Sunrise Run

I did it-I successfully woke up at 5:30 this morning, got my butt out of bed around 5:45, and was out the door at 6:30!

It was so worth it. The sun was just coming up over the hill and everything was so peaceful. I even ran without music for a while because I wanted to enjoy the serenity of the morning. I gotta say that despite my concerns, I felt completely safe; the people who were out (the very few of them) just seemed to be getting their morning walk in before heading off to work. It was surprisingly one of my better runs! I had a half of a banana and a spoonful of peanut butter (and of course a cup of water) before heading out and that combo gave me exactly the kind of energy I needed to power through a medium-long run.

I am by no means a morning person-communicating effectively and smiling seem to escape me before, say, 9am. But I love the benefits of getting up and working out early: my metabolism has been kickstarted for the day, I'm refreshed and ready to get down to work, and it always leaves me in a good mood.

And that's exactly what I'm thinking about trying to do for college. In an ideal world, I'd love to be at the gym at 6:30 in the morning during the week to get my workout in before heading to class. My time studying would be more productive, and I wouldn't feel like I had to stay up late. I read somewhere that the hours of sleep you get before midnight are significantly better quality than the ones you get after midnight.  So I wonder- how many college students would see an improved GPA and test scores if they went to bed an hour or two earlier but woke up earlier and used that time to get a head start on the day? And I'm not someone who can function on little sleep very well-so I guess it's a matter of 'strategic sleeping', if there were ever a thing. It's not very realistic, but we'll see if I can stick to my routine!

One thing I am concerned about is fueling my body. What's been happening lately is that I run in the morning and then am falling asleep around 4pm. I think I'm not eating quite enough and that I need to be eating foods that will give me more sustainable energy. I'll be pondering how to improve upon this over the next few days. Any advice?