Today’s post is by Jackie Ayers, a frequent contributor and BAMRbassador. Jackie lives in Bend, Oregon, with her husband and two school-age sons.

My watch vibrates to wake me, and I’m momentarily unsure why, what I’m supposed to do, or even where I am. My confusion lasts only a second, and I’ve already hit the little button to stop the buzzing. Internally complaining as I roll slowly to the edge of the bed, I know it’s time to get moving and run a few miles while the rest of my family sleeps. 

Having previously written about my enjoyment of working out in the late hours of the evening, my current 5K-before-6:30am routine may come as a surprise. Last spring, as the days lengthened and the kids got older, bedtime for my elementary-aged kids moved farther into the evening. This resulted in many missed workouts as my non-kid-focused hours slipped through my fingers. With no other opportunities for dedicated workout time during my day, I eventually reached a point where I had to decide: fight my chronotype (wolf!) and move my workout to the morning before the kids were up, or reduce my time spent hanging out with them in the evenings to keep it at my preferred time. 

The right choice for me was to set my fitness watch alarm for 5:25am, chug a glass of GU Hydration, and hit the pavement by 5:50am. Seven months into this almost daily routine, I still often struggle to get my tired body out the door. Establishing a routine helped a lot: Doing the same thing in the same order each morning helps my body move before my brain can justify a reason to return to the cozy indent in the bed I just left. Pajamas off, workout clothes on, hydrate, hair up, go downstairs, grab a single earbud (for safety, I typically wear only one when running), phone on Audible, and go! By the time my brain fully, regretfully, acknowledges I’m up for the day, I’m already three blocks away from home and turning the corner, so I might as well keep going. 

When certain friends hear about my changed routine, their eyes glow with an early bird gleam, and they breathlessly ask, “Don’t you love working out early?” No, no, I don’t. I’m not a forever convert: I’ll return to my beloved evening workouts someday. For now, however, tickle fights, long book-time snuggles, and talks about my kids’ days far outweigh any unpleasantness rising-and-running early causes me.