TheBanyanTree: By Dawn's Early Light

[Margaret R. Kramer]

I work from 6 am to 2:30 pm.  I thought this was the perfect schedule.  I
got to work early before the rush hour began.  I’m a morning person, so I
wanted to maximize my mental effectiveness by taking advantage of the quiet
hours at work before everyone comes tromping in.

Afternoon rush hour traffic was just getting started when I left work at
2:30 pm.  Every once in a while, there was a back up because of an accident
or because it was Friday or because it was the afternoon before a major
holiday, but most days, I’d sail right to the club.

I did my work out after work.  I’d have my gym bag in the car, so I had no
reason to stop off at home and get sidetracked and not go to the gym.  I
went from work directly to the gym and got there before all the other “after
work” people started heading in with their own gym bags.

When I finally got home, it was time to make dinner, do a few household
chores, take care of the dogs, and check email.  By the time I finally got
to sit down and relax watching TV or reading, it was almost time to hit the
sack.

Where did my evenings go?  I thought sacrificing my free time after work was
for the good, because at least I had a regular work out schedule I could
stick to.

About a month ago, we were informed we were actually going to learn
something new at work and a trainer was coming in from Baltimore to train us
for two weeks.  Our training schedule would be from 8 am to 4 pm.  Hmmmmmm .
. .  That meant I would have to make major adjustments in my schedule to
survive training.

I decided to move my work out time to the morning hours and get to work a
little later.  I wasn’t sure if I could get up at 3 am, but I was going to
try it.

My alarm goes off at 3 am.  I get up.  Because I’m a morning person, I
usually don’t have any trouble waking up.  If I get at least six hours of
sleep a night, I’m usually good to go.  I let the dogs out, feed them, and
while they’re eating, I eat my own breakfast.  I brush my teeth.  I pack my
gym bag with my work clothes and put on my gym clothes.  I get to the club
by 4:15 am.

The parking lot is almost empty.  I have no trouble finding a spot by the
door.  The club is very quiet when I walk in.  I only hear a faint whir of
the few treadmills being used.  I grab my towels and head to the locker room
where I have my pick of lockers.

The atmosphere on the gym floor is so mellow.  The few people who are there
aren’t rushing about focusing only on their routine.  They’re actually
smiling and murmuring, “Hello,” as I head to a treadmill to warm up.  It
feels like the gym does to me on Sundays when I go in or on Friday evenings,
when exercising is only important to the dedicated ones and the casual
exercisers skip working out to have an earlier start on the weekend.

After warming up, I do my stretches and then head to weight machines if it’s
my weight lifting day and then to a cardio machine.  I usually do 45 minutes
of lifting and 45 minutes of cardio followed by some ab work and more
stretching.

I notice around 5 am, more people are drifting in, and by the time I’m done
with my work out, the gym floor is full of people waking up by sweating.

I’m someone who sweats just standing around, so I’m really dripping as I
strip off my sweaty clothes and take a hot, hot shower.  I dry off, put on
my work clothes, and