Who wakes up before 8 am? Who wakes up before 7 am? 6 am? How about 5 am? I know that we have readers of all ages on the blog, and while everyone is unique, there are certain populations who tend to sleep in more than others. For as long as we’ve been together, our alarms are usually set for 5:30 am. We like to walk Noke before other people are outside and get our day started. Recently, a few changes have led me to set that alarm an hour earlier.
I’ve been waking up at 4:30 am.
Right now, a lot of my injuries are piling up and really slowing me down. In November, I fractured a few vertebrae and herniated a few discs in my neck. In December, I re-tore each of my calves, which had been torn within the past year. In January, we got in a bad car crash and I re-injured my left wrist, which I’ve fractured twice in the past. The car accident also aggravated my right lower back, which has always been problematic. Add that to my torn labrum in my left shoulder, torn rotator cuff in my right, tendonitis in each elbow and knee, and torn labrum in my right hip, and you’re asking for trouble.
Even though I’d been focusing on becoming more athletic again, I need to slow down to recover. At the same time, with my full-time job, Masters program, operating our own businesses, having all the fur babies, and living in LA (where everything takes FOREVER), I need an extra hour in the day. To make the most of my time, I’m waking up at 4:30 am, to be at the gym at 5. There isn’t any traffic and I don’t have to pay for parking that early. I wake up, eat jerky or a protein bar, take my pre-workout supplements, get dressed, pack my bag and leave. I warm up with about 10-20 minutes of cardio, put in an hour of strength training based in rehab, and then 10-20 minutes of recovery in the hot tub or sauna.
I’m home by 6:40 am, which is perfect timing to walk Noke with Fit to Fit’s boxing workout. I lightly jog Noke back home, feed the babies, sit with Nymeria while she is eating, eat breakfast myself, take a shower and get to it around 7:45 am. Breakfast is usually a bowl of oatmeal with some extras in it, along with tea, a protein shake and my pills. Alana comes home from the gym at 8am and I leave for work at 10:45 am, after (hopefully) three solid hours of school work and business.
I have only been at the new routine for about a week, so I’m still getting used to it. Alana nearly had a heart attack when the alarm blasted at 4:30 am, yesterday morning. It takes time to build good habits and you just need to stick it out. I think that it really all comes down to focus and discipline. People ask how I operated on 4 hours of sleep in high school and college and I think it has a lot to do with some kind of inner drive that you create and maintain. Healthy habits definitely keep you running, but there is something else there as well.
So, when do you wake up in the morning and what does your routine look like? I think that giving yourself some extra time can definitely help you stay hungry and fit!
I am 70. I rise at 6 am and head out for a 7 km walk. Sometimes I do a fast walk and other times it is a gentle stroll listening to an ebook.
My day starts with soda water and lemon juice followed by a breakfast that usually includes two eggs, some mushrooms, bacon/tomatoes/parsley/zucchini.
That breakfast sounds absolutely lovely! Thanks for sharing your morning routine. I hope that I can be that active at 70!