Hello World

Prior to this training, I don't know that I would have categorized myself as a morning person. I was somewhat used to waking at five, but that was only to feed my dog Emma. I had it down to an art so that I could feed her without opening my eyes and then be back to sleep before my head made it to the pillow.

Emma

But now it is a safe bet to say that I am in fact a morning person. Now I wake Emma up- oh sweet revenge :) I won't lie, it was painful to wake up the first week of the more intense training. But now I find myself waking up before my alarm, which is set at 5:00 (so in reality it is 4:50), even on Saturdays! I love that it is still dark as I take my first few sips of coffee and that I get to catch up with Art and Jennifer on KSDK as I eat my breakfast.

I let Em do her business and go back to sleep. Then I strap on my hydration belt, grab some energy chews and the bottles out of the freezer. I press start on my RunKeeper app and away I go. The first 2 miles are the toughest. I have to get those old bones going . But I love waking up with the world. As the sun rises, so does my consciousness. I see a few others out running and walking their dogs before it gets too hot out, but it's mostly me and all the sleepy houses. There's not much traffic, so it's nice and 'quiet' in the city. I will say the traffic I do see is mostly trucks. I guess it's all those hard workers heading to work before it gets too hot.

Another motivation to get up so early is this crazy heat. When it's 83 degrees and 75%+ humidity as I head out the door at 5:30, thanks crazy. I'm sweaty enough when I finish around 6:30; I can't imagine trying to run when it's 100+ degrees in the afternoon. Things I'm thankful for as I run in these hot mornings- conscientious neighbors who water their lawns. Little do they know they are giving me a little cool down as I pass by their place. I do my best to time it just right so that I get a little splash on my arms or neck area. Unfortunately I just seem too fast lately to time it just right ;)

What I look forward to most as I finish my run is... the big glass of chocolate milk that awaits me- perfect blend of carbs and protein :)

What I also love about running is that it gets my day off to a great start. I head to work having already completed my physical activity for the day- anything else is just a bonus. So thank you running for the zen you provide to my Mondays. And this blogging thing, it gave me the perfect opportunity to ice my calf for 15 minutes, which felt much better today but I'm not taking any chances.

Today's run 6 miles in 1 hour, 4 minutes, 39 seconds. They don't call it an easy run day for nothing.