At precisely 5:30 last Sunday morning, the entire Philadelphia area was hit with one of most unique and powerful ice storms ever.  Ice was literally falling from the sky, instantly sticking to the ground and essentially forming one gigantic ice-skating rink!  The news outlets and local TV stations were quick […]

Precisely at 4:45 this morning, my 10-year-old screamed out: “Mom!!!!!!!”, calling on my wife to get up and fix his blankets.  As she did not even move a muscle in response, I jumped up and ran over to him, taking care of business.  Realizing the tremendous opportunity that was now […]

After several weeks of thorough analysis (and heavy drinking), I’ve come to a conclusion that women are the source of their own problems in life.  But let’s go back to the beginning. Now that for the first time in history a woman is in the race for the White House, […]

I sincerely wish I could convey this feeling to all of you – nothing short of incredible… The legs are heavy, yet just continue moving forward on their own and the upper body does not exist!  I am serious, it feels as if the legs are just walking on their […]

“You can’t always get what you want”, stated Mick Jagger and he was right on the money.  It’s not often that we get exactly what we want, and – without much choice – we typically settle for less, for anything that at least gets us closer to that desired goal.  […]

What a title!  Everyone that knows me will tell you – I pretty much NEVER get angry and hardly ever raise my voice.  How is it possible, you ask?  Ah, long story; some psychologists will say that I am bottling it all up inside and one day will simply explode, […]

You must know the feeling very well… Your schedule, your days and your life overall just get packed more and more, get tighter and more complex, until it all just gets as bad as it could possibly get – or so you thought – because that’s when the real fun […]

What a magnificent experience this morning turned out to be!  I am talking about a run, of course, not what you might be thinking… A quick rain that began and ended twice, as I went from complete darkness out on the street into the beautiful Sunday morning light.  The spring is […]

I always tell myself that I will NEVER schedule or mentally prepare for a run before it actually takes place – if it happens when I wake up, so be it; if it doesn’t – it’s all good!  As you know, I believe in spontaneity and strongly feel that it […]

No, no, don’t get me wrong, we did not suddenly turn to violence here at 5 AM Runner, no way!  But I have always found it somewhat fascinating to be able to come in contact with something or someone famous, to visit a place rich in history, to stand in […]

It all started with a planned trip to a nearby strip club, scheduled for some time in the middle of the night.  What could be better?  Relaxing for a short while and forgetting about all the earthly worries and troubles, hanging out with friends and just letting go … And […]

I must say, we – runners – are one crazy bunch, and the 5-AM-Running variety of runners is particularly disturbed and basically unglued.  There must be something wrong with a person that enjoys running around on the streets in the middle of a night, finding the experience appealing and satisfying.  […]

As I walked back upstairs, I felt my entire body give way to an incredible amount of pain and distress, with every bone, joint and muscle aching beyond belief.  What a way to start the Doomsday Friday, very fitting for what they claim will be the last day of our […]

As we get older and more mature (in some cases), things change quite a bit.  We realize that making plans is not an exact science, that events often times take their own course and we should simply adjust accordingly.  And then there are those extreme cases of people like me, […]

Contrary to what you may believe and despite what you may have heard in the media, I don’t run every day, because quite simply – I am a slacker.  Well, it is a bit more complex than that, there are other external factors that determine my running schedule – my […]