The Converted

I'm not a morning person. Ironically, I'm also not a night person. Really I'm at my prime between 10:30 am and 1:00 pm. Anything before or after that is really no good for me. That's not 100% true but you get the idea.

I don't like running at night. I'm just too damn tired. After I get the kids down I crawl to the sofa and that's it for the night. The idea of running 5 miles is horrifying. But up until now I've avoided running in the morning. I'm pretty irritable (Tom would use the word "bitchy") until I have at least one, solid cup of coffee in me. And even then I'm still pretty bitchy. I mean irritable.

That left me with running on the TM while Luke napped. This isn't a terrible scenario but it is terribly boring. I did tons of runs before Broad Street on it and it didn't do me any harm. Unless you count hours of boredom.

The other frustrating factor is Luke is an irritable napper. And by irritable, I mean bitchy. One day it's 3 hours, the next it's 20 minutes. He wakes up sad, screaming, and angry. The I get sad, screaming, and angry when my run is cut short. That left me with little choice.

So on Monday morning Tom nudged me at 5:40am. I could feel the trepidation in his bones. But I got up and padded my way downstairs. It took all my strength not to smack him while he giggled at very sleepy me. I put one foot in front of the other and off I went. I was sluggish for the first 20 minutes but then I, like the rest of our town, began to wake up. I did a nice 5 in 50. Not bad for my first early morning run.

Tuesday was a mess. The night before my neighbor's dog woke me at 11pm. Then Tom listening to KYW radio at 12:30 woke me again. Then an inconsolable Luke woke me at 2:30. Quickly followed by Grace at 3:30. That was a big WTF moment for me and I decided no early run. I just scratched the whole thing because the day went downhill and I wasn't going to stress it.

Wednesday I met up with Danskin Lady and having someone to chat with at an ungodly hour sure did make the time go by fast. And the pace was great too--5 in 45 minutes and felt great at the end.

Today I woke up much easier and wasn't dreading getting my lazy ass out of bed. I kind of did a wandering loop of the town. I didn't map it yet but I'm suspecting I did about 6 in 60 minutes. Today was great though because I saw so many people out and about-particularly the gardeners up early to water their flowers. I had an "aha" moment when I realized that's why theirs look so good and mine. . .

I love saying good morning to people at this time of day. They seem so happy you greeted them. I complemented one woman on her garden and she gave me the nicest "You have a great day sweetheart" comment. I swear it quickened my pace. On my way home I passed the guys heading into the factory (funny we have a factory just around the corner). One guy paused for me to get by and another said "Nice stride sweetheart." His friend smacked him and said to mind his own business. The other guy gave him the "What? What'd I say" routine but I was already on my way. It made me laugh.

So I like this early morning running stuff. I used to feel like my runs were hanging over my head all day and I would get stressed trying to figure out when I'd get it in. It's a relief to have it done and have it done on my own terms. That said these runs do leave me tired by the late afternoon. Going to bed at 10:30 and up at 5:30 is a little rough. I think I need to get to bed earlier. I'm also freaking starving all day long and I've become another convert: banana eater. I know Tom's head must be ready to pop with all these conversions! Maybe it's time to explore some churches. . . ;)