How NOT to start your morning
I hope everyone gets a little humor out of this post. I'm pretty sure my running buddies from this morning did.
Every morning, the first thing that I do is make my spark. I was introduced to this product by a friend of mine a few years ago. Come to think of it, maybe it has been like 4 years. Wow. I never used to drink any caffeine. No coffee, nothing. But, when I started training like a mad women those 4ams became rather hard to do. Spark did the trick. Not only did it give me the quick morning boost I needed for my runs, but it also helps out with the pre-run bathroom issues. Takes care of everything within 10mins. No need to go any further with this topic. So, my couple times a week habit turned into an everyday morning ritual. I like the way it makes me feel. It makes me alert & happy. It is full of great vitamins & minerals, and the caffeine is not overbearing. You'll find just as much caffeine in this drink as you will in only 1 cup of coffee.
This morning I had made plans to meet momo and my friend Natalie up by 'M's house for my 1:50 long run. Thing is, we needed to meet early enough so 'M' could get her kids to school. This meant a 5am start, begining by waking up, getting ready, taking asthma medicine (serevent), taking care of restroom issues, eating something & driving the 15 or so min trek up to her house. Now, I'm pretty quick in the morning. Especially after my spark. So, I set the alarm for 4:15am (it's 10mins fast).
Well, my body must have been fully rested, because at 4am sharp, I was awake. I turned the alarm off so S wouldn't be bothered. I looked over a few mins later, 4:20 - I'm thinking - ok, I should probably get up now. As luck would have it, the NEXT time I looked at the clock it read 4:45.
Somehow, I lit a firecracker on my behind & jumped out of bed. Next thing I know, I'm in the car - water bottles full, spark on hand, inhaler ready to use (BAD idea so close to the run), shoes in toe (not quite on my feet yet), toast in mouth, and gels somewhere in the mix. Out the garage, ready to GO!! Crap, where's my garage door opener? Agh, of course - it's in my BIKE top from yesterday. No time. Next up, run back into the garage, hit the button and SPRINT out so the sensor doesn't catch me.
HR at this time - Who knows... pretty sure not anywhere close to my resting HR of 45ish... Time on clock - 4:47. Now, as I mentioned above, my alarm is set 10mins fast, so I somehow I got out of bed & to this point in 12 mins! That's right, 12 mins....
Agh, relax time. Or "pep up" time is probably more like it. I drank my spark on the way - followed by the use of my serevent & also while eating my dry toast (how the heck does a girl run out of Peanut Butter, not that I would of had time to use it!). Shoes on at the first stoplight. Or, rather the second - I may have kinda ran the first one... I looked REALLY carefully first - it was in a residential area. Shhh don't tell!
Arrival time #1 - To 'M's guard gate at 5:01, to 'M's house, 5:03. OMG, I can't believe I've made it. In one piece. Kinda....
I'm frazzled, and feeling bad for being late. I planned on getting there at 4:55. I hate being late. I seemed to somehow have gotten into a 5min late rut over the past few months. It's annoying, and I REALLY am trying....
So, I get out of the car - HR monitor on reading 100bpm. Are you kidding me?? Remember the things I mentioned above? Spark and Serevent. Crack on wheels. I have gotten used to giving my body at LEAST 30mins before exercise. It lets my system settle down, and then I have a much lower HR. By like 10beats. Not this time my friends.
So, we're ready to go now, right (I'm thinking)? "Do you have any water?" Momo asks... "Yah, right here," I reply as I look at my hand - where my water bottle should be. Oh shoot - in my car. Hang on, SORRY!! Back to my car, water in hand. Now we're talking. 11miles, bring it on!
We're off. It's dark. So dark, you can hardly see in front of you. Boy was it gorgeous tho. And quiet. Peaceful. I start hitting the light on my watch every few mins to check my HR. As expected, I am at the top of my zone 2, where I stayed for nearly 2hours. I've been really good about sticking to the Low to midpoint of my zone 2 on my long runs, trying to work in my better fat burning zone. Today, just wasn't one of those days. At least I was still in the zone, well in the aerobic range for the entire run. Mission accomplished. I had to pull back a little from the girls a couple of times to do this, but I'm ok with that. I'm working for myself here, not worried about keeping up. It will pay off in the end, I know it. The legs felt great. In fact, they still do quite frankly.
All in all it turned out to be a pretty darned good run. A couple pits stops at porta potties making it a little more interesting. As you can imagine my system was in a little shock from all the craziness!
Oh, and one last piece of humor to the story. I lost my car key somewhere along the route... To be honest, I don't even remember where I stashed it. In my water bottle pocket, running skirt pocket??? It's a mystery to me! So, an hour later - which included picking up baby Kate so Nat's husband could get to work & breaking in my house through the doggy door, I was back to my car - this time ready to get home & refuel for the next workout!!
So, lessons learned? GET MY BOOTY OUT OF BED WHEN I WAKE UP!!!
Now, I just hope tomorrow's ride goes just a little bit more smoothly.
Cheers, happy weekend!
