It was a 9PM on Saturday.

And I jumped out of bed and screamed into the heavens “I WANNA GO RUNNING.” Of course, that couldn’t happen because I was sick (and still sort of am) and that was asking for trouble. So I didn’t. Instead, I stayed at home while my best friend visited me and called my room a “room of death”.

But the next day, I woke up from a nap around 4PM feeling crappy and not giving a care, I threw on my running shoes. I’m not sure if it was because being sick made me wish I could exercise (since for the most part I didn’t have the energy to and you always want what you can’t have) or because I just wanted to try and sweat the demon out of my body, but I did. I went for just two miles in my wonder woman shirt and ran to my best friend’s house. It was 5PM and the hot Guam sun was beating down on me and my lungs and throat stinging as I breathed trying not to cough up phlegm as I went. But I was feeling quite fulfilled.

I don’t normally run with the sun up. I did make an exception when all of my friends would take laps at the Dededo Sports Complex but usually, I don’t run with the sun up. A normal morning (every few days) for me is waking up at 4:30/5 and hitting the road before anyone else does. The streets are quiet. Very few souls are ever awake at this time. It’s the perfect time to go, in my mind. Most people are asleep and anyone who isn’t is usually walking their dogs. That’s important for me, as I’ve an extremely paranoid nature and I need to feel safe if I’m going to be out without anything to beat a hoodlum with other than my feet (watch your nads). Plus, I don’t like people honking at me when I go running.

I just like the ambience from an early morning run, when almost no one is around and the few people who are won’t bother you. The air is easier to breathe, somehow and it’s always nice watching the sky change colors as the sun does rise on the final leg. It’s peaceful and I’m always in a better state of mind after the fact. Once, there was a guy who slept in a bus stop. I would pass him every day, usually when he was waking up. He’d tell me “good morning” and I’d say “good morning back”. He was nice people.

But despite the honk from the one guy and the paranoid feeling that another other guy was going to try and mug me in front of this one house, I did quite enjoy the 5PM run. I likely won’t make it a habit but it boded well with my sickness. I saw the sunrise in reverse*, saw a few dogs while they were awake and smelled things I don’t ever want to smell again. Also, a bunch of chickens thought I was chasing after them so I did for a little while. They were on the sidewalk and had nowhere else to go so they just continued to run the sidewalk in front of me, panicked. It was hilarious.

*sunset, haha

Also also also, I’ve been getting ready for the Ko’ko Half Marathon. Doing this again and this time, it’s personal. And I will celebrate with pancakes.