Sarah s Blog

What kind of a title is THAT ? Well, it’s a few words that popped into my head uninvited as I was taking a very cool shower this morning. I really felt good but let me start at the beginning here.

I woke up at just after 3 a.m., wide awake. By 4:45 I was getting seriously hungry, but it was too early to start cooking, come on ! OK, at 5:15 I couldn’t take any more of this idleness, and just got into a pair of jeans and the Cardio Strides, and went for an earlier walk than usual. Longer too, and steeper ! I climbed a hill where I could almost have put my hands on the ground in front of me without bending over, I kid you not ! Panting at the top, but not for long and I even took a short cut up another similar hill a little later (not much shorter than the flatter and longer route by the way). 41ºF, no cars at all this morning (too early I guess), and when I got back to the house, it felt like a sauna in comparison.

Sure I’d rather sleep ! Even the cat blinks at me when I get up before 6 a.m. I’ve been doing it for a week now though, and I don’t plan on stopping for a while. I’ve got a plan, a goal, and I’m sticking to it. The family thinks I’m ready for the asylum, but basically I think they’re envious. No way are they motivated enough to join me, and should they try they’d be so far behind me we’d all be walking alone.

It’s nice though, being out early. Not before the birds, but with them. I’m trying to catch a glimpse of them in the trees, to see which type of bird has which kind of song - not easy. There are no leaves on the trees yet, so I can see the birds at least.

This morning was nice. I was just walking along as usual, and all of a sudden I caught a glimps of something moving out of the corner of my eye. 3 deer ! Right in the middle of the houses and gardens, in a vacant lot, there was the mother and two yearlings. Cute. I didn’t slow my pace though, but kept my eyes on them (and they were watching me) as I walked. Nice

I know full well I’ll have a problem the day I wake up and it’s pouring down with rain. I’ll deffinitely not want to get out and walk. Not that I mind the rain so much, and I’d save time getting a shower as I walk (joke), but it’ll be cold. Norway, this time of year, is not really the warmest place to start with, and when it rains there’s normally a wind blowing as well. All I can do is hope that my motivation factor is strong enough to get me out from under the warm covers and out. Keep you posted on that.

One week of waking early to walk is not enough to draw any conclusions, no feedback yet as I only measure on Saturdays, but I feel better. Tired earlier in the evenings, but not much, and I only get up an hour earlier than before anyway. That hour I was usually awake and just lying there waiting for the alarm to go off. What a waste of time really. It’s crazy, the things I get to do by getting up earlier - like two loads of washing/ drying before 8 a.m., reading up on different things related to nutrition and workouts etc., just relaxing even - and the fresh air can’t possibly hurt. There are a few cars out even that early, but not as bad as it gets later on.

I plan to keep this up at least until October, when it’ll get colder again. At that point in time I’ll have to evaluate and decide whether to keep walking outside, or to go to the gym for an hour and walk there instead. But that’s months away, and I want to enjoy summer first.