Sunday, May 10, 2009

You Snooze You Lose


Today was the first day of my 23 week training for my next marathon, a.k.a, redemption. I decided to institute a few rules so that I stay on track. One of those rules is not using the snooze button. On a typical running morning, I will snooze an average of 3 times. Not only does it cut into my run, it just doesn't make any sense. It does not get any easier to get up, as a matter of fact I think it gets harder with each snooze. Plus on multiple occasions, I have snoozed 20 minutes or so and then told myself I did not have enough time left for a workout. So all in all, it will cause me to be far more consistent and get a lot more out of my runs if I give it up. Not to mention I will score some major bonus points with my wife. She has often times just got back to sleep after being up with our son in the middle of the night when the snoozing starts and wakes her up all over again, and again, and again. You get the drift.

This morning the alarm went off at 6:00am and I got right out of bed, it was such a good feeling. I was hoping to get in some decent miles today and set out for an easy run of 7 to 8.5 miles. Like usual, I started out too fast. Though my legs feel back to normal I think that each stride is still taking more effort. After 4.42 miles I was spent and started walking. My pace to that point was 7:37. Not too bad, but way too slow to tire after only 4.42 miles. Determined to get more out of my work out,(another one of my new rules) I walked for a little while and then set out to do 3 800 meter splits with 2 minutes rest. I was able to accomplish those and it felt good, 3:07, 3:01, 2:59. I will be up again tomorrow morning and will bask in the accomplishment of not succumbing to the snooze.

Also you can click on my workouts to the left and it will show you more detail about the daily workout.

5 comments:

Marlene said...

Good job getting up on the first alarm! I'm a slave to snooze sometimes too, and I hate to start my day off that way.

Nice run!

Glenn Jones said...

You also need to understand that your next marathon *will* go a whole lot better becuase now you know what to expect from your body. That first marathon is tough becuase despite the best plans and preparations, you are going places that you just have not been to before (physically that is).

Best of luck with your coming training.

Amy said...

Well hey, congrats on the Flying Pig! At least you did it and finished...I'm still a little scared about training for a marathon.

That book looks interesting. I actually haven't read ANY books on running, but maybe I should since I don't have a coach right now. Do you really recommend that one, or are there any others you liked?

Lindsay said...

i'm a slave to my snooze button, even though i hate it for all the reasons you put! i totally do that too - well, might as well keep sleeping, no time to workout now, darn. :)

way to get up and out of bed. does your plan have you running hard already? now you need to work on getting up with the alarm and holding back for the first few miles on an easy run. good luck :)

Anonymous said...

jason, i also was once a slave to the snooze god. i even would hit the snooze without realizing it, because i'd be so asleep i wouldn't remember hitting the snooze. so i did 2 things:
1. i put the alarm clock on the other side of the room, so i'd have to get up. this helped, but i could still get up, hit the snooze, and walk back to bed.
2. i eventually unscrewed my alarm clock cover, opened it up, and broke off the snooze button so i couldn't hit snooze anymore. hasn't been an issue since!

-carlos