Morning has broken...

For the past two years, most of my workouts have occurred during my lunch hour.  Since I had a new baby and a child in elementary school when I added exercise into my daily routine, mornings and evenings were not good times for me to exercise.  Luckily, I work at a community college and have free access to our college gym.  We're a small community college, so our facilities aren't that grand, but we do have an indoor track, an elliptical, and a weight room, which is all I need.

This arrangement worked fine for the past two years, but it wasn't ideal. I don't always have a free lunch hour depending on meetings or college events, so many times I would have to forfeit a run or elliptical session because of work demands.  Once I began running longer distances, the hour I had wasn't really enough. 

So, a few weeks ago, after missing a lot of runs and mid-day exercise sessions, I had a long talk with myself.  Just in my head...not out loud...although those talks occur too.  I realized that it was time to change my routine and find a way to exercise either in the morning or evening.  I quickly determined that the evenings are out.  I don't really like to exercise at the end of the day.  After a full day of work, I just want to hang out with my family. 

So, that leaves early morning for me.  Now that Ben is no longer a baby (sniff, sniff) and Amelia is more capable of getting herself ready in the mornings, early morning exercise is doable.  So, I started running and going to the gym early each morning and it's working out great! I love my new schedule!  Every morning, my alarm goes off at 4:50, and I hit snooze once.  I have to hit snooze.  I can't seem to get up without doing so.  I'm out of bed by 5:00 and dressed for my run or the gym by 5:10.  I can't exercise without some caffeine in my system, so I spend about 30 minutes drinking coffee and water.  I also need that time to "get things moving" if you know what I mean.  I like my system to be "cleaned out" before I start running or hit the gym.  I'm out the door by 5:40 and I'm done by 6:45. 

That's when Ben and Amelia tend to wake up, so I don't even miss any time with them in the mornings.  It's great!  I can start the day with my exercise already completed and I don't have to worry that I will miss a workout because something else comes up.  And, I get the extra perk of an empty gym and my choice of equipment.

I don't think I can ever go back to lunch hour exercise.  Especially since I now spend my time eating and reading blogs!