Why I run before the sun comes up

People assume the early run is about discipline. It isn't. I'm not gritting my teeth at 5am — I'm protecting the only hour nobody has figured out how to schedule over.

Before sunrise there's no inbox, no calls, no noise. Just breathing and pavement. Every good decision I've made in the last decade got its first draft on one of those runs.

The other reason is simpler: it makes the whole day a bonus round. Whatever happens after 7am, the hardest and best thing is already done. You can't lose a day you've already won.

You don't need to run, and it doesn't have to be 5am. But find the hour that's yours before the world wakes up and starts asking for things. Then defend it like it matters — because it does.