I’m Becoming A Runner – Yeah, That’s Right

Okay, well, not quite. At least, not yet.

Today is the first day of my Couch-to-5K program. By the time you read this, I should have finished my first run. On Sunday, I set my alarm for 6 a.m. (just so I won’t be tempted to just keep on sleeping to my normal wake-up time of 6:30) and plan to be out the house and on the street by 6:10.

Why am I doing this? A couple reasons. I can’t seem to do anything exercise-wise lately. My mind has been preoccupied on the book and now summer classes have started. My workload doubled in the past two months and exercise got kicked to the curb.

But another additional reason is that I have no real form of stress relief. Cupcakes used to be my go-to comfort food, but as I move away from emotional eating, I realize I have nothing to replace it with. Consequently, I’m drooling and spending way too long in the bakery section every time I go to the store. It might be easier to pass up the cookies, cakes and donuts if I was spending time getting physically fit.

Getting in my morning run is also designed to get my days off to a better start. Right now, my routine is something like this. I work late every night – 2 a.m. or so – and then I crash in the bed. My husband gets up to go to work at 6 and I bury my face in the covers, trying to squeeze out a bit more sleep before the kids wake up. Never mind – they’re up. I drag myself out of bed, give them breakfast, change their clothes and try to eek out a bit more work before we officially start our day.

I’m hoping with the 6 a.m. run in the morning, that I will get back to the house and be wide-awake by the time they start calling for me. I want to start my days on purpose – to take control from the moment I wake up until the moment I surrender to sweet dreams. Wish me luck.