Morning Run Day #2

Hey fellow changers,

I am so tired, I am sure that this is the exact point where I have given up exercising regularly in the past. I've run the last 4 days and the last 2 mornings. I still have not worked out where I want to run because it is really dark out and the track sort of scared me and the roads around here have bear so both my morning runs have involved extra adrenaline. :) I did roads this morning with our dog and I liked that even though it was dark and I was a little worried about the possible large animal situation. My body was tired this morning though and clearly still adjusting to my radical new activity rate. I will report though that I slept fantastic which is sort of epic for me. I mean I don't think I woke up one time. I think I'll be off my sleep aids sooner rather than later, also I thought that this morning I dragged a bit because of them so we'll see how tomorrow goes without them tonight. I have been contemplating joining a gym to use a treadmill but I like being outside a lot so I'm sticking with it for the next few weeks at least. Also, I am NOT wasting anymore money on gym memberships that I barely use.  I really wish I had started this when I did not have cold weather to contend with. Cant wait to hit the warm months of spring when I'm a real runner. :) Anyway, today was ok because I did it and had enough morning spring to make my son an omlette before school which usually I wont consider during the week. Dragging, but proud! xxK

Wait, the stars are still out...

Hello Fellow Changers,

Today was my first morning of 1) getting up at 4:45 and 2) then running. I'm pretty tired and it is only 3:20pm. Here are some of my thoughts on today's run in no particular order-- since my brain is no longer capable of putting cohesive thoughts together and then ordering them. The absolute hardest part of the run was getting my feet out of the bed and getting dressed in the dark and kind of cold. Once that was over, I felt pretty committed. Also, it is way darker than I thought it would be at 5 am and that sort of surprised me. The stars were out which was sort of cool and I did think of a number of different people who told me that this is their wake up time to work out and I felt a sort of kinship with them and also sort of renegade and cool and badass for being up and going to work out then. The run itself was not really memorable except it was more dark than usual and the first few laps I felt scared about that--as it got lighter I felt better in this regard. I walked and ran in a pretty uninteresting back and forth but I've read everywhere that starting slow is the real key so I am actually doing that. No speed or distance metals here. Afterwards, however, I did feel pretty darn proud of myself--ok, I mean REALLY proud of myself. I felt like I had done something that I wanted to do for a long time and this time I did it. My shower and subsequent morning was really good because I just felt so darn happy that I had already run. I know it may sound silly but it kind of worked for me. I was not rushed and I had time to myself to think before anyone else talked to me which, it turns out, might actually be just want this night owl needs in the morning. First morning run=Good. xxK

Night One

Hi Fellow Changers,

It's Sunday night and tomorrow is the beginning of my year long blog about getting up early to run. I was thinking tonite that for the last 15 years or so I have found myself curious and then envious of people who run in the morning. I always would find myself asking them questions about how they did it. What time did they get up? Were there tricks involved? Had they "always" been a person that runs in the morning? I am not sure looking back exactly what I was thinking. Always? To be honest, I think that these questions were designed to help me convince myself that I just didn't have what it takes to get up and run. Tonite, on the Eve of my rather impulsively produced project I wonder why I always assumed this was not something that I could do. I can run (albeit very slowly) and I can get up (albeit very grumpily) and so to think that I can't do this...well, is just not true. In fact, it might be more true to say that I just didn't want to be the kind of person that got up early to run because I never was before and, well, change is hard. I've heard many times that the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. This has been banging around in my head for a pretty long time now and you know what it's sort of depressing and just stupid. Our ability to change, to do something different, makes us strong and adaptable. Maybe I'm sick of being a person that does not do what I want to do because I've somehow convinced myself that I can't. If you are reading this, I hope it inspires you to think about making the changes that you want to make for yourself. This is not really intended to be an exercise blog but an action blog for people who maybe want to run or maybe want to do anything that they've not done before. I hope you will follow me and I hope it will inspire you or, at least, make you laugh. If you are also trying to change something or start something then I hope you'll write to me and let me know how you are doing. We all need all of the help that we can get. xxK