To all the early risers- tell me how you do it?

Thanks Kirsten!

That's mirrors what my coach told me. "Commitment is something you have to develop, It's called 'how bad do you want to achieve your goals and succeed?''

I'm looking for tools to help me. I set my alarm, even label it something obscene so I won't ignore it...never works lol. I have my swimming gear ready in my car, just need to hop in and go. All my stuff is ready. I just can't. But I want this, I want to succeed at my first 70.3.

Obviously, I must figure out a way to reconcile this. I must not be making that immediate commitment that says I'm getting up.

Sigh...only 6 weeks to go and I'm freaking out!

I go to sleep around 11pm or 12am.

The catch is that my husband was recently diagnosed with sleep apnea and is trying to adjust to his CPAP machine. The drawback? My sleep suffers from his sawing logs all night. I once was a very deep sleeper but now I don't feel I hit deep sleep anymore.

We have a fan for white noise. I was ecstatic that my husband would be using a CPAP machine but don't find it makes any rhythmic noise that I would find soothing.

I had a good routine of waking up early in the morning back in February for two weeks straight but it didn't stick - the minute I stay up past 10:30pm, I can't wake up at 5:30am. I need 7hours sleep. We have 24hr daylight where I live, which isn't an issue, I just sometimes don't realize how late it actually is.

I'll try ear plugs tonight. I'm going to chant (to myself of course) '10 feet between bed and door' to force myself past it on Monday morning.

Sally

Guessing 24-hour daylight might have a lot to do with your problems! I was in Calgary last summer for a race. We were on a road trip up north for about a week before and the late sunlight combined with taper drove me crazy! I spend most of the year in the tropics where we have 11-13 hours of daylight year round so there's not much variation-makes it easier.

I too began my triathlon life as a night owl, but found that I just couldn't train consistently after work, between weather, heat, traffic, and my job (elementary teacher--you are technically free to go at 3:30, but the non-teaching demands are different every day and often unpredictable). So I took advantage of jet lag (which makes me wake up around 2-3 AM) one year to switch to primarily morning workouts, to the point where now I'm usually up by 4:30-5:00, even on weekends. My tricks:

*Be consistent. Get up early pretty much every day, at least 6 days a week. Don't "sleep in" too much on weekends. The only time I ever sleep past 6 now is if I have a day off training (sometimes not even then) or if I'm sick. This will train your body to sleep earlier and wake up earlier.

*Be strict about bedtime. I know this is hard when you live with other people, but it matters.

*Try a "digital diet"--no screens in the bedroom, or for 30-60 minutes before going to bed. That really helps with my sleep.

*Minimize hard workouts less than 2-3 hours before trying to fall asleep. The elevated body temperature, soreness, mental stimulation can impact sleep.

*Experiment to find out how late in the day caffeine will affect your sleep, and stay away from it after that. For most people, probably best to avoid it within 4-8 hours of bedtime. Sadly, this includes chocolate.

*Eat an early dinner. It's hard to fall asleep less than two hours after eating, at least for me. With a heavy training load, it's likely you'll wake up early because you're hungry, too.

*Set two alarms, one next to/on you (watch, etc.) and one across the room. Then you have to get up to turn the other one off.

*If you are consistent for about a week, pets will expect to be fed/loved at that early hour and will probably harass you until you get up. My 15 pound cat has a lot to do with my training consistency!

*Fatigue from a heavy training load also helps. I tend to have a harder time getting/staying asleep early if I'm training less than 10 hours a week, at 14-15, though (peak HIM volume for me), I'm just totally done for by 8 PM most days. Not sure about your training but for me, intensity tends to wear me out more than volume. Especially true with swimming--hard swim workouts really tend to put me out like a light. Maybe talk with your coach about this--everyone's body is different.

Hope some of this is useful!

Seeing as you are dealing with 24 hour daylight at present I suggest setting yourself an alarm to remind you to go to bed at 10pm. Then give yourself 30 minutes to go through your bedtime routine.

Then I agree with Karen to set yourself 2 morning alarms, one next to you and a couple of minutes later one that you have to get out of bed to turn off.

Night owl here too.
Hoot with the owls, you better soar with the eagles, right?

In any case, when training volume gets to the point where it's fairly necessary to find hours in the day so you can still spend *some* time with the family, mornings are the only option.

I quickly found that if you do it with enough frequency (a week or so) and that when the volume/intensity of your fitness activity reaches a certain point....staying up until 11:00 becomes...well...impossible. There were times I would try every so hard to stay up. And just couldn't.

I'm about two weeks away from flipping over to mornings. I don't dread it. All that BS about feeling better throughout the day that "they say"...well...it's true. And there's nothing like coming home and knowing you don't need to go for a run and that you can sit around and watch TV if you want. Or mow the lawn. Or balance the checkbook. I found it really liberating. Particularly when the wife schedules "dinner out" on Friday. I don't fret about "missing a workout".

Why I don't do it all the time, is beyond me. Other than I like being a night owl.



Edited by jhaack39 2017-06-13 1:36 PM

I'm right there with you! I even started pretty much the same thread about 2 years ago. Last summer I did not attend one single race, tri or running, because I committed to my wife that my training would be in the mornings or not at all. It turned out to be not at all. I even got a FitBit watch which has a silent alarm that I would wear on my wrist to try and jar me awake.

I haven't given up yet, I have been successful at getting up early in small spurts. A few days I'll manage, then Ill go a week or two where I won't. One of the big changes that seems to have helped is reducing/eliminating my alcohol consumption. I also try and avoid my phone and TV in the evenings.

