Forums >Health and Nutrition>Waking up early
Trust Me, Im an Engineer
How do you guys/gals (of which who do this) wake up early enough to run at the beginning of the day? I always do better in everything in life if I run before I do anything that day, but waking up before 8 AM is proving to be very difficult and getting out and about is even harder, tips?
Not all those who wander are lost - JRR Tolkien
I wish I had a better tip, but my tip is "get old". Somewhere along the way, I lost the ability to sleep past 7a. Pretty much ever. And I don't have trouble getting up at 5 or 6 like I did when I was younger.
And, not because I need to pee.
Well. Not JUST because I need to pee.
Heh.
Strict WTF adherent
I set my alarm for 5:20, hit snooze once or twice then get up. I am outside running by around 5:45 or 5:50 at the latest. The keys to making this work for me:
Once you start doing it, you just get in the habit and it seems natural. I don't ask myself whether I feel like getting up early to run; I just do it because that's what I always do. (It was harder when I was only running 3-4 times a week and I didn't get up early the other days.)
Feeling the growl again
Heh. I'm still chuckling at the waking up at 8am or later part. Even if it weren't for the kids, I'm already sitting at my desk by 8am.
I'm still trying to get in a rhythm of getting up at 5 to run. It's not going so well. If it were 6 it would be a LOT easier.
Programming the coffeemaker and putting the alarm clock where I can't reach it while in bed are two key steps.
"If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does. There's your pep talk for today. Go Run." -- Slo_Hand
I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills
Interval Junkie --Nobby
That's about the only way it works if you're a night-owl like I am.
2021 Goals: 50mpw 'cause there's nothing else to do
Man these are all great tips!!
The hardest thing for me is definitely getting enough sleep, I'm going to try and start getting used to waking up at 6 and see how that goes. Would you recommend just going straight to one time, or gradually waking up earlier? I used to wake up at 4 to get to work at 5 when I worked construction, but that was a while ago and now I don't have to be up until 7 or 8 so I think that's the issue.
Man these are all great tips!! The hardest thing for me is definitely getting enough sleep, I'm going to try and start getting used to waking up at 6 and see how that goes. Would you recommend just going straight to one time, or gradually waking up earlier? I used to wake up at 4 to get to work at 5 when I worked construction, but that was a while ago and now I don't have to be up until 7 or 8 so I think that's the issue.
Rip off the bandaid. Just do it.
Go to bed so you have 8.5-9hrs of sleep before your wake-up time.
Holy crap. Seriously?
If I get six hours I'm seriously happy. Like one cup of coffee instead of a whole pot kinda happy.
Connoisseur of Cookies
Want to wake up earlier? Go to bed earlier. Not kidding. True story. No, it's not easy to do. But what things worth doing are easy?
It takes 30 days or so to get established in a new sleep routine. It only takes one night to blow it. So when you start going to bed earlier (with the intent on getting up earlier) you have to do it every single day. This includes holidays, weekends, days off or whatever.
Start a getting ready for bed routine. Turn off the TV, radio, computer early in the evening. Certainly no TV, computer, or reading in bed. Being in bed is for sleep (or sex... but we'll focus on sleep for this).
Ideally, 7.5-9 hours of sleep a night is what most people should get or would get normally if left to their own devices. Life today doesn't always allow that to happen. Do your best. Be consistent. Don't get frustrated.
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"C" is for cookie. That's good enough for me.
A Saucy Wench
I've never found "going to bed early" as the way to get up early. Going to bed early just makes me lie there sleepless. Which actually keeps me up later.
Get up early. Then you will start to go to bed earlier.
Have everything laid out, put the alarm across the room so you have to get up to shut the fucking thing off and go. It will suck for about 3 weeks, then you will get used to it.
Plan an earlier bed time, but dont force it until you actually have gotten up earlier once or twice.
Oh...and dont use a late night as an excuse to sleep in...especially within the first month. Suck it up. Like tonight I can't sleep. I'm still getting up at 5.
And I am with spaniel, just rip the bandaid off and start getting up at 6, dragging it out with gradual shifts just drags it out. Be prepared for your runs to be sluggish for awhile. Especially if you have been used to running later in the day after doing other things. Your body will take longer to warm up.
I have become Death, the destroyer of electronic gadgets
"When I got too tired to run anymore I just pretended I wasnt tired and kept running anyway" - dd, age 7
Best Present Ever
Holy crap. Seriously? If I get six hours I'm seriously happy. Like one cup of coffee instead of a whole pot kinda happy.
That would depend on how much recovery time your body needs. I used to sleep 6 until I started running 70mpw. Then I found 6 just wasn't enough to recover from hard workouts.
But I'd say that if you are getting 6, feeling recovered, and have no trouble waking at the early time, then you're doing fine. If all those are not true then go for more sleep to solve the problem . . . rather than, say a louder alarm-clock.