Thursday, May 20, 2010

Wake-Up Call

One of the biggest challenges I've faced so far this week in my attempt to get back into the training state of mind is the early morning wake-up call. If you're a working professional, student, or someone who enjoys their slumber, perhaps you have this problem as well. For the past 4 mornings, my alarm has greeted me at 5 a.m. For 3 of the past 4 mornings, I've reset it to 6 and said "Screw it! I'll run on my lunch break."

Now, while it's really not a big deal for the time being, it will be when my workouts start getting longer and will take up more than my little lunch break. So, I really need to start convincing my 5 a.m. brain to just suck it up and get out the door.

In order to help myself, I've compiled a little list of reasons why it's best to just get my butt out of bed and get moving:

1 - If I just wake up and do it, then it's done. I can feel justified for the rest of the day and I don't need to think about it anymore.

2 - It's the perfect time of day to run weather-wise. It's nice and cool and that is especially helpful if you live in a place like Hawaii where people who run at noon are insane.

3 - Traffic. Or, the lack thereof. There's not a whole lot of people competing for road at 5 in the morning and that's very helpful when you run with two 4-legged beasts who have apparent ADD and like to chase everything that moves. Which brings me to...

4 - The poor beasts. Brando and Gwen (my running partners) are locked up in their kennel 10 hours a day while I'm at work. It makes me feel sad for my active little dogs. When I run at work, they're stuck in jail. So for their health and well-being it's best to wake up and get them running.

5 -

This is the reward I get if I manage to haul myself out of bed! Worth it, don't you think?
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4 comments:

  1. Tammy EppensMay 21, 2010 at 2:41 AM

    Here's a couple more: 1) you don't need as many Starbuck's lattes to get you through the day (translate: $$$ savings); and 2) you ramp up your metabolism so even when you're sitting at your desk you're burning more calories. Win-win.

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  2. KnitwitMay 21, 2010 at 4:59 AM

    Great blog, Ash. Run for me, too. My knees hurt just reading your posts. :-)

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  3. mfrostMay 23, 2010 at 4:41 PM

    What an amazing landscape! I'm not a morning person either but even I have to agree that the sunrise would be a real incentive to get up & get going.

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  4. FloMay 25, 2010 at 11:01 AM

    You so need to capture a video of running with Gwen and Brando, and I'll try to get one of mine. My Sheltie Jubilee is a sheep herding dog, and my dachshund Bruno is bred to chase rodents. When we run together, Jubilee tries to herd Bruno, and he tries to chase ever gopher and squirrel in the neighborhood. It literally takes serendipitous conditions for them to run alongside each other peacefully :)

    I am so proud of you for your 5 a.m. wake up calls! Your body and mind will definitely thank you throughout the work day, and so will your puppies <3

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