The "middle of the night" is a nebulous term.
Although midnight claims the honor, it's technically a misnomer unless you maybe go to bed at 8 p.m. and rise at 4 a.m.
The real fulcrum of the night for most people is probably closer to 3 a.m., slap in the middle of an 11 p.m.-to-7 a.m. sleep cycle. Frankly, 3 a.m. is not a time when most of us are up and stirring. But maybe we should be.
For two Chattanooga men - Mickey McCamish and Greg Creswell - 3 a.m. is prime time for beginning their morning activities. If the early bird catches the worm, McCamish and Creswell should be well stocked for a fishing trip.
McCamish, a retired Navy officer who works in marketing for the Riverbend Festival, said he has always been an early riser, going back to his college days at the University of Chattanooga, the precursor to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
"I always had my [college] classes before noontime," he said. "The military continued to reinforce that early [morning] lifestyle."
McCamish said he has a bedtime ritual that includes laying out his clothes for the next morning - all in the name of efficiency. Then he climbs into bed at 9 p.m. and reads for about 30 minutes before drifting off to sleep.
His alarm goes off at 3:20 a.m., he said, and he is up and out the door soon thereafter.
For his part, Creswell, an executive at Creswell Richards, a local industrial manufacturing company, said his morning routine starts even earlier. He goes to bed early in the evening - 6 to 7 p.m. - and gets in about eight hours of sleep before rising.
"I've adjusted to it, so it's part of my lifestyle now," he said.
Between 2:30 and 3:30 a.m., he "runs the bridges" in downtown Chattanooga, he said. He actually gets to see some of the bars close in downtown Chattanooga, including one that he runs by every morning. There's something about an early morning jogger running by bleary-eyed bar patrons that creates a study in contrasts.
"[Some of the customers] are out there with beers and cigarettes in their hands," he said. "But they usually don't give me a hard time."
Creswell said his ultra-early morning routine was established while his wife was recovering from a serious illness and he adjusted his schedule to assist her.
Eventually, McCamish and Creswell meet at the downtown YMCA, where they are typically among the first members to arrive. There, they do their good deed for the day, making coffee in the men's locker room.
In the process the two have become fast friends and kindred spirits in their early morning rituals.
"We enjoy each other's company," McCamish said. "We enjoy exercising. It allows us to be more efficient and get on with the day."
Early to bed, early to rise, may not always make you healthy, wealthy and wise, but it sure can't hurt.
Contact Mark Kennedy at mkennedy@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6645.