No less than a dozen times in the recent past have I gotten myself super motivated to get out for a bright and early before the birds pre-work run. I am actually totally down for this (in theory). I think about how therapeutic it could be to be on the road, mostly alone, literally running in to the start of a new day. I think about watching the sunrise as I take time for a sort of meditative reflection on life. I think about feeling strong and energized as I head into work and how awesome it would be to say, “oh hey, I can do anything I want after work today because I already did my run!”
I spend entire evenings thinking about all of this greatness I would derive from a pre-work morning run. I get so excited; I check the weather, I get my running gear all laid out and I set my alarm all usually before even having dinner! All night before bed I think about how wonderful it will be to roll out of bed and charge in to the cold morning air. I’m literally so proud of myself and my plan and nothing is going to stop me!
Then my morning alarm goes off. I hit snooze once, because I deserve 5 more minutes. Also, it wasn’t mentioned above but a 5 minute snooze is built into my morning run wake up plan and was anticipated by the setting of alarm #2 for exactly 5 minutes after alarm #1. (At this point we could derail into a detailed description of my regular everyday morning alarm ritual, but I’ll spare you. Suffice it to say it’s a little ridiculous).
Anyways…5 minutes later…uh oh, my bed is really cozy. Could 5 more minutes hurt? I mean it wasn’t part of the plan, but I can set an alarm right now. Not a big deal.
5 minutes later…..ugh, that was a really fast 5 minutes. Time to figure out what time I would get in to work if I give myself 30 more minutes of snoozing and then went for my run. What? Totally doable? Perfect! I don’t have a morning meeting or anything, snooze away!
30 minutes later…the guilt sets in. I totally defied my well constructed morning run plan and now I’m going to be getting in to work later than I wanted. Plus my bed is comfy. Ugh. I mean, at this point I might as well snooze for 30 more minutes. I can get my run in later today.
To date my well designed morning run plans have been perpetually blocked by my evil anti-morning twin. It’s a shame that in the series of alarm adjustments I can’t find the same motivation I was exuding the night before. Feelings of greatness honestly don’t even cross my mind at that time of the day; instead I hear the alarm and immediately go into an in-defense-of-sleep mode, of sorts, negotiating with myself ways to allow my body to remain in a comfy bed cocoon.
Morning runs truly are my unicorn. An amazing concept in theory, something that totally fascinates me and I strive to see, but something that, at least as far as I can tell, will remain a fantasy. Sigh.
Eat|Play|Run|Kirby 