
It might seem contradictory to associate discipline with freedom. Discipline is being rigid and deliberate with action, but you are free to choose the outcome of your life.
In terms of running at 4 am, I have more responsibility over my life. I can have time to stay fit and for myself while having a life as a student.
I cannot tell the immediate benefits nor the scientific benefits. Most of the benefits are delayed and indirect.
This delayed gratification can create discouragement as we want to see immediate results from our actions.
In the moment, I might feel the pain of being winded and my legs feeling tired. But I stay faithful that the benefits will follow eventually.
Who wouldn't want that kind of discipline? It's a vital character trait for success in life.
Instant gratification, rather than delayed gratification, might hinder that very success in our future, only creating mediocrity and disappointment.
The pain we experience is temporary, but the benefits are long term.
Don't apply this idea to just running at 4 am or waking up earlier. Sometimes we have to sacrifice the present's pleasures for a meaningful future.
Over time, as long as we make the most beneficial choices now, we'll reap its rewards later.
If you like the article, you can check out the video on my YouTube channel Denzil Duke.