I’m one of those people who isn’t really a morning person, if she’s being honest, but really wants to be—especially when it comes to being a morning runner. Something about getting your workout in before most people are starting their first French Press is just so satisfying, and the times in my life where I’ve gotten out and logged miles as the sun rose have been some of my favorites. But weirdly, having a flexible schedule—and the travel that goes with it—makes for a much harder time getting up and out in the wee hours of the morning, especially in unknown places. Safety issues and my admittedly ridiculous fear of zombies (no joke, I once skipped a master’s swim class because of a nightmare that made it impossible for me to consider leaving the house to ride to the gym) make running in the dark tough. So I stopped running early and now I do my morning yoga routine and my real workout comes later.

But I still love being a morning runner—even doing just short runs and then a full workout later—and I do want to get back to it now that we’re a bit more stable. I also re-remembered my love of early runs when I was on a bikepacking trip in Arizona a couple of weeks ago and was able to sneak out of my tent for a solo 30 minute trail run at the start of each day. So, I am officially re-hooked… I’m just hoping it gets a bit lighter a bit earlier FAST so I can start running to the 6:15AM spin class I’ve been teaching occasionally and the 6:30 sunrise yoga class I’ve been taking. But to get there, I need help. So, I hunted down a bunch of early birds to get their best tips on how they get out of bed/lace up/get out the door and crush—and to be honest, a lot of it was necessity versus enjoyment-based. Their top tips (and trust me, they are GOOD!) are over on MapMyRun.com!