Day 2: A Nap is Kryptonite

Well, I am getting up at 4:30am but I am slipping into another bad habit.

After my workout, I am laying down to sleep for another 30-40 minutes. This is defeating my purpose of getting up and getting going. 

I get a great start...but then I stall out.

This is not supposed to be part of the plan.

Today was speedwork at the track with a running buddy of mine at 5am.  It seemed to be a struggle to run this morning.  I am not sure if it is fatigue related.  I wanted to spin tonight...but I am thinking sleep should be a higher priority tonight.  I do not want to take these mini naps and I do not want to rely on the powers of coffee every single morning.

In my eyes, becoming a morning person means:

• I will get to work earlier and arriving earlier allows me to come home earlier.
• I can prepare healthier meals to take with me to work.  If I stop eating out so much, I can support my race habit. (This is very important, you know?)
• I would like to be more organized.  I want to grab things and go instead of frantically looking around the house or forgetting something at home.  Not being rushed in the morning will assist in this.
• And most importantly, I need to carve out time to read, to paint and to focus on my spiritual life. I miss these joys in my life, and lately they have all taken a back burner.  I want to incorporate them back into my daily routine.
• I also want to reach my goal of completing a half Ironman...so workouts must be a priority.

If I can carve out just 30 minutes a day of not sleeping in...that is an extra 182.5 waking hours in a year.  This would be equivalent to adding an additional whole month of full time work (40 hours per week) to my year, but instead of working for an employer, it will be dedicated to doing something I really want to do.

Double these benefits if you save 60 minutes a day, and triple it if you save 90 minutes a day. At the moment, I am on track to save about 90 minutes/day. That’s like getting a free bonus year every decade. And what really attracts me is that I will be able to use this time to do things that I previously didn’t have the time and energy to do. I see it as key to being a success in life.  This is why it is important to me to at least try it.

Therefore, I defeat the entire purpose by taking a nap after my workout. 

At that rate, it will not get any easier.

A new habit will develop and I will still be right where I started.

The cat nap will not be my Kryptonite.