All summer long I run in the mornings, mainly out of a necessity to avoid the brutal heat.

Come fall, I don't have to run in the morning, in fact, sometimes I'll mix it up with a few afternoon runs, but the mornings are still my favorite.

There's just something about being out there in the crisp fall air while most of the world is still asleep.

The D.C. streets are fairly quiet in the early morning hours. Instead of the honking horns I hear in the afternoon, in the mornings I only hear the sound of my feet hitting the pavement or the crunch of leaves as I run over them.

Although it's dark, the street lights make it seem oddly bright. In the summer, I'll pass a lot of people out running, but in the fall, it's just me and Garmin.

In the afternoon, I have to pump the music to keep me motivated, but for some reason, in the morning I have no need for that. The sounds of nature work just fine as my background music.

At heart I'll always be a morning runner, and I'm embracing that fact that in the fall running in the morning is a choice, not a necessity.