fitness

Okay, I get it, it’s dark in the morning

Tracy I
Image description: Sign that says "You have an upcoming event: Three months of darkness." Underneath it says "Okay."
Image description: Sign that says “You have an upcoming event: Three months of darkness.” Underneath it says “Okay.”

Sam and I have a different take on the end of Daylight Savings Time. She despises the early dark at the end of the day. I despise the late dark in the morning. Two years ago, I managed a long training run in Sackville, NB on the east coast because of the end of DST. The day before it had been dark at 7 a.m. But on the Sunday it was light. But that was the east coast. I wrote a post about why I like falling back. I wrote similar last year: see “And then there was light.” Sam hates November, largely because of the dark.

What I noticed yesterday morning when I woke up at about 6:30 is that it was still really dark. Now, yes, it would be worse for it to be still dark at 7:30, which is what time it would have been without the end of DST. But it remained pretty dark until shortly after 7 a.m.  Somehow that’s not how I remember it. I thought it would be light before 7 again, making it a lot easier to get out for a run.

On Sunday, the first day of the end of DST, I mentioned to Cate and Christine that it got dark SO early. I get into hibernation mode in the winter, and especially on the nights when I plan to stay in I don’t really care what time it gets dark. In fact, the early dark makes those nights somehow seem cozier.

I’m hoping that one reason it seemed so dark yesterday morning was the dreary weather. Maybe with the overcast skies, it’s just dark anyway, regardless.

Meanwhile, as the captain of “Team Tracy” (fans of the end of DST, many of whom are motivated by the very short term benefit of the extra hour of sleep on Sunday morning), I have a reputation to uphold. But it’s hard to uphold it when my main reason — light in the mornings — hasn’t appeared to be the case so far this season.

Published by Tracy I

Writer, feminist, vegan blogging at veganpractically.com, runner, philosopher, yogi, knitter, co-founder of Fit Is a Feminist Issue, co-author of Fit at Mid-Life: A Feminist Fitness Journey (Greystone Books, 2018). Current project: a work-in-progress book and blog on imperfect veganism (see veganpractically.com).

3 thoughts on “Okay, I get it, it’s dark in the morning”

  1. Well, I’m at least temporarily Team Tracy! With a new work schedule this fall, it’s easier for me to enjoy the light in the morning, so I welcomed changing time this year. (writing as I watch the sun come up from my back patio) I think it would be fair to say, though, that we all dislike the lack of light during winter! We just have different ways of coping.

  2. I’m with Tracy. While an early night time is an adjustment, (and I’m not a fan of driving in the dark) it is only for a very short time before we move the other way and get a minute more of light each evening. (Dec 21). I live in southern California and sometimes with the early sunrise, we’d have to wait for a long time before the heat of the day cools. Yes even in November December sometimes. (It’s supposed to be in the 80’s by the end of the week). But I also view this time as a natural way to stop go go going all the time. The early dark gives us opportunity to curl.up with family early and watch a movie, have a long dinner on a weekday, read, go to bed early…I look at it as a reset from our busy world.

  3. Because I’m an early riser it’s always dark when I get up. I don’t notice a huge difference. I get up in the dark, walk the dog in the dark etc. I don’t like biking home int he dark but worse I hate feeling trapped at home in the evenings. I can’t drive in the dark. Those are long nights. Ugh. And it’s a long winter.

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