But I do love breakfast and brunch foods!
In college, I was always awake and alert no matter how little sleep I had the night before. At the time, I thought I would always be invincible. I mean I was a Varsity athlete, taking a full course load, and also involved in a boat load of other activities including a sorority, service fraternity, Resident Assistant, and more. Who needed sleep?
After college graduation, I pulled some late nights at work for weeks at a time and would barely get more than a couple of hours of sleep before going back to work the next day. Or during some of the training programs, I’d be out with other colleagues until the wee hours. Somehow I always managed. However, as I started aging and running more regularly, I am starting to realize that I am really not a morning person.
Don’t get me wrong, I can get up for work in the morning and somehow manage to wake up at the crack of dawn for races or long runs, but I am really not motivated to wake up earlier on a weekday to workout. Every time I tried to get up earlier for a run in the morning or attend a class, I generally fail; I’d say 9 out of 10 times, I would turn off my alarm and go back to sleep. This week, I was hoping to break that trend. With dinner plans and a couple of after-work activities, I knew I wouldn’t be able to stick to my normal training unless I woke up earlier.
On Sunday night, I laid out my running clothes. I wanted to be sure I was ready to go in the morning. My plan wasn’t really that aggressive; I was just planning on waking up 45 minutes earlier than I usually do and only 5 minutes earlier than Josh. However, my alarm goes off on Monday morning and I turned it off and went back to sleep. Feeling that pang of guilt during the day, I asked my friend if we can meet 15 minutes later for dinner so that way I would be able to squeeze in a run right after work.
On Monday night, I was determined that I would be able to attend a barre class on Tuesday. I knew it had to be the first class of the day since I had a meeting at the Alzheimer’s Association after work. After much debate, I signed up for the 6:45AM class and set my alarm for 6:15AM. Again, I laid out my clothes ready to go. In the morning, my alarm goes off, I turn it off and pick up my phone. I had every intention of cancelling the class through the app on the phone. I get as far as confirming the cancellation but a message popped up saying that I would be subject to a late cancellation fee. The guilt hit me, I couldn’t cancel and lose the cost of the class, so I forced myself out of bed. The class wasn’t too bad; I think yawned the whole 60 minutes, but then felt great the rest of the day knowing my workout was done. However, Tuesday night rolls around and I am absolutely exhausted even after picking up an extra cup of coffee on my way to the meeting. I end up spending most of the night as a big blob on the couch, which I guess is not abnormal but I was a lot more tired than usual. And so I finally decided, I am not a morning person. I am okay with the occasional race or long run, the adrenaline is usually enough to keep me moving, but I should not have to get up any earlier than I need to on a weekday.
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| With my love for my guacamole, you can’t even see the fish, potatoes, or other vegetables in my bowl! |
Last night was also the end of Passover, which for me meant I could eat bread, rice, crackers, waffles, and all that goodness again. A year ago this was a non-issue. I was careful with my carb intake and limiting it was no big deal, but I don’t know how I managed to survive over a week this year. I turned down bread at dinner on Monday night, I couldn’t eat Mexican, Thai, or Japanese foods, I couldn’t make pasta at home, I turned down a brownie for a co-worker’s birthday, I couldn’t eat cereal at night, a waffle before my long runs, and couldn’t even snack on an occasional piece of chocolate. Man, I have really turned into a ravenous runner. However, this week I did make one of my favorite meals and instead of rice, I used potatoes – fish taco salad with guacamole, salsa, and a ton of veggies.
Are you morning a person? And are there any foods you can’t live without?