Day seven: Punch today in the face

Day Seven:

Well this is it the day has come. The last and final day of my challenge. I woke up this morning without any problems what so ever. According to scientists, it takes your body three days to adjust to a new schedule and by the third day of this week I was already becoming less and less resentful at the sun for coming up and ending a perfectly good nights’ sleep.

This morning I decided to wake up and punch today in the face. I pushed myself to run harder and farther than I have the previous days and I may not have done as well as others but I am proud of myself for at least trying. These last seven days have been interesting; it was nice to shake up my routine and I am pleased with myself for having not given up just a few days in like I thought I might.

I would encourage anyone to try something that isn’t comfortable to them. It takes discipline and will power and I think both of those things are strong traits to exercise in silly ways like an early morning workout challenge.

Here is what I learned from doing this challenge for seven consecutive days.

 

• You will get used to it, but you don’t have to like it.
• Sometimes it’s necessary to push yourself to do something you don’t like just for the sake of proving to yourself that you can do it.
• It’s relaxing to shake up your routine so drastically
• Just try, no matter how hard it is or much it sucks just try it. Try something new even though it intimidates you.

And finally

• Don’t be afraid to try it because you might fail, you probably will, but you can always pick yourself up and try again.

 

My favorite coffee mug and morning inspiration 

Day Six: Within my grasp

Day Six:

One day left. I can see the finish line to clearly.

I woke up this morning exhausted after a restless night of sleep, after dropping my roommate off at the airport for her spring break extravaganza I came home and collapsed on the couch before I remembered I still had to exercise.

My roommate and I had finished the last of the coffee yesterday morning so I was horrified when I remembered that there was none left in the house. I decided to run to the closest coffee shop instead of taking my usual path. It was fun to shake it up a bit and the reward of good coffee was enough to keep me going.

I have enjoyed this last week but I am not a morning what so ever person and there is no reason in trying to convince myself otherwise. I worked out this evening as well to compare the difference between morning and evening workout and while I do get some energy from working out this morning I feel more tired and ready for bed this evening than I have all week.

I think it is so fascinating how everyone’s body works so differently. My aunt and I discussing how she is a morning person and the thought of working out in the evening doesn’t make sense to her and I am the total opposite. I challenged her to do my seven-day trial but in reverse, I don’t think she’s going to go for it though.

I have one day left and I cannot wait for this week to be over.

 

 

Day Five: Late to bed, early to rise

 

I apologize for the delay, Saturday was full of endless chores and tedious tasks.

Day Five:

Friday night ended with me pouring myself into bed around dawn; but my mama didn’t raise a quitter so I mustered all of my energy and woke up early as I have been everyday of this challenge. I thought I had made a big mistake going to bed so late- as it turns out-  the power nap is not a bad way to go. I woke up before my alarm and sprang out of bed, after a huge cup of coffee of course.

I have been pleasantly surprised with my progress and I didn’t actually think I would be more comfortable with waking up early as time went on. I’ll be honest, when I watched the Buzzfeed video that inspired this last week I thought they were bull shitting for the sake of having an interesting video, but, it genuinely gets easier as the days go on to adjust to waking up early and exercising. I’ve also found that running before the day starts gives me a huge energy boost which is nice and helps adjust into the rest of the day.

I won’t continue to wake up early after this week, there isn’t enough coffee in the world to convince me to make this a constant way of life. It has been an interesting experience and I am glad I chose this to do for seven days but I know myself and I know that I won’t be able to keep it up.

The amount of coffee I need to fully function 

 

Day four: The early bird gets the worm

Day Four:

My grandfather used to lecture me about how late I would sleep in and he would always say “the early bird gets the worm” and finally his word came true. This morning I got out of bed with no problems and I felt the struggles of the first three days paying off. That is until I opened the front door to see that it was cold and wet and the sidewalk was littered with little lost worms.

I am from Oregon so running in the rain isn’t a problem, in fact I enjoy running in the rain so waking up that weather was a pleasant surprise. But being from Oregon and having a hippy mom means that I have been trained to stop and pick up every single worm I see laying on the sidewalk and moving them to the grass. Today’s run wasn’t so much exercise as it was a mission to save ALL THE WORMS.

People kept looking at me like I was insane; run, run, run, stop pick up a worm, run some more.

I was so busy picking up worms that I didn’t even realize that I had successfully gotten up and started my day without feeling like I had been hit by a truck. When I finally got back to my house I was so proud of myself for being a relatively successful grown up who had just spent the last hour saving worms all around her neighborhood.

