I'm taking the 21-day challenge ...

I've made the switch from later workouts to about 5am!  It takes less time away from the family, although I do have to go to bed earlier.  All in all, I think it works great.  Plus, I get some endorphins to keep me awake for work.

I am a morning person without a doubt. I especially like how working out early wakes me up on days that I have to work. Oddly enough, on nights when I have to drag myself to the pool for 8:15 pm Masters, I can't get my body to shut off to go to bed until well after midnight or 1 am.

Good luck on the challenge guys!

I'm a big-time morning person. It is much easier for me to get myself out to workout at 5:00AM than it is at 5:00 PM. I even get up that early on the weekends to get my training done before the rest of the family gets out of the bed. Since I switched to the mornings, it has given me a lot more family time. It is also a big help to my wife because I am available to help more with dinner, the kid's baths, and homework. The only problem is that I have a really hard time getting back out at 7:30PM or 8:00PM to get my swimming done.

I have also found that it is easier to lose weight when I workout in the mornings. I guess it gives teh old metabolism a littel boost.

I do both and don't really have a preference, although I do enjoy my 5:30 am runs when all is quiet. Mornings are great because, as has been pointed out, they don't steal from family time. And in the spring and summer when training schedules are more intense, it's imperative to do something in the morning so you can get a bike, lift or ride in during the evening. Right now I am swimming at night and unlike some others, it knocks me out for the night.

I'm not a morning person, but like you I'm trying to build a habit of getting up early and train.  It seems that the "good habits" are hard to get started unlike all my "bad habits"

I get my long workouts in as early as possible in the morning. I can get up and get in a 3 hour bike ride in the summer from 6-9 am on a weekend and be home just as the family is rolling out of bed. I did all of my open water swimming very early on Monday mornings so I could still get to work by 9 am. And now, I'm doing my marathon training either early in the morning (weekend long runs) or late evening (mid-week tempo/middle distance runs).

I often go through a whole week of workouts without doing anything at 'normal' daylight hours. Some times it's the only way, with a busy family and work schedule.

i went from bartending through college and getting home at 3:30 am to getting up @ 3:45am to get to work by 5.(I live a ways from work) It takes some getting used to but I enjoy the time in the morning by myself, there are no distractions and if you plan to work out in the evening it is very easy to make excuses throughout the day if you do it first thing, there is no time for excuses. Good Luck.

I prefer to do my work outs at dinner time after my part time morning job, this way i am home in time for picking my son up from school and have all evening spending time with the family, works for me!!!

I am in the Navy, so I am definitely an early morning person.  Unfortunately, I am at work by 0630, so it makes it tough to get up any earlier than the 0500 that I do now.  Shower/breakfast/30min drive to work.  I do make time to work out on Tuesdays and Thursdays mornings (0600) at the pool.  On the weekends, becuase I can't sleep late, I go for my rides and runs around 0600.  Mondays and Wednesdays are for my runs and rides at home on the treadmill and new trainer. 

Edited by Cavu9 2004-10-19 8:02 PM

Hi there...slightly off the subject, I am also reading Fink's book and am anxious to hear what other people think of it. Do his IM plans seem reasonable to you? They seem to be a little "too much too soon" to me, but I have just begun triathlon, and am not close to doing an IM yet. I run marathons, and a 30 week marathon plan is very reasonable, I did my first one in considerably less than that, but not certain about the IM plan. I am especially questioning the "competitive" plan, because he does not define competitive, nor does he offer times that you should be training at to be "competitive". Of course, we all have a different defintion of competive, but since that is what he is calling his third plan, I think it should have a difinition. He also does not offer a starting point for any of his 3 plans. So a person could go from beginner to "comptitive" in 30 weeks in an IM...no way (unless extremely gifted at all three areas of tri). So, anxious to hear thoughts from TripleThreat or any others who have read Fink's book. Thanks!

Good Luck in you r efforts to convert, TripleThreat.
Once the transition period is over, it is not too bad. I used to run 3-4 times a week at 0500 and had few problems getting up. I always felt ready to tackle the day. I now have to be at work by 0630 and get up at 0445 (with difficulty). I don't think I could get up any earlier to work out in the morning. I also go to bed early.

