5:15 am, alarm rings. I shut it off. 5:30 am, another alarm ignored. I finally force myself out of bed at 5:40 am. Except for the final act of getting out of bed, this has been my routine for 2 months now. I don't like waking up early, mostly because I stay up late. Last night I didn't sleep till after 2:30 am which only gave me 3 hours of uninterrupted sleep at most. Despite my aversion to waking early, I do prefer to start my days early. The day just becomes more productive.
I've been running in Vibram Five Fingers Komodo Sports and Merrell Trail Gloves. The barefoot platform has relieved the pain from plantar fasciitis that has kept me from regular training for almost a year. Today, I used the Komodos. After knee strain followed by plantar fasciitis, it feels good to start a training schedule again.
The weather was great. 72 degrees and sunny. A breeze would have made it perfect, but for summertime, I'm not complaining.
Today's route took me south along Chicago's Lakefront Trail toward the museum district with Lake Michigan on my left and Grant Park on my right. No matter the conditions, morning workouts are tough, because my mind and body are only half awake, so muscles just don't respond or perform their best. I know this sluggishness will dissipate with more early training, but it's a long road till I don't resent those 5am alarms. The 4.03 mile run was manageable even with 3 hours of sleep. Discomfort set in around 1.5 miles as hunger became noticeable. I had half a trail mix bar before going out, but it failed to satiate me. I have a problem eating excessively. It's something I'm working on. Since it's a 4 mile run, I'm able to shake off the hunger, something that would be difficult to do on longer runs.
Even at 6am, the sun is prominent in the sky, and its rays are intensified by its brilliant reflection off the lake. The glare off of Lake Michigan makes me aware that I've neglected to put sunscreen on. This will get me in trouble with someone when I get home. I sprint the last quarter mile. The temperature reaches 76 degrees by the end of the run, and I am breathing heavily and convered in a satisfying sweat. 4.03 miles in 38 minutes. This is surprisingly good not only because I felt the early morning drag, but also because I stopped to take the pictures shown here. Not bad.
Another 4 miles is on the schedule for tomorrow. I'll dress in something cooler and hopefully remember the sunscreen. Just maybe I can coax myself to action a little closer to 5am.
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