Four weeks ago, I woke up on a sunny and hot August day, noticed I didn’t have any K-Cups in the house, and thought, “let’s go to Starbucks”. Yet, I didn’t want to drive. My local Starbucks is a little over a mile from my Mom’s house and the James Island Sunday traffic was building up. So, I put on my running shoes, dressed in my active wear, loaded up my hip bag with my wallet and iPhone, and starting walking towards Starbucks. Soon I found myself running along Camp Road, an activity I had not done in many years. Lucky for me, I spent the month earlier working out doing strength training, so running was not too difficult. But man, my form was terrible, and my legs soon reminded me that I should stop running, like quit before my legs fall off. Yet, memories of running in Charleston 20 years ago flooded my mind and I remembered how much I enjoyed running as I made my way to Starbucks. Running is both a simple activity, and extremely difficult one the farther away from home you run. Once I reached Starbucks, I took a sit in the cool A/C and drank a cup of coffee. I was in heaven. Yet, as soon as I finished my coffee, I remembered…“shit! I have to run home now”.

This morning, about 2am, I dressed for a run. Put on my new running shoes from Fleet Feet, grabbed an energy gel, my iPhone, and placed them in hip bag. I put in my headphones, launched my SiriusXM app, tuned to the Chill channel, opened my mapmyrun app, hit start, and began running. Running under the moonlight is part of my fitness journey the past month. When I first started running under the moonlight, I was very nervous. The World is a much different place at 2am. Neighborhoods are sleepy, the roads are quite, and the wild life lets you know it’s their time. Running down Folly Road, I felt amazing. My pace was strong. My breathing steady and the music light to keep me occupied and focused. To consider my first mile of running in middle August, to the 10k I complete today, I am so proud of myself! And running is addictive y’all. I now have to plan my rest days between runs but don’t count on that LOL. There is also the mental toughness that is growing within me from my moonlight runs. As someone who battles a mental health disorder, running is transforming my life. I highly recommend trying a moonlight run at least once in your life.

So, how does moonlight runs support the Art of Motorcycling? My best evidence is when I commuted to work yesterday on Lucy, my 2024 Triumph Speed Twin 900. After three days of runs, equaling about 12 miles, with a strength and conditioning day as well, I felt awesome on my bike! Plenty of energy to prep for my AM commute. Beautiful focus on the AM commute ride. And the best part, the PM commute, when I head home from the office, I was alert, positive, and confident to handle the PM rush hour Charleston traffic. Please note, the PM commute is by far the most difficult for me. As I wrote a note to myself post ride yesterday, a commute day on a motorcycle is a FULL DAY. Meaning, you ride to work. Work a full day. Ride home. Surviving this is a beautiful gift from God! Running helps me so much with my mental attitude towards everything that this powerful mind enhancement, crosses over to motorcycling very naturally. I am able to relax myself with breathing exercises when nerves jump up with motorcycling. Also, I feel strong throughout the PM commute after a long day at the office, something a few months ago I did not experience. It is really interesting that these two movements, running and motorcycling, pair so well together. Aside from the physical improvements from running towards motorcycling, the mental toughness needed for motorcycling is developing very quickly through my moonlight runs.

So is it a run day or ride day Rolf? Funny, it is a decision I never thought I would have to make before work. By riding Lucy under the moonlight and running the twist single lane roads of James Island under the moonlight, I am so happy for achieving new adventures in my life. Because if you don’t push yourself, challenge yourself each day, you will be left wondering what have I done with my life? Trust me, the radical changes you make in your life will be the most rewarding of all. Ok, time to wait for the moonlight.

Rolf