I had my first race of this summer a few days ago. I was greatly under trained but finished. I hope embracing the suck of that race will help build my motivation for morning workouts as I have signed up for more races already to try and give myself a carrot.

I am envious of morning people. It's not as easy as just get out of bed for me. I think I have a dimmer switch or need the panic of "I'm going to be late for work" to kick my body into gear.

GoodLuck and be sure to post back if you find a method that helps.

Personally, I can't do it. Haven't been able to get up that early since I was in the military. I have 3 small children (one with severe behavioral issues) and a regimented bed-time routine is an impossibility. Work/family/hobby life balance is always a challenge to get the right mix. I'm falling asleep at work right now as I type this ...

Therefore, I stopped competing at 70.3 & OLY distances that require more training volume (at least for me). I can generally get an either/or lunch or afternoon training session, so reliably 4-8 hrs of training during my 16 week build phase. I am also very disciplined about getting a quality work out in at the 1-1:30 hr timeframe. This means that I can only CONSISTENTLY COMPETE at the sprint distance. Even an OLY dist is unobtainable. To me - it's important to give 100% in a race and feel strong whilst racing rather than just slog through the distance --- I hate feeling that way in a "race." However everybody has different goals. If I felt the need to compete at OLY or 70.3, I would have to get myself up. I value the extra 1:30 minutes of sleep for my sanity rather than racing the longer distances ... YMMV.

I have 3 4am runs a week. Thankfully I have found others who need to run that early. Knowing people are up and waiting for me helps me get out of bed.

I usually get up at 3:30 AM to stretch and prepare for my early morning runs. I go to bed at 9:00 PM to make sure I get up this early. All of my workout clothes and gear are placed out the night before.

I sleep in to 4:00 AM on morning I swim since the YMCA doesn't open until 5:00 AM.

I love getting up early and enjoy the runs with nobody on the roads. I usually get to see some cool animals...Deer, skunks, coyotes, foxes, rabbits, owls, raccoons, etc

The meteorite showers are pretty cool to see at 4:00 AM with a pitch black sky.

8 hours of sleep is the same whether you go to bed at 12 and wake up at 8, or if you go to bed at 8 and wake up at 4. It's still 8 hrs of sleep. So there's no real sacrifice to waking up early. Just go to bed earlier.

I used to feel your pain. After 7 years on graveyard shift I felt re-adapting completely was impossible. Even with my old 9-5 I was up till 2 am.
Oddly what changed everything for me was having a child. They force you up early and require attention until early evening. That left me with dark hours only to exercise and if you want it badly you'll find a way.

Hot Runner has some good advice. I learned if I eat past 7:30 I'm wired so I try to eat before or lightly if I can't get dinner in time. I also drink sleep aid tea with valerian and chamomile. I can't say I've noticed it help me fall asleep but I feel my sleep is deeper once I do. I'm up at 4:45 now and usually in bed well before 10. Now, what I notice is my morning performance is weaker than evening but I think that's cause I stuff two slices of bread for something to burn then eat a real breakfast afterwards.

This says it all. Nothing more than commitment. It takes about 2-3 weeks to get into it, but then its routine to wake up early.

Ouch! hahahahha!

I do love your comment and is a good motivator. I am still not waking up to train in the mornings yet, but I have every intention. I am getting all my training in during the evenings though.

Thank you for your comments and resonate with me. You are right, 'We're all given 24 hours each day....so it's a matter of how you choose to use those hours' matters. I don't miss out on training, it just happens later in the day than in the morning.

Helped take away the guilt I've been feeling.

Ha! If I got a cat my three poodles would just eat it.

When you say sleep in...what time is not sleep in?

Some DIY blackout window coverings are what you need

Its gonna be a hot week here in YYC. Train late or train early
... pick your poison. Just try and get to bed early for the last week... oh and come out and race the Canmore swim on July 15 (1500 or 3000m)

I think my bigger cat could take on most smaller poodles.....

For my Vietnamese cats, "not sleep in" would average about 4:30 AM. When I'm in Saigon, unless I have a workout that can only be done in afternoon (sometimes I only have pool access then), I am pretty much always up sometime in the 4:30-4:45 range, sometimes as early as 4:15 if I want to get in a longer trainer ride or brick (pushing 90 minutes) before work. In the end, it doesn't matter WHEN you train, as long as you're consistent. In my case, though I'm not a "morning person", conditions (weather, traffic, job) just don't allow me to be very consistent after work, so it is what it is. Even on weekends, I'm usually up by 5 and at it by 6, due to the heat. Maybe easier in SE Asia--it's always dark by 6:30 PM, light by 5:30 AM, and most of the locals are up and at it well before 6. Even when I head out to run before 5 AM in the dark of "winter", there are plenty of people out jogging, walking dogs, doing exercises in the nearby park, etc.

When in Oregon, I tend to get up around 6:30, and often don't get going on a workout till late morning. There's just no need--even the hottest days are cool until at least noon, and pool lap swim starts at 11-11:30.

Sorry, can't make it to Canmore from Yellowknife that weekend.

We used a table clothes for our DIY black-out blinds. Works amazing. My bed still tries to accept me as it's own.

I'm going to begin early mornings next week. :-)

I've stopped beating myself up and accepted the later swims rather than worry about going early morning. I am more relaxed and less stressed out about rushing home to make sure I get my girls up for school/summer camp. I will switch out the to full mornings the last week before the race.

I also had to find a new coach, which is also very freeing and less stressful. Things are working out!

Race day is in 18 days!