5:30 am is the new 5:30 pm!

Hey There Reader!

This morning, the alarm on my cellie went off at 5:30 am. Calling myself an "early riser" is no stretch (I get it from my mama), but any time before 6:30 am is going a bit off the grid in my opinion. As it is winter where I am, not even the sun was ready to be up at that hour. Rolling over and putting a pillow over my head to drown out the sound was an appealing option, however, the alarm kept beeping and beeping and beeping! The only way to make it stop was to force myself to get up, go downstairs into the kitchen, and shut it off. Mission accomplished...since I'm up, I might as well do something about it...head to the gym for some good, old fashioned exercise. Here we go!

I've never actually been to the gym in my city before 5:30 pm...rumor has it that doors open at 5:00 am, but I've never seen that for myself. So, when I arrived at 5:30 am, I was met by a locked gate and a guard saying that there were still about twenty more minutes before I could enter. In an effort to kill time, I took a drive around the city center, all the while tracking the distance covered. Let's just say that I didn't cover 26 miles, and the thought of running (non-stop) the distance covered by my car was rather daunting! I know, I know...one step at a time.

6:00 am. First exercise...stair master for 10 minutes on the "fitness" level. Umm...I can't count the number of times I pressed the "pause" button. Oh boy, I've got a long road ahead of me (no pun intended)! At first, I was a bit troubled that I couldn't just pound 10 minutes out as I've been able to do before, but I kept reminding myself of something I read on one of those running blogs: "It doesn't matter your pace, as long as you finish." That will have to be my mantra for the next 7 months of training in preparation for the big day!

Next up, core muscle exercises (crunches: 4 sets of 15; side crunches: 4 sets of 10 each side; lower back lifts: 4 sets of 15; leg lifts: 4 sets of 15). Because I'm no exercise guru, I have no idea what most of those exercises are actually called, so until then...you'll just have to guess what I'm talking about.

Twenty minutes on the stationary bike on the "mountain" level wasn't so bad...15 minutes on the treadmill, however, was definitely enough.

Although I was ready to get out of the gym, I was not, however, ready to sit back down on the couch...I mean...there was still a whole day (beautiful might I add) in front of me. The rest of my day included taking Beef for a long hike along a river my friends introduced me to last weekend. What a wonderful way to spend the day...off the couch with my favorite couch potato.

I'd say that today's workout was a nice start...wouldn't you agree? Clearly, there is a lot more ground to cover (pun intended), but I'm giving myself enough time to take it slow and build up to where I want to be...30 miles for 30 years.

A few lessons learned:

1. The gym opens at 5 am on weekdays and 6 am on Saturdays.
2. Rather than a "stair master", I'm a "stair novice".
3. One step at a time.
   

Here is a motivational quote that provided a little inspiration for me this morning:

"Only by seeking challenges, can we hope to find the best in ourselves." ~ Robert Rodriguez

Until tomorrow...

Yours in training,

Dani

P.S. On the toolbar to the right...under my profile, you can sign up to "follow me". By doing this, you will receive updates every time a new post is added! Thanks Jestein and Dad for being the first! I hope to see more people running along with me!