The Joys of a 5:30am Start Time!

On Tuesday morning, the alarm sounded obnoxiously at 5:30am. I had optimistically set the damn thing the night before and thought "If I feel like getting up to jog, I'll do it. If I don't feel like jogging, I'll just turn off the alarm and roll over. Anyway, real training begins on Saturday, Jan. 21st, so anything I do this week is strictly overacheiving." I didn't even locate my warm workout clothes or shoes together before I drifted off to Snooze Town that night! But, somehow, some way, as the alarm rudely interupted my beauty rest, I was able to summon the strength to get myself out of bed, into some jogging gear, however mismatched and ill-fitting, hype myself up and get out the door.

The beauty of a traning program, is that everything is outlined for you - the distance, the pace, the beautiful, wonderful, magnificent days of rest (today is one of them :) Can you tell?) - everything! On Tuesday, per the first week training schedule, yes, the first week that doesn't actually begin until Saturday, over acheiver alert,  I was to jog one mile at a steady pace and so I did!

Prior to Tuesday, I had a lot of misconceptions about morning jogs that kept me from choosing that time in the past - I'll be tired for the rest of the day, it's too dark, there will be lots of cars filled with people commuting to work, the streets are lined with pro athletes - none of these were true! 5:30am is an awesome time to jog! The streets aren't dark because people have their porch lights and house lights on. At 5:30am, most people are either sleeping or getting ready for work, not leaving for work, so there weren't any cars on the road! I also thought that I would see tons of serious athletic gods and goddesses beating the pavement, which seemed pretty intimidating, but there wasn't a person in sight, I owned the road! As far as being tired, I felt the complete opposite effect! I had a wonderful runners high that carried me through lunch time, and I was in a great mood! I'm pretty sure everyone in my office was thoroughly annoyed at my chipperness, but I felt great and ready to produce!

Thursday, I have to admit it was a little tougher to get out of my warm, cocoon-like bed and I may have even hit the snooze button, but I did get myself up nonetheless! As I walked outside and began my trek, it felt pretty chilly, it should've - it was 20 degrees! The weatherman told me so once I returned! However cold it was, I warmed up quickly as I walked briskly to the corner where I begin jogging. From that point on, I enjoyed the same 5:30am benefits as I had on Tuesday, only this time for longer, as the training schedule called for 1 -1/2 miles at an easy pace on Thursday! I surprised myself by jogging the complete distance and arrived home to sleeping children and a hot shower, just one more pro for me to add to my ever growing list.

So stay tuned as I try to continue my enthusiasm for my new training routine... I know there will be days when I'd rather pluck each and every single hair, individualy from my body than get myself up and jogging, but for right now, I am ruminating in the joys of a 5:30am start time!

Have a great weekend!