I think he's assuming that common sense is prevailing. If you don't know what exactly "competitive" means, then you're not ready for that plan. It's sort of the whole "if you have to ask the question, you'll never understand the answer" type of thing. I'm certain he's named the programs based upon where you are now, not where you "want to be". He's calling for folks to realistic and honest with their self-evaluation.

In his book, I'll use the Intermediate plan. I want to do more than just finish, but won't be competitive. Again, if you're competitive, you already have a good idea of what you race splits need to be, and what the race splits of other competitive athletes will likely be.

I think his hours per week are lower than others I see, but I think IM training is starting to realize that "grueling training" is not necessary for those outside of elite. So many folks have easily finsihed the races, and many posted decent times, with lower volume training (comparatively) that the assumption that 1000 hours per year for IM training is just obsolete (outside of elite).

There is a realzation that quality and recovery is much better than quantity. Strength Training went through this realization about 15 years ago. Mantra's like "more is better" and "no pain, no gain" are hard to remove from the vernacular of a subsculture once they grab hold.

Fink describes his coaching and training experience and everything he says seems to sound like a great idea to me.

Thanks for your reply. However, I do disagree with just knowing what his definition of competitive is. I think there is competitive in your age group (as in qualifying for Kona) and there is competitive "I want to win the whole flippin' thing". However, I don't think this book is geared for either. I look at what the competive plan is, and I could do the first week of workouts right now very easily, and continue his progressions every week. However, if I was doing IMCDA next June, I doubt I would be qualifying for Kona just yet, even on his plan! Thank you for your feedback, and good luck in your early morning training, I think it can be done, just make certain you are getting enough sleep at night your your training is of high quality!

---I think there is competitive in your age group (as in qualifying for Kona) and there is competitive "I want to win the whole flippin' thing". ---

I am not trying to sound flippant or arrogant when I say this but anyone that is "trying to win" is not getting their training tips/advice from a book. Anyone trying to win the whole deal or their AG has a coach that they work with on a regular basis.

IMO, competitive to a novice-intermediate (i.e., someone that would turn to a general information training book for advice) most likely means trying to crack the top 20% of their AG (FOP). I think that is kind of assumed by both the author and the reader. Cam Brown isn't sitting down with beIRONfit and planning out his 30-week training program, just as Peter Reid and Tim DeBoom aren't helping each other figure out The Triathlete's Training Bible Annual Training Plan steps. =)

Seriously, training books are written for the self-coached person with just a few years of experience. It seems to me that once people get to that point they realize their place in triathlon, so they either accept teir status or hire a coach to improve their status.

I don't think the book is geared for anypone that would finish in the top 10% of their AG (or higher). Those folks tend to train a lot more than the time outlined in BIF. Furthermore, most likely work with a coach on a regular basis, and have highly individualized training plans that address specific limiters, etc.

Exactly what I said when I said "However, I don't think this book is geared for either".

I gotcha.

Definately a morning person, workouts inlcuded. I begin almost all my workouts before 7:00am. I find that I feel better during the entire day, get a better workout because I fresh, and should at least keep my old body burning more calories throughout the day because of it. This is especially nice during the summer, typical day then is a early workout either bike or run followed by a good breakfast and then a nice nap(I teach so summer are free). After the nap I play with the family(wife also teaches and still have my only child at home) and then a I usually get another shorter workout swim or the run in the afternoon. I can't wait for summer.

I teach Biology and Physical Science. MY kids always ask "why do you drink diet soda? You're not fat.". I say, "exactly".

If folks would just elinate "empty" liquid calories, they'd do a lot for themselves.

Yes I try to interest the kids in athletics. Your right about the weight problem of our younger generation. They snack all day at school(chips, cokes, candy) eat whatever the "quick" line at school has for lunch then eat more junk when they get home in front of the latest video game they are trying to beat. I coach my schools tennis team and began off season conditioning last week. It was really kind of sad, I told all of them before hand "not" to bring their rackets, that they would not need them yet. About half didn't believe me and did anyway. Well, after a 1 mile warm up run following drills consisting of a lot of anarobic training for two striaght days I have had 4 out of 20 quit the team. Oh well, I can really only play about 8 boys and girls anyway, just hope the rest stick.