2 Weeks and it's Surprisingly (Maybe Deceptively) Easy!

     So for my first week of my new routine I decided to take it a little slow. First of all I didn't have those new running shoes I'd ordered until thursday so I kinda used it as an excuse not to run. Second I was trying to revamp my mornings and I thought maybe I'd do it in increments. So the first week I got up at 5:30 and just did some meditating and scripture study. I wanted to ease myself into the 5:00 a.m. lifestyle. 

    I was shocked to find that I didn't have a problem getting up half an hour earlier than I normally did. My mornings were a little more relaxed and I felt more awake by the time I got to work. So week two came along and I set a new alarm and I even ordered a new lamp that I have plugged into a timer that turns it on at 5:00 a.m. I did this for two reasons.

1. I can sleep through most noises but the second a light is turned on I'm awake. So all of the suggestions to put your alarm in a different room or on the other side of the room make me a little skeptical. I don't want to wake up everyone else and I need the alarm close enough for me to hear it or I'll just sleep through it. 

2. I looked into getting one of those sunrise alarm clocks but they're ridiculously expensive and they have large clock faces that display digital numbers. I can't sleep with any light in the room at all. It's the reason I got rid of my old digital alarm clock and started using my phone (and I use my phone because I can have it play a song and not that dreaded alarm noise.) My solution is a nice floor lamp and a plug in timer. Together they cost less than $50, it's a lot cheaper than most of the sunrise alarms I saw online.  Also this lamp has shelves where I can store my scriptures and journals. I'd been debating on getting another bedside table to put on the other side of my bed and then I found this lamp and it's awesome. 

    The second week of my new morning routine was also surprisingly easy. I'm experimenting with a few different morning meditations. I've got a few podcasts and a few different meditative writing exercises that I've tired. I liked the morning pages exercise and the Wake Me Up podcast has been good on the weekend but it's too long to do on the weekdays when I have a limited amount of time and a workout planned. I was able to do both this morning where it's a saturday and I didn't have to be to work by 7:00. Which was nice. It was a super slow morning with a guided meditation, then a run, and then morning pages and scripture study while I drank a post run smoothie. 

    As for workouts, it's been a slow start. I'm frustrated that I have to start at the beginning and I can't just jump into where I was before but I'm trying to be patient. At 230 lbs I'm definitely not in the shape I was in when I ran my first half marathon and this pandemic has not helped. I manage just a little over a mile at a slow walk/run pace on tuesdays, thursdays, and saturdays and then I have a core strengthening workout I do on mondays, wednesdays, and fridays. It's not much and after I build it up a little more I'll start adding in different weight lifting exercises and leg days. 

    Ugh, I'm so boring. Sorry to anyone who decides to read this. I guess I can say it's just for me and my need to record this fitness/self love journey. It's gonna get tough in the next couple weeks as I slowly increase the intensity of my workouts. Maybe then I'll get a little more interesting.