How A Night Owl Woke Up Early

For most of my life I have been trying to figure out how I can make an early morning workout feel as comfortable as my bed.  Today could prove to be a major milestone in that quest as I was in and out of the pool by 7AM.  And for the record . . . the world may now end.

It’s funny how I’ve always known getting up early is one of the biggest keys in my life, but day after day, year after year, decade after decade, I have refused to make it happen.  And in every great story, there is drama, so hold tight, because today was dangerously close to every other morning of my life.

It wasn’t as much about effort as it was simply waking up and thinking, “what the fuck else am I gonna do?”  And waking up at 6 and asking that question isn’t all that rare either, but it’s usually followed by, “just lay down for a while and hit the gym at 6:30.”  A subtle, yet key decision the night before could have been the difference.  Simply loading my backpack loaded with a towel, goggles, flops, and my swim suit.

So, there I was, at the YMCA, changing and pre-showering at 6:25.  I even saw a friend who who were already DONE with her workout.  She said fellow Ironman in training, Mark, had just left after knocking out 19 miles in spin class.  One of these days.

I tickled the water with my toe and was happy it was relatively warm . . .

Fuck this is boring!  Isn’t the point of blog posts to make them interesting?  Why would anyone want to read about me taking a shower at 6:25 am unless it was with a woman or a nefarious group of rebellion life-stylers?

I know this is about training, but reading is about being engaged, motivated and moved.  This blog should be more about the tight fitting shiny blue lycra shorts that hug my curves as I glide through the slippery waters.  Then again, maybe soft core workout porn isn’t the answer either.

Okay, I think the bottom line is, I got my ass out of bed, but it didn’t happen today.  It happened over the last 9 months of committed training and better patterns in my life.  Tough changes are less about will power or fighting through them and more about natural movements.

There is no progress without action.  There is no satisfaction until you embrace intention.  The only way to beat resistance is to let it go.