Training Tuesday: Attempting to Embrace the 4am Workout

First things first:  Today = first day of school.  It was great.  Truly.  I think I'm going to hold off on a recap until the end of the week and just reflect on the whole thing.  But I must at least share the obligatory first day of school picture.  Second: Today = second class of a new grad class.  After last week's first session of this new class, I thought this course would be a cake walk.  I may have jinxed myself with thinking that, because umm after tonight I am ready to curl up in a ball and cry.  Or consume some adult beverages.  Or something along those lines...For now ut though I'm just laying in my bed at 9pm, unable to process anything else.  The four projects that were detailed to us tonight can wait until tomorrow...or the weekend.  Yes, four simultaneous projects.  Sweet.

But since my brain is completely exhausted from class and I cannot bring myself to discuss anything that reminds me even remotely of class (i.e. teaching in general), I'm going to talk training.  It is Tuesday after all, right?

Yesterday I grumbled about my alarm going off at 5:30...well today it went off at...gulp...4am.  Yup, you read that right.  Let me give you a little background:  I love sleep with a gigantic passion.  Seriously.  I can take a nap anytime, anywhere and have a very close relationship with my snooze button.  But in the spirit of keeping up with my training even through the start of the school year, a time when in the frantic rush of starting new routines, excercise can go on the back burner and tends to STAY there for me if I let that happen, I was determined to start the year right.  I run Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday or Sunday with one extra day of an EASY/SHORT run or tiny run as part of a tri brick sometimes thrown in there too.  I've experimented with other days, but staying consistent with Tuesday/Thursday/one weekend day just works best.  The thing is, though, that I have grad school Tuesday nights, like I said, after class my brain is often complete mush and all I want to do is curl up in the fetal position bed, workouts rarely happen.  That means if I'm going to run, it better be EARLY.

I'm talking hella early.  On a normal day I am up between 5 and 5:30 for school, so if I want to make time to run and foam roll/ice (even super briefly!), that alarm is gonna go off E A R L Y.  Case in point:

This morning was FREEZING!  I even had to break out my arm warmers and GLOVES for the first time since spring!  Crazy town.  On the other hand, it was super energizing.  I love a good run when it feels like the world isn't really awake yet, and a run when you can see the stars certainly is a plus.  (Turns out the stars are shining bright at 4:30!)    I'm not sure if it's the speedwork or if it was just the cold, but I was speeding along this morning and feeling strong.  Of course though, my garmin decided to act up so I don't know my exact distance or pace, but I think I'm getting to the point where I can give a pretty good estimate based on feel.

Arm warmers on, gloves in hand, thighs frozen.  CRAZY!

Anyways, I'm starting to completely ramble.  Must be the 3 hours of grad school hell taking their toll.  I swear I had a point to this post.  *Looks back at title*  OH. Right.  Embracing the 4am workout.  Here's what I do to make that 4am workout happen when it needs to:

1. Sleep in running clothes. I've said it before and I'll say it again--If my alarm goes off hella early and I am not already wearing running clothes, 9 times out of 10 I'm sleeping right through it.  There is something so pathetic about having to change out of workout  clothes without having worked out that gets me out of bed.

2.  Pack lunch and teacher bag the night before.  This is probably something I should do every night (should being the key word), but it's an absolute MUST if I want to squeeze in that workout.  Every second of sleep counts.

   

3. Lay out school outfit the night before.  There is no way I am going to waste time rummaging through my closet on a crazy early morning.  Once again, I love sleep and I don't want to give up a single second I don't have to!

4. Last but not least, tell someone you're going to workout in advance!  If you have a workout buddy, that's super easy, but even just mentioning to a friend on the phone the night before or a coworker that afternoon that you're planning on an early morning workout the next day gives you some tiny amount of accountability.  Obviously my friends could care less if or when I work out, but having someone say, "Did you actually make it out on that 4am run?" and being able to say, "Why yes I did, believe it or not!" still helps. :)

How do you squeeze in training when days are long and busy?

Any tips for getting out the door on early mornings?