Just a newbie myself but like you I like an early morning run or ride. I think this is how it works.
I would suggest to take the watch off and set it on a still surface to get the
gps fix takes a few minutes the first time....quicker the next
Press the scroll button until you are at ACTIVITY
pRESS THE ENTER BUTTON YOU WILL NOW SEE
ACTIVITY should have a little square beside it.
GPS FIX 1 sec....if not at one second highlight press enter and change it, enter
with
GPS fix on one second highlight ACTIVITY enter you should now have a highlight area beside Activity scroll up or down till you see what looks like a play button > push enter you will see log file started
let it sit to get a
gps fix
then put it on and take off running
you will now be looking at a screen that show your speed and distance for the third line you can change with the bottom left button
at the end you should hit enter, then enter again scroll to the square for stop and enter again now it's off
hope this helps sounds harder than it is good luck
Jeff