Schedule Change

I have been setting my alarm for 5am to run.

It's always been a challenge figuring out when to fit in my run.

I've tried many things in the past. Mostly I did one of two things depending on the day's schedule. I rushed home after dropping the kids off at school, getting on the treadmill, and running really fast, then rushing through my shower and showing up, out of breath, to pick up the younger two.

Or, I turned on the TV, handed the kids their DS's, and barricaded the room with baby gates before getting on the treadmill, turning every so often to shout "give that back to your brother!" and "No jumping on your brother's head!"

It was not fun. I felt that I was giving up all of my alone time to running (I was) and I had to cancel any time I had anything else to do, like food shopping, or a doctor's appointment. And when the kids were with me I often ended early and angry.

So last month I made a choice. I would try to run before the boys woke in the morning.

The boys often wake up before 6am. I don't know why. I have tried to discourage it. But even after late nights they wake before first light.

But 5am is the earliest I will get up. No earlier. I bought an alarm clock. I lay out the boys clothing the night before. And my clothing. And my workout clothes. I pack the boys backpacks and get everything ready to go.

And for the most part, it works.

I ran into a few glitches. The boys sometimes wander into the basement in the middle of my run, and then I have to stop and figure out what to do (I usually send them back to bed, or tell them to go up and read books quietly.) A few times they will be awake when my alarm goes off. Once I even heard Andy say "What was that noise?" when I turned it off.

But for the most part, I am happy with this arrangement. I gives me a couple of extra hours on some days, or lets me work out on days I wouldn't otherwise have time.

Yes, I get tired.

Which is why I have started sleeping again at naptime.