Fortunately, I exercise really early in the morning, so I hit the stores that are 5 minutes away.. at 6:30am.
Last year it was kind of fun. I wanted to go to Cost Plus World Market to get some Christmas Cards that they had for sale. Many stores had give-aways to the first people through, many stores had free coffee and food. The cards at CPWMarket were not as pictured in the ad, so I wound up not getting anything there. I did pick up a couple nice deals at Target. There was no crowds that early... well not the massive amounts, no waiting in any checkout line. Those crazy crowds I think are the stroke of midnight people.
You can check the black Friday ads all over the internet. There is at least one site that just tells you the best deals for black Friday. blackfriday.com There isn't anything I'm looking for this year. But if I see a 42" smart tv for super cheap... maybe.