Not all heroes wear capes.

A picture of one of the many lives I saved before most of you had finished your morning coffee 

 

Day three: Good morning sunshine

Day three:

This morning, when the horrid shriek of my alarm went off I was not immediately consumed by rage. Instead, I found myself exhausted but not as resilient and it was much easier to sit up and start my day.

I got on my workout clothes and headed out into the soft morning light and what’s more, I was almost excited to start my run. ALMOST. I have a difficult time warming up in the morning and it takes me quite a while to find my stride.

So far this challenge has been interesting. Waking up early to exercise is so far out of my comfort zone that it’s been fun to push myself. I have noticed more energy throughout the day and it’s forced me to go to bed early which is something I have never been very good at. I’m a night owl through and through so having to reverse my typical internal clock has been kind of fun in a weird sadistic way.

I have four days of this little personal challenge left and I hope that by the end of the week waking up and getting out of bed won’t be such a struggle. So far the first 20 minutes of my day have not been enjoyable at all and I would like it to not feel like such a chore. I think there is a lot of merit in being able to get an early start and hopefully by the end of the week I’ll be in that place.

The face you make when it’s spring break and you’ve been up at 6am every day 

 

Day Two: Rise and Whine

Day two:

I like the idea of starting my day early more than I actually like it

This morning was worse than yesterday. When my alarm went off at an ungodly hour, using its electronic shriek to get me out of bed, I cried. The mornings are so cold and dark. There is a reason why people should sleep in. I see no point in getting up until the surrounding world is as warm as the inside of my house.

In an effort to make a life a little easier I set all of my clothes and running things out last night so that I wouldn’t have to fumble half blindly in the dark to gather all of my stuff. It actually helped a little and made the transition slightly less painful once I got over the shock and horror of being awake.

The run got off to a slow start, I’ve noticed it takes my body much more time to warm up and get in a good rhythm in the morning than it does when I exercise at night. I like feeling more energized afterwards but the build-up to the run takes so much more time that I’m not sure the energy boost later is worth it.

Five more days to go. I keep hoping with every small fiber of my being that by the end of this seven-day challenged I won’t be so physically pained to wake up at 6am.

But I have a sinking suspicion that won’t be the case.

I finally widened up a decided to lay my clothes out the night before 

 

Day One: Hell

 

Day One:

Last night I decided to go out despite the fact I was going to be up early. I was having far too much fun with my friends and though I had every intention to leave by 10pm I ended up being out until 2:30am.

I didn’t get to bed until 3 because I’m a moron and for whatever reason I thought I could function off three hours of sleep. Oh boy was I wrong.

Finally collapsing into bed at three I closed my eyes and gave into the sweet serenity of sleep. I was then abruptly awakened 20 minutes later by the incessant electronic screaming of my alarm and I have never been filled with as much rage and regret. I put my tired feet on the floor and made my way to my phone like a blind zombie.

Sneakers on and headphones in I leave the house. The fresh air fills my lungs like Hells eternal fire. Have I mentioned I’m not a morning person?

It took me a while to find my groove that early in the day. I usually workout after work and my energy levels are already up. Once I got over being so bitter about being awake I kind of liked it. The birds were chirping and the morning was beautiful.

I’m not sure how the rest of the challenge will go, I don’t like waking up early but I do feel more energetic now that I have worked out. I am curious to see if I can get myself used to waking up early and I am hopeful that eventually it won’t feel like a bad nightmare.

Seven day workout challenge

I have always wondered how people can wake up and spring out of bed ready to start the day. The sound of my alarm in the morning makes me cringe and fills me with an urge to throw my phone at a wall and forget the world exists for just a few more hours; anything to continue blissfully sleeping in my cozy bed.

Recently I watched a Buzzfeed video where they had four proud non-morning people wake up before 6am every day for a week and have them start their day with a workout.

The thought of going to the gym before the sunrises is a thought that intimidates me and brings me physical pain. But I am always up for a challenge, so starting Monday, March 20, 2017 I will be attempting to wake up early and go to the gym before 7:30am.

I will be updating my blog with new entries every day to document my progress and tell my readers how this little experiment is going.

I will be working out with my friend Maria so she can help keep me motivated and accountable as I am often weak willed and I become a cranky toddler if I don’t get enough sleep.

While this will not be the most relaxing or interesting spring break activity I am excited to push my comfort zone and challenge myself.

Community

The Community College of Denver will always have a special place in heart. This was my first venture into college and I have learned so much in my time here.

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