5 to 5

5 to 5, no i don’t mean 9 to 5. i’m talking about 4:55 am. that’s what time my alarm went off for the remaining workdays (thursday & friday) last week & 5 to 5 will continue to be the time my alarm sounds through the remainder of this ironman training season. one of the coaches at t3, maurice, taught me the 5 to 5 saying. 4:55 am just sounds too early to be waking up where as 5 to 5 doesn’t – it’s a mental thing.

so what kind of training am i waking up for? thursday morning was a 3000+ meter pool workout & friday morning was a 10 mile run. knowing that i’ve got to get these workouts in to stay on track, i am safer working out first thing in the morning because work & other things can’t get in the way. of course, to meet my training goals i’m sort of dependent on working out two times a day so this approach won’t really mean much – it will ensure i get at least one of the two workouts in a day that i need. just during this first week of training i have worked out twice on monday, tuesday, wednesday, & thursday. surprisingly this weekend’s workouts have been more relaxing & i’ve been able to sleep in a bit.

i’ve noticed that there are some really cool things about getting up early (especially in austin). like seeing the city from south 360 in the morning, seeing the steam come up off the lake, watching the rhythm of the sculling teams on the water, seeing bikers on the road with their lights beaming, & the sunset from almost any angle. not to mention that you get to hear most NPR stories twice because they recycle the 5am stories around 7am so if you the news didn’t sink in the first time you’ll have a second shot at it. oh & the last really cool thing is coming home & enjoying a cup of coffee after you’ve been out working out in the cold.