We all know the mantra, Spring Forward, Fall Back, meaning set your clocks ahead one hour in the Spring when Daylight Savings time starts and set it one hour back in the Fall when Daylight Savings time ends.
The term Daylight Savings is definitely a misnomer. Who are we kidding? The sun isn’t adding an extra hour of sunlight just because we humans decide to jiggle our clocks around. It just means certain people get to see more of the sun than others so some people benefit and others don’t.
By and large, most runners fall into one of two categories. Either you are an early morning runner or an after work evening runner.
For the early morning runner, the coming of spring is eagerly anticipated. Your 6 AM run is now a little lighter as the sun is just coming up, you love it. And then “BAM”, here comes Daylight Savings! Your old 6 AM is now 7 AM and the new 6 AM is like the old 5 AM, “Damn” zero dark thirty again!
Of course for the evening runner, it’s great. You get home and your 5:30 PM run is now light and the sun is still up. Way to go! Just remember, paybacks are hell because come this fall when Daylight Savings time goes away, your 5:30 PM is now 4:30 PM and by the time you get home, that 5:30 PM run is dark again. OH, where’s the justice?
Of course, now the morning runner gets a few more weeks of early morning light to make up for last springs’ loss.
Unfortunately, unless you live closer to the equator, or are below the equator, it’s a bummer because both morning and evening runners now have to deal with WINTER until it’s Spring Forward time again!