Every morning, the first thing that I do is make my spark. I was introduced to this product by a friend of mine a few years ago. Come to think of it, maybe it has been like 4 years. Wow. I never used to drink any caffeine. No coffee, nothing. But, when I started training like a mad women those 4ams became rather hard to do. Spark did the trick. Not only did it give me the quick morning boost I needed for my runs, but it also helps out with the pre-run bathroom issues. Takes care of everything within 10mins. No need to go any further with this topic. So, my couple times a week habit turned into an everyday morning ritual. I like the way it makes me feel. It makes me alert & happy. It is full of great vitamins & minerals, and the caffeine is not overbearing. You'll find just as much caffeine in this drink as you will in only 1 cup of coffee.
This morning I had made plans to meet momo and my friend Natalie up by 'M's house for my 1:50 long run. Thing is, we needed to meet early enough so 'M' could get her kids to school. This meant a 5am start, begining by waking up, getting ready, taking asthma medicine (serevent), taking care of restroom issues, eating something & driving the 15 or so min trek up to her house. Now, I'm pretty quick in the morning. Especially after my spark. So, I set the alarm for 4:15am (it's 10mins fast).
Well, my body must have been fully rested, because at 4am sharp, I was awake. I turned the alarm off so S wouldn't be bothered. I looked over a few mins later, 4:20 - I'm thinking - ok, I should probably get up now. As luck would have it, the NEXT time I looked at the clock it read 4:45.
Somehow, I lit a firecracker on my behind & jumped out of bed. Next thing I know, I'm in the car - water bottles full, spark on hand, inhaler ready to use (BAD idea so close to the run), shoes in toe (not quite on my feet yet), toast in mouth, and gels somewhere in the mix. Out the garage, ready to GO!! Crap, where's my garage door opener? Agh, of course - it's in my BIKE top from yesterday. No time. Next up, run back into the garage, hit the button and SPRINT out so the sensor doesn't catch me.
HR at this time - Who knows... pretty sure not anywhere close to my resting HR of 45ish... Time on clock - 4:47. Now, as I mentioned above, my alarm is set 10mins fast, so I somehow I got out of bed & to this point in 12 mins! That's right, 12 mins....
Agh, relax time. Or "pep up" time is probably more like it. I drank my spark on the way - followed by the use of my serevent & also while eating my dry toast (how the heck does a girl run out of Peanut Butter, not that I would of had time to use it!). Shoes on at the first stoplight. Or, rather the second - I may have kinda ran the first one... I looked REALLY carefully first - it was in a residential area. Shhh don't tell!
Arrival time #1 - To 'M's guard gate at 5:01, to 'M's house, 5:03. OMG, I can't believe I've made it. In one piece. Kinda....
I'm frazzled, and feeling bad for being late. I planned on getting there at 4:55. I hate being late. I seemed to somehow have gotten into a 5min late rut over the past few months. It's annoying, and I REALLY am trying....
So, I get out of the car - HR monitor on reading 100bpm. Are you kidding me?? Remember the things I mentioned above? Spark and Serevent. Crack on wheels. I have gotten used to giving my body at LEAST 30mins before exercise. It lets my system settle down, and then I have a much lower HR. By like 10beats. Not this time my friends.
So, we're ready to go now, right (I'm thinking)? "Do you have any water?" Momo asks... "Yah, right here," I reply as I look at my hand - where my water bottle should be. Oh shoot - in my car. Hang on, SORRY!! Back to my car, water in hand. Now we're talking. 11miles, bring it on!
We're off. It's dark. So dark, you can hardly see in front of you. Boy was it gorgeous tho. And quiet. Peaceful. I start hitting the light on my watch every few mins to check my HR. As expected, I am at the top of my zone 2, where I stayed for nearly 2hours. I've been really good about sticking to the Low to midpoint of my zone 2 on my long runs, trying to work in my better fat burning zone. Today, just wasn't one of those days. At least I was still in the zone, well in the aerobic range for the entire run. Mission accomplished. I had to pull back a little from the girls a couple of times to do this, but I'm ok with that. I'm working for myself here, not worried about keeping up. It will pay off in the end, I know it. The legs felt great. In fact, they still do quite frankly.
All in all it turned out to be a pretty darned good run. A couple pits stops at porta potties making it a little more interesting. As you can imagine my system was in a little shock from all the craziness!
Oh, and one last piece of humor to the story. I lost my car key somewhere along the route... To be honest, I don't even remember where I stashed it. In my water bottle pocket, running skirt pocket??? It's a mystery to me! So, an hour later - which included picking up baby Kate so Nat's husband could get to work & breaking in my house through the doggy door, I was back to my car - this time ready to get home & refuel for the next workout!!
So, lessons learned? GET MY BOOTY OUT OF BED WHEN I WAKE UP!!!
Now, I just hope tomorrow's ride goes just a little bit more smoothly.
Cheers, happy weekend!
Comments
One of these days I am going to come out and run with you and Momo... you're just my speed! Too bad all my "Time-Away" tickets are used up for this year!
Jenny