I AM THE ALARM CLOCK!!!!!

So Thursday morning, I thought I had a dream, which turned out not to be a dream. here's what happened:

So both my wife and I had plans on running Thursday morning. I was going to get up earlier than her to start my run and I figured i would see her out later and we would finish running together. I know that is a long shot logistically, but it would be nice to end the run together right? Anyways, I awoke suddenly that morning without an aid of the alarm clock, which is becoming more of a habit. I hate it when I wake up just prior to  the alarm going off!!!!

So I wake up and notice my wife is not in the bed with me. I think I have messed up my alarm clock somehow and I just blew my run that morning. I get over it quickly and curl back up with the covers. Not even 10 minutes later, I hear my alarm going off, and this is quite puzzling. You see I had already made amends with missing my run. I was good, but then the alarm!!!

So I grab my clock and see that it is only 5:38AM!!!

And where is my wife???

So I grab my gear (shorts, socks and Brooks shoes, so not a lot to grab) cause I figure if I do not go run now, I will be pissy all day, and I have no reason not to run either! Anyways, I go downstairs to see my bride on the couch and my 1st thought is

UH-OH???

I gently wake her to tell her she can go back to the bed. My guess at the time was that I maybe coulda most likely might have been snoring...

Anyways, I had a great run that morning, it was a little cool, so I went back to get a shirt, but it felt good. I think it even felt better because it was a surprise run. I really thought I had missed out, so I was actually happy to find out I woke up early and had plenty of time to run.

P.S. plus my wife got her run in as well!  WIN-WIN

Missed Workouts!!!

I get so mad at myself sometimes. I even call myself names, but it usually comes later in the day.

This morning, no let's go back to last night. I was in bed by 9:30 PM. This does not happen a lot, but I went to bed early foregoing watching  "GoldenBoy" (yeah, I like that show). I know my wife was freaked out and wondered what I was doing. but I was tired. I had my running gear laid out, or rather gathered in the corner and my alarm was set for 5:21 AM. I set it for 5:21 so I can slap the snooze and then get up at 5:30.
I had a scheduled 7 mile run planned and I was looking forward to it.

I went to sleep fast. Then...

My alarm goes off at 5:21 AM and I slap that clock silly. I debate, like I always do, about getting my feet on the floor when I hear the faint sound of....rain. The "get up early motivation killer". It sounded so nice and steady. I think I heard it whisper my name saying, "it's OK buddy, every thing's cool man". I had the correct pillow position and the right amount of coverage from the sheets. I wasn't too hot. I wasn't too cold. It was nice. So I hit the snooze. 9 minutes later...

I heard a gentle rolling thunder in the distance. The rain was steady falling, this time I heard it whisper "You know you can't beat me, the steady soothing sound of rain, you're toast, you can make it up tomorrow"

Snooze

So the next time it goes off, instead of hitting the snooze, I slide my alarm switch to alarm 2, which goes off at 6:30 AM!! It takes me longer to do this than it would have taken me to get up out f bed. You see I had to grab my cell phone so I could use it as a flashlight, and then verify I had moved the correct switch. I did not want to wake my wife up, by turning on the overhead light, but it's not like the last 30 minutes of an alarm going off would have bothered her!! And then back to bed I go.

Now late in the day I am upset with myself for giving into the sweet sound of falling rain. I had decided  that tomorrow I would run in the morning and then ride at night and make it up. Now I thinking I should just switch the days and ride today, run tomorrow and get back on track! Decisions, Decisions!!!

So tell me blog world, what do you do when you miss a workout for a lame reason????

Blame It On The...

I like to run in the mornings. I might not like the getting up part, but once I am out there running, I love it. With the temps dropping here in Mempho, it takes me even longer to get out of my nice warm bed (I like it cold at night), but I eventually get up and get dressed, usually about 10-15 minutes later than I had planned.

Once my alarm goes off, I usually hit the snooze at least once. I plan for that the night before. So if I want to get up at 6, I set my alarm for 5:51.  (Who came up with a 9 minute snooze alarm anyways?) I normally  set my running gear out the night before, So I can find it easily and quietly, and go downstairs, so I do not wake my wife. I try to be quiet, no matter what she claims. (I hate it whenever I wake up before my alarm clock goes off, even if it is just 5 minutes early! Alarm clocks can't win!)

Once downstairs, I head to the bathroom to get dressed and "take care of business". (and for the entirety of this post, I will refer to going to bathroom as taking care of business, just so there is no confusion). This is also a factor into the alarm setting decision. So, depending on how bad I ate the day before, I might have to "take care of business" once or twice before going out, cause nothing is worse than having to ":take care of business" out on a run.

So as I am getting dressed this morning and about to head out for my run, I come out of the bathroom and my son is sitting there at the kitchen table. Way early for him to be up! He turned 13 on Saturday, so he recently got into the "showering everyday" before school phase, which is a good thing, but it is weird for me. The kids are usually just waking up when I return from my runs, but right now, my marathon plan calls for a 4, 5, 4 and a 12 miler this week, so I really do not have to get up as early to complete the 4-5-4 runs during the weekdays cause I am that fast! You see I normally take my boys to school in the morning. This way my youngest gets to sleep later and Mom can get prepared for her day with said youngest one! So if people are up when I leave to go running during the week, then I feel pressured while running and I am more tempted to cut it short, which is not good for marathon training.

Now, I do not blame my son for this at all. I blame my DVR me for not getting up when I am suppose to and getting my butt out there. I blame myself for not planning better with what I eat the night before and I blame a mouse that has been running along my roof driving my dog crazy (future post). I also blame the weather and not knowing what I need to wear in the mornings. I blame it on the rain...See, there are a lot of factors involved here!

It is tough to work training around family as to not interrupt the flow of everyday family life and I do my best to train when it least effects everyone, so it looks like I will still need to get up earlier than I thought, that will just mean more time for coffee before I take my boys to school in the morning.

P.S Stay tuned to Daily Training's 2nd Ever Giveaway!  It will be cool, trust me.