5:00am???

                <It doesn’t matter how many times I do it, when the alarm goes off at 5am my first thought is, just shut it off and roll back over!   It’s the same process over and over…

 I don’t actually shut off the alarm because I’ve conditioned myself over the years to set three different alarms so I won’t go through the trouble of shutting them all off.   But as I plant my feet on the hardwood floor, I’ve already vocalized to myself 15 excuses (I didn’t get enough sleep, I forgot to lay out my running shorts, my big toe feels like it’s starting to hurt, this afternoon will have better weather and so on)  why I shouldn’t exercise this am and why I should definitely get back under my cozy comforter.>

Fast forward a couple of hours  as I stand with sweat dripping from my forehead, arms extended to the sky in a slow deep stretch, my gaze falls upon the sun just peaking over the top of a far off building and I remember just why I love 5:00am workouts.   That’s exactly what I did this morning and it felt great!

It is the most peaceful, stress-free, quiet, beautiful, just –for-me part of the day and it is the essential component to my mental, emotional and physical health.   Many of the “worlds” problems have been solved in the solitude of my mind during a run at 5am. 

Being pregnant, I love the 5am workouts even more.  People often tell me that they were so sick or tired during their pregnancies they couldn’t workout at all or they were so happy to find out they were pregnant so they could “take a break” from working out.  I just don’t get that.  Again, I realize everyone is different, so by no means am I saying you should do what I do!  But, this has worked for me. 

For the past three months the sight and smell of food, flowers, perfume, my house, and pretty much anything I came into contact with, has sent me into violent dry heaves and vomiting.   Also, the extreme “first trimester fatigue” made me want to sleep anywhere at any time, regardless of how much sleep I had actually gotten the night before.

I was on a run a few weeks ago and I came across yet another sight that makes me love early morning workouts.  But, it didn’t really unfold as it usually does. The sun had just come up and because of some recent rain the leaves on the an approaching lilac bush almost seemed to glow.  It was beautiful!  But, as my legs carried me forward so I could see the tree up close,   I was instantaneously brought to my knees with projectile vomiting because the smell of lilac’s turned my already nauseous stomach over a couple more times.  Most people would say, why the heck would you keep running (while actually I walked for a while), but why would you keep on with the workout? 

For the simple reason, that after my morning workout was complete was the only part of the day where I could actually feel normal.  More importantly it was the only time of the day that food sounded good, tasted good and I could actually keep it down.  And it wasn’t just a fluke time or two.  Every time I could muster up the energy to do an early morning workout, I always felt fantastic afterwards and that was the same for my previous two pregnancies as well.  Now, that good morning feeling was usually gone come 9 or 10:00am.  But, when you spend months feeling nauseous, you’ll take any amount of time you can get to feel normal.   I tried everything to cure morning sickness; prego pops, saltines, dry toast, mint gum, cinnamon gum, ginger of any form, and pressure bands just to name a few.  But what worked for me was what I already loved to do, exercise!  No one ever suggested that for morning sickness???

If you do decide you’re going to give exercise a try to help control horrendous morning sickness you have to take a few extra precautions.  I was always conscious of listening to my body!  I didn’t push it on days when I felt extra tired, but I did keep moving.  Staying hydrated is extremely important and not just with water.  I always made sure to monitor my fluid intake between water and something, like Gatorade, with electrolyte replacements (even more important if you’re actually vomiting, as opposed to just being nauseous).  Also, have the fluids readily available during your workout and don’t get over-heated!   That’s just another plus for the 5am work out, the day hasn’t had a chance to heat up yet, so you can work out harder without getting over heated.   5am comes way to early, but trust me you’ll feel it  for the rest of day!