Conclusion

Thanks everyone for your comments on yesterday's post.  I ended up managing to make myself get up early this morning and go out for a run as planned.  Alarm went off at 5.40am (quiet thank you to Deane for buying me an iPod/iPhone alarm clock dock that doesn't make an awfully loud, invasive noise).  Took me ten minutes to make the commitment to actually get out of bed when I realised it was still completely dark out.  I had dug out some running gear the night before and made a mental note of where my hat and sportband was, so I figured that since I'd made the effort to be organised, I might as well beat the feet.

I got out the door just on 6am, sans iPod (for safety reasons - it's better to be able to hear traffic/other people etc pre-dawn.  Don't want any crazies springing a surprise attack on me ;-P).  Firstly, birds are freaking noisy at that time of the morning!  Secondly, I was astounded by the number of people that were out  and about - I passed two large groups of runners with about 30-odd people each (they move fast!), as well as quite a lot of individuals or pairs.  Plenty of cyclists too.  Not to mention the amount of traffic.

Pros:

• There's something about the crispness of the early morning air that is rather appealing and invigorating
• Less people around (despite the fact that there were more people out than I expected)
• Being able to watch the sun rise.  Although I had to turn my back on it before it had risen to the point where I could see it this morning, the sky was beautiful, and the sun will rise earlier the closer we get to summer
• While still pre-dawn, it's quite nice to be able to look around and see all the stars and the city lights.  I often wondered what night running would be like - I guess this is much the same 
• Getting a run out of the way early means you have the rest of the day to get other stuff done

Cons:

• The cold air gives me earache (although that should be easily fixed with a headband or ear-covering hat)
• Having to get up super early and drag myself outo of my nice, warm, cosy bed
• Going to bed earlier to counter that early morning rise

So I have made some decisions:

• I think I'm happy (at this stage at least) continuing to run by myself.  The lone runner ;-)  Seeing those groups out this morning kind of sealed the deal for me.  I wouldn't be able to keep up with their pace.
• Early morning running is something I will continue to do, but not for every run.  Variation is good, right?

I enjoyed running without music - the early morning sounds of the city can be quite relaxing.  And I managed 7km, yay!  A break over the weekend, and I might go for 8km on Monday.

As for entering events, I'm still undecided.  Probably not at this stage, might leave it for now.  Might change my mind again tomorrow.  Is it weird that I like to run alone, but want to enter events with a friend?  Do I need people I know cheering me on at the end, or should I just pretend the strangers are cheering for me?  Do other runners do that?

In other news, I have completed one Rossling sock and am up to the ankle band on the second sock, and I managed to knit half the sleeves on my Bellevue sweater yesterday.  If I put in some hard yards knit-wise, I might actually make the deadline.  Then again, I may just be kidding myself...  I have until 11am Monday to get them across the 'finish line'.  Challenge accepted ;-)