Matt Gedye
Morning Long Runs in Melbourne
Sometimes, although not always, the alarm goes off around 5:30am on Sunday and it’s as if I didn’t need it in the first place. I’ll make my way into the kitchen and make a coffee, sitting down on the couch to read while I sip and enjoy it. The sun is yet to rise so I’m aided by artificial light. I really love this early morning time and I savour it, taking my time to work through my coffee and my book. It’s so peaceful at this time, knowing almost everyone else is still sleeping. Once my mug is drained I work on brekky. It’s always the same before a long run. Peanut butter on toast. Then I get dressed and off I go. I like driving to my start point rather than running from the front door. It creates a small sense of adventure. I would never run in the early morning during the week. But it feels different on Sundays. Probably because I don’t have to rush. The start is never too far from home, maybe fifteen minutes at most. Then I start my Garmin, wait for a GPS lock, and off I go.
By the time my legs are turning over, it’s about 7am and I’m in the zone. Even when training for marathons and I have to inject some speed into the run at some point, the start is always the same. Just a cruise. Often the whole run is at this pace. I used to run with music, but haven’t had headphones with me while running for over five years. The goal of most long runs is to run at a comfortable, sustained pace. The sound of music masks my breathing, so I can’t hear if I’m working too hard. But it also distracts from the sounds of the world waking up around me. I mostly run on the Main Yarra Trail in Melbourne’s north-eastern suburbs. And as the sun creeps up, it lights up the bushland surrounding the river. The smell of eukalyptus is an ever-present one. Especially in summer. As the morning goes on, I’m often greeted by the sounds of kookaburras, lorikeets, cockatoos, wattlebirds and magpies. There are certain parts of the trail where I’m guaranteed to see kangaroos. On rare occasions I’ll see an echinda and in summer, the occasional tiger snake.
Before long the trail is bussling with other recreationists. They too understand this ambience. They must. Because, like me, they’ll head out in even on the coldest, dreariest Sunday mornings. By the time I’m headed back to the car, the fast runners are headed to where I’m running back from. I can move quickly when I need or want to. But I’m always astounded by how fast these folks are moving while holding conversations. I feel like a snail in comparison, but it doesn’t psyche me out.
When I’m not training for a race, I’ll usually max out at ninety minutes. Back at the car before 9am with the whole rest of the day ahead of me. It doesn’t make a lot of logical sense to be out so early. I could start at 10 and still be finished before midday. But for some reason, it never feels the same. There’s something about running early in the morning on the weekend that just feels good for the soul.
P.S What I’m doing now.