Goodbye morning

Yesterday morning, like so many others over these summer months, I woke up super early, climbed out of bed, put my running clothes  and shoes on, had a swig of water, bites of a granola bar, and headed out the door for a run. I didn’t argue for staying in bed, I didn’t question the hour, I just did it.

Interesting…

I’m not a morning person, not by a long shot, (a former co-worker turned great friend used to tease me about not being able to talk to me before 10 a.m.) and yet, these past few months of early morning runs, I’ve come to love.

I love the solitude of no one else around. I love those silent moments of just me and my thoughts. I love the vibrancy of the night sky just before it turns to morning light. I love watching the warm hues of the sun rise over the bridge in the distance. I love the crispness of the air, the boost of natural caffeine, the post-run endorphins that have me living high for hours after.

Shots of an early morning runner.

And so, it was with sadness in my heart that I woke this morning knowing that yesterday’s early a.m. run would be the last for quite sometime 🙁

Tomorrow, after more than a year free from the shackles of employment, I return to my paper-covered desk. And because my commute is more than an hour each way, and because I now have a Little Ring in tow, there is just no way, unless I wake at 3:30 a.m. (not gonna happen) I can fit early morning runs into my days.

Come to think of it, I don’t know how I’m going to fit regular training into my new life as a working mom period… which concerns the freaking bejesus out of me. Most days, I won’t be getting home until after 6 p.m. There’s dinner to be eaten, Little Ring to be played with, bathed, put to bed. And as much as I’d love to say I’ll have the energy to muster out a good tempo or speed run after, I don’t know if exhaustion will have me flopping down onto the couch instead.

So, to all you running moms out there, please – PLEASE!!! – give me some advice. How do you balance it all?

YESTERDAY’S RUN:

• 5:30 a.m. BG before: 7.7
• Temp. basal: none
• Carbs: granola bar (14g) with bolus
• Time: 55:54 minutes
  
• Distance: 10 km
• Average pace: 5:35 min/km
  
• Average cadence: 86 spm
  
• 7 a.m. BG after: 7.7

This run started out iffy. I’d had two cruddy runs earlier in the week where I was overheating, my belly was waging war on my insides, and the demons in my head were attacking my legs. (Note: I ran those mid morning, not early morning. Hmm… interesting.) And I felt this run would be the same. But it wasn’t! It took about 5 to 10 minutes for my mind to shut up and my legs to start working well, but once they did, man I felt good out there. I had initially planned on a quick 5 km run, but when my body and brain started cooperating, I decided to keep going. I kept close to home, for just in case, so the run became a bit of an endless loop, which I’m usually not a fan of, but given how great I was feeling, I ended up loving every stride of the way

Love those kinds of runs!