To those that run in the early morning, how do you do it?

I know my buddies will be at the meeting spot. That is enough to get my ass out of bed.

Rule #1: Go to bed early. If you are still up after 11:00 PM, you're setting yourself up to sleep in.

Rule #2: See rule #1

Rule #3: The night before, gather all the clothes and things you'll need for the run and put them all in a pile right next to your bed. That way you just get up and put them on.

Rule #4: See rule #1

I find a good trick is to put your alarm clock on the other side of the room so that when it goes off the only way to shut it up is to get out of bed. Once you're up and walking it should be easy to clamber around, put your running gear on and hit the road.

The night before, take coffee, add sugar an (a little) milk, place in fridge. That morning, chug delicious iced coffee, go run. Works like a charm

Goes *way* easier if you have (a) a training partner and (b) a default plan to meet at Time X every morning. You might curse him/her/it as you're dragging your ass out of bed, but you probably won't blow them off.