Advantages and Disadvantages of Early Morning Runs

A few months ago, when I was in the last stages of "training" for my half marathon, I was getting up at 4:30 or 5 on the weekends to do my long runs before my family woke up.  Then, after the race, I got out of the habit, because I was only doing shorter runs and had no need to be up so early.  I happen to like sleep, and fitting in a 3 mile run in the middle of the day is a lot easier than squeezing in 10 or 12.

Since the weather is finally warming up, and we've been busier on the weekends with the kids, I realized that I'm probably going to have to get back to early morning runs.   Today I woke up a little before 6 (alarm was set for 6:30, but my dog woke me up) and threw on my shoes and headed out the door.

The result was not terribly pretty.  Granted, I'm coming down with a cold and I didn't give myself any time at all to wake up or warm up, but still.  Not a great run today.  But I did it and now I have the rest of the day free to do with as I wish.

Which brings me to:

Advantages and Disadvantages of Early Morning Runs

Pros:  

• Get the run "over with" early in the day
• Get up and moving before your mind has a chance to come up with an excuse not to 
• Beat the heat
• Less traffic to deal with 
• Having a good run early in the day can leave you feeling energized and ready to tackle the day's tasks. 

Cons: 

• Waking up early is difficult for some
• Not being fully awake when you begin your run could lead to accident or injury. 
• Running in the dark could be dangerous
• Having a bad run early in the day can leave you feeling tired and unenthusiastic about the day's tasks ahead. 

I'm sure there are other, more scientific advantages and disadvantages to exercising early in the morning, but really, if ya'll wanted science, you would not be here, am I right?

Do you run early in the day?