Early Mornings!

I haven't been on line for a while, but have been exercising and have been progressing with the C25K programme and am currently on week 5, with the 2 mile run to come next! 

The running has been going well, and although hills (or even slight inclines) do completely take it out of me, I have managed to achieve the training programme to date.  I did a couple of weeks on the treadmill instead of outside due to getting scared/being lazy/trying to fit the gym and running in, but I have got a good schedule now (more below :) ) so have got right back into running outside.  When I went back to running outside after running on the treadmill, I realised how different it is and how much harder I find running outside!  But now that I'm running outside constantly and staying away from the treadmill in the gym, I have been improving! 

I must say, I LOVE the running!  Maybe not quite mid run, but as soon as I'm finished, I feel amazing!  And I decided to start running in the mornings so there would be less chance of me bailing out which has been working well.

So my schedule has changed as a couple of weeks ago: I was feeling really tired, unmotivated and a bit grumpy and I really think that it is because now that I'm a student, it's really hard to get out of bed on the days when I don't have uni and then I was staying in bed till 9.30ish, having set the alarm for 8 and snoozing it till the snooze function ran out, then setting another alarm and setting that.  But it wasn't as though I was staying up later, my sister works and goes to bed about 10 and I used to go about 10.30ish, still feeling knackered but then not being able to sleep (probably because I was having too much sleep!), but then I would wake up feeling groggy and would always be feeling like I had loads of stuff to do and not enough time to do it in (being 29, I'm not your typical student!).  So generally felt pretty crap and even though my exercise is far more regular now than 6 months ago, it didn't seem to help with my mood.

I've always wanted to be one of those early morning exercisers and worked out that since I don't tend to do any work after 9pm, if I got up at 6, then I would gain 3 hours on my day and even if I go to bed at 9, this is non productive time for me anyway, so I wouldn't be losing anything.  So I made the decision that I would get up at 6am.

I decided that the first day I would just get up, not exercise, but have a shower and get ready and do some work before college at 9.  And it worked!!!  And I felt great!  Tired, but really pleased about how much I achieved!  So the next day I got up at 6 and went for a run!!  And I felt great!  More tired as my body was not used to getting up early yet so hadn't managed to get to sleep much earlier.  Then on Wednesday, I was in the gym at 7am - and guess what... I felt great!  BOOM!!!!  And so unbelievably smug lol!  Especially when I was sat in college with my fellow students who probably hadn't actually got to bed till 6am lol!

I don't have college on Wednesdays and Fridays and on Friday I didn't get up early :( I had a doctors appointment at 9.30 and failed to get up...  Saturday I also didn't get up early :(  I also ate really badly on these 2 days.  I had had a rubbish day at uni on Thursday, which may have accounted for my bad mood, so next time this happens, I must NOT allow this to take over and must try to stay in control, and stick to my plan:  Because when I stick to my eating plan, I lose weight, when I eat healthily, I feel healthy and have energy, when I get up early, I achieve loads and so have time to relax and when I exercise, I feel great.

So, after a strict talking to from my sister, we got up early on Sunday (7am) and went surfing.  It was lovely and sunny and even though it was cold, it was great to get out for the day and have lots of fun and have a day off from working. 

So this morning, I was back to getting up at 6 and went for a run, and I felt great :)

I have decided Mon-Fri 6am start, Sat/Sun 7am start.

Over the years I have often started things, but they have fizzled out quickly or I haven't finished them, however, since Aug 2010, I have been fairly consistent with exercise and eating well.  I am now on week 5 of C25K.  I think this shows that I CAN stick to things and basically need to not think and talk myself out of things, but just do it.  Exercising in the morning means I am less likely to cancel because I'm too tired and exercising first thing, sets me up for the day feeling positive, healthy and therefore not wanting to ruin it by overeating.

So my schedule is now:
Monday - Run
Tuesday - Gym (weights + rowing sprints)
Wednesday - Run
Thursday - Rest
Friday - Gym (weights + rowing sprints)
Saturday - Run (Go somewhere scenic to run)
Sunday - Walk/Surf/Rest

All completed in the morning, so no chance of bailing :)

Are you an early bird or a night owl?  How do you manage to fit everything in and balance the gym (weights) and running? 

This morning, there was a beautiful sunrise :)
Have a good one!