Wake Up!:Part II

I tried all of the solutions that I mentioned in my previous Wake Up! post blow. Here are the results.

Solution 1: Laptop next to bed.

This worked once, out of about 5 tries. A 20% success rate is not good enough for me. If I thought I did not have any major pending emails or issues I would just simple not even turn on my computer.


Solution 2: Timer on coffee pot in room.

Why this will work: I am a coffee lover and there is not many things I enjoy more than a good cup of coffee, so moving the coffee pot into my room and setting the timer to start making coffee at the same time as my alarm this should help get me out of bed right? Picture Folgers commercial.


Solution 3: Drink lots of water the night before.

This also worked once out of about 5 tries. I will say that this actually got me to get up 3-4 times but just not out of bed. I would happily wake up to the sounds of fresh brewed Dunkin Donuts coffee brewing but I would simply just turn over and drift back to sleep or snuggle under that covers with the aroma of coffee in the air.


Solution 4: Set alarm clock across the room.

This did not really work at all, yes I would have to get out of bed but I would just hit my alarm as fast as I could then jump back into bed.


All in all none of my proposed solutions worked, but that has not deterred. I figured that if I can avoid hitting the snooze that average of 3 times a day, which equals roughly 30 minutes a day, time 7 days a week and 52 weeks a year would be 10,920 minutes a year or 182 hours 7.5 days or just over a week per year. In short its worth another try, especially since I have been know to hit the snooze for over an hour at times.

It is well to be up before daybreak, for such habits contribute to health, wealth, and wisdom.
- Aristotle

Here is my next plan of attack:
It is a whole new approach it is based off of a blog post that I recently read about the very problem of waking up right away after your alarm goes off. The author states that most people have great intentions to get up at the alarm when they go to bed, however, you often have quite the different idea when that alarm goes off at 5:30am. He is suggesting that you 11pm brain is not always on the same page as your 5:30am brain, which is definitely true for me.

He suggests taking the thinking portion out of the equation. Don't mess around with some of the less than effective strategies that I just used, rather make getting up automatic. How does one do this? Well he suggests practice. Yes just like practicing the guitar or free throws practice makes perfect and then the action becomes automatic. Here's the catch don't practice at 5:30am practice in the daytime when your 5:30am brain is not so persuasive.

The author suggests recreated the your sleeping conditions, as best as possible, and then simple setting your alarm clock for a few minutes ahead and then when it goes off simple, take a big deep breath and stretch your limbs and get up and do what you would normally do in the morning. He suggest 1-2 set of 5-10 reps per day for a few days until it become automatic, he also suggests that for the first 30 days you sick to the same wake up time weekdays and weekends until you get into a rhythm, then even if you have interuptions or want to sleep in you will have a good base, think of it as muscle memory.

Here is his full blog post that I would highly recommend you read if this is a problem for you. I just did my first set of 10 reps this evening and I will report back on how things are going and if this actually works.

Enjoy: Steven Pavlina: How to getup right away when your alarm goes off

Wake Up!!!!:

Getting out of bed in the morning is something that gives me trouble. Once I'm out of bed I can go all day but it's just that first step of actually getting out of bed. Normally it is not even that I'm overly tired, it's just the fact that I just don't want to get out of my warm comfortable bed. Unlike many runners I do not run in the morning, it is simply just not for me, my Dad has got up at 5:30 every Monday, Wednesday and Friday as long as I can remember to run, and I give him a lot of credit for it, and even joined him for a few times when I was in high school but I soon realized the morning workouts were just not for me.

Morning workouts aside, I am just focusing on getting out of bed. I have noticed over the past year or two that I am sleeping a bit better than I ever have, it seems like I sleep a bit heavier than I used to. I think that this has to do with all of the workouts and physical activity in general. I have heard of other runner or endurance athletes having the similar experiences. Your deep sleep cycles, specifically your REM sleep cycles is where you get the most rest and recovery, it would only make sense that increase physical activity would cause someone to enter and remain in this sleep cycle longer. Not to get into that topic too much I'm ultimately trying to get myself out of bed in the morning.

Here are some of the solutions that I am going to try to help get me out of bed in the morning.

Solution 1: Laptop next to bed.

Why this could work: For my job I communicate with a lot of companies around the world and in many different time zones. Therefore, I get emails throughout the night and I am generally very quick to try and read and respond. The thought is to have my laptop next to my bed so that when I wake up I can see all of the emails that I have to respond to and this would motive me to get out of bed.


Solution 2: Timer on coffee pot in room.

Why this will work: I am a coffee lover and there is not many things I enjoy more than a good cup of coffee, so moving the coffee pot into my room and setting the timer to start making coffee at the same time as my alarm this should help get me out of bed right? Picture Folgers commercial.


Solution 3: Drink lots of water the night before.

Why this will work: Not only will this help keep me hydrated but hopefully I'll have to go to the bathroom in the morning and thus getting me out of bed.


Solution 4: Set alarm clock across the room.

Why this will work: Often the toughest part is just that first step out of bed, this will force me to get out of bed to shut off my alarm.


We'll see how these work, I will report back with results and if there are other ways that will help me get out of bed in the morning.

Words to Run By:

Quick Post to share a few great new Ultra running terms.

Ultrabrained

From what I can gather it is a term used to describe the mental state of an ultrarunner in the later stages of a race when mental ability is limited to say the least.

Example:
"I remember seeing you…must have been ultrabrained at the time. I thought you all were going in the wrong direction."


Ultra Shuffle

During a race when you're still moving but it's just at a really slow pace and even if people are passing you there is nothing you can do, it often resembles more of a shuffle than actual running.

Runner's World Article on the Ultra Shuffle

What Motivates You to Run?:

There was a discussion question on the Running in Business LinkedIn group that I am a member of that asked the simple question of "What motivates you to run." I began to think of all of the money, time, effort and even anxiety that I have put myself through over the past few years that related to running and it was quite a bit, so why am I doing it?

To the best of my knowledge I have reduced the minor things like, its good for me, sense of accomplishment, gets me off of the couch type arguments and tried to really distill it down to the one main driving factor. I believe that running like many of the things that I do is related to my desire to simply be motivated and inspired. The sense of being able to accomplish something that you didn't think was possible and then improving that to levels you that were merely a distant thought is such a great feeling.

Please correct me if I'm wrong but I believe that Aristotle believe that we lived our lives striving to do good for that one moment right before death when your life flashes before your eyes and if you had lived a good life you would be truly happy in that moment and would die in peace. he most have been an endurance athlete, because that is really what we do. Train for endless hours and give up many of the things we enjoy for the one moment as we cross that finish line when we know that all of the work has paid off. So I guess what motivates me to run is that feeling for inspiration and the one moment as your crossing the finish line when you can say I ran a good race and all the training was worth it.

10 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Started Marathoning:

I am far from being an expert or even a well experienced runner, however, I have logged a few miles in my day and have raced and finished 12 marathons now and 2 ultramarathons. Here are 10 things that I wish I knew before I started running marathons and beyond.

1. Be patient. Getting your body and mind ready and in shape to run any distance race simply takes time and effort, it will not happen over night and you cannot cram your training in last minute.

2. Run your hard training days harder and your easy recovery days easier. Often runners don't do their hard workouts hard enough then go too hard on the days they should be recovering. There is no advantage in pushing on easy days.

3. Shoes won't make your race but they could break you. Shoes are not that important in my opinion unless you have the wrong ones. Make sure to go to a good running store with a knowledgeable staff that are runners.

4. Don't be afraid to push yourself. Given the proper training and nutrition your body is capable of almost anything don't limit yourself.

5. Everyone is unique. There is no universal training program that will work for everyone. Running is such an individual sport that the only way to really know what's best for you is to get out there and try different programs until you know you body enough to figure out what will work best for you.

6. If you really want to get fast. Long tempo runs, in my opinion are the key to improving your marathon time, they closely replicate the actual race. They're tough but worth it.

7. Sometimes less is more. There is a lot of debate on the barefoot and minimalist shoe argument and you have to figure out what works best for you but often times I think that less is often more when it comes to running shoes.

8. Read up. The more you know about anything the better prepared you will be, so read up on running, there are plenty of great websites, books, blogs, and magazines out there.

9. Avoid Injuries. The number one concern throughout my running career is walking the fine line between pushing yourself to the limit and avoiding injury. Unfortunately there is a lot of trial and error, but them better you know you limits the better you can judge when to push and when to back off.

10. Leave no doubt. Every question or doubt I ever had while training for a race disappeared or was answered as soon as I crossed the finish line. Completing a race is one of the best feelings in the world if you know that going in it makes the miles a little less painful.

Hailie Gebrselassie

The New York marathon is a major event in the distant running sport every year. It attracts numerous elite athletes and often a number of celebrity runners. This year was no exception, there was another great elite field along with defending NYC marathon winner American, Meb Keflezighi. At the end of the 26.2 miles Gebre Gebrmariam from Ethiopia finished in first place, but he did not capture the top headline.

That went to Hailie Gebrselassie, the famous Ethiopian runner that is arguably the most accomplished distance runner of all time. Gebrselassie has broken 27 world records and currently hold the world record for the marathon at 2:03:59

At mile 16 Gebrselassie slowed then stopped, experiencing some minor knee problems prior to the start of the race. At the post race Gebraselassie took the podium and announced that he would be retiring. At 37 years old Gebraselassie is past his prime, however, he has still been a dominate force in the distance running. If he truly does retire it would sure end the career of one of distance runners great athletes of all time.

NY Times Article on Gebrselassie: Enjoy!