My morning routine

I keep commenting on other blogs how much I love hearing about people's morning routines/day-to-day lives. I need to remind myself to post on that more in case other people are like me:) And if you're not...I am sorry!

I will start this by saying two things. First, I am a morning person. I hate being out in the dark and/or cold, so most nights I am in my PJ's on the couch by 8 PM at the latest (some days this scene develops at 5 PM...especially since classes are over for the semester). I am at my best from 6 AM until lunch. Then I hate life and want the day to be over. I hate having late evening plans and having to go back out looking presentable once I have come home and unwound. So, keep that in mind while reading:) Secondly, I don't have kids. So that makes my morning much easier than most!

This routine is based on my increased amount of running in the morning. When I don't run, my routine takes about 25 minutes!

5:20: Alarm goes off. I get up right away or within the minute- no snoozing (it's just easier that way for me).

5:22: Bathroom, brush teeth, make my bed, and put on running clothes I laid out the night before,

5:30: Clean the kitty litter, give my cat food and have some water,

5:33: Set up my Garmin in my condo's hallway and put on my shoes,

5:35: Head out for however many miles...I usually run 3-5 and if I need to do more I will get up however many miles more x 10 minutes. Today I ran 4 miles.

Some things about morning runs:

• I live in an area (the city) with a lot of street lights. 
• I face traffic when on the road or run with traffic on the sidewalk.
• I see about 10-15 runners every morning. Most are in groups. I also see lots of dog walkers.
• There is no traffic to stop for, which makes morning runs so much nicer than afternoon/evening runs.
• I can run many different routes from my place, so I don't worry about people figuring out my routines.
• I do wear headphones, but I am cognizant of those around me. I have never felt unsafe.
• I am never more than 2 miles from my house at any given time in case I am having a bad run.

6:20: This is the latest I like to get back from a run. I drink water right away and rinse off my body in the shower (I do not typically wash my hair unless it is the summer and I can go to work with wet hair).

6:25: Get dressed (I lay out my clothes the night before).

6:30: Do hair/makeup. Hair usually involves dry shampoo, a quick blow-dry if sweaty and a straightener.

6:38: Get my lunch (I make it the night before) and head out the door!

7:00: (Hopefully) Arrive at work!

I eat breakfast and drink coffee once I get to work! It's a quick morning that doesn't leave me a lot of time to get behind, but for the most part I am never more than 5-10 minutes late if I do get behind:)

What is your morning routine like?

New Routine

I am having the hardest time waking up for work. It is not that I can't wake up in time or don't get enough sleep, it is that I don't have any energy in the morning. I cannot imagine what it is like for parents with young kids, but I feel like I am in a daze until 9 AM no matter how much sleep I get during the work week.

To remedy this situation, I am getting back into the habit of waking up earlier (yes, this oxymoron has a purpose) so my body can get more low-impact movement before work. Instead of caffeine, I seriously need to move and get my blood flowing in order to wake up. I blame this necessity on my habit of running and working out in the morning so much in the summer and when I am off work. My body simply needs to sweat a little to wake up. I have not been running in the morning for the last month since it is dark until later and because my mileage has increased, so I simply don't have enough time to get a long run in unless it is after school. I am thinking that if I wake up about 30 minutes earlier, I will have enough time to do a 20-25 minute session on the elliptical in my complex while watching the morning news. This will be my version of most people's "coffee and news" time.

My favorite NBC morning crew!

Or...if you need to be a pleasant person at work.

This may sounds like a great problem to have (needing to work out to feel awake and energized), but it actually sucks. Imagine enjoying sleeping 8 or even 9 hours and having enough time in the evenings for healthy activities like running, walking or the gym, yet STILL feeling fatigued and irritable at work for 2 hours every morning unless you exercise? It sucks. Trust me. 

But I am going to try out this new morning routine and hopefully have a little more pep in my step and positivity in my interactions with students before the sun comes up too high! So 5:50 AM- I will be seeing your time on my clock every weekday morning from now on!

Anyone else have this problem? I should probably be studied.