The Habit of Catching Sunrises

If you spend enough time around the running/tri community on twitter, you inevitably catch some amazing photos of nature - the kinds of pictures people snap along their workouts. Catching a great view from on high during a hike or the twilight off the face of a lake is one of the most enjoyable things I gain from others' timelines.

A while ago, I wrote about the meaning of getting up early to get a workout in, and visual reward of a mountain view that can accompany that sacrifice. Today, during my morning ride, I had a different reflection on my habit of catching sunrises.

Sunrise over Los Angeles from the Ballona Creek Bike Path
The sunrise provides a clean slate, a new start to the day. There's something fresh and new and promising about the beginning of something.

Same goes for races - I think it's why some of us keep going back to the same distance over and over again. Because when the clock says 00:00:00, you get to start fresh. You get another chance to experience that race again. And in that fresh start exists so much potential...potential for whatever you want in your life, athletically or otherwise.

The moment when you first wake up in the morning is the most wonderful of the twenty-four hours. No matter how weary or dreary you may feel, you possess the certainty that, during the day that lies before you, absolutely anything may happen. And the fact that it practically always doesn't, matters not a jot. The possibility is always there. -Monica Baldwin

After today's ride, I see the morning alarm clock a bit differently. Yes, one the one hand its still a symbol of the sacrifices I'm willing to make to push myself. But it also now has this new meaning. As long as the sun keeps coming up and I keep rising to meet it, then the world is what I make of it. And if a bad day comes along, there is another sunrise soon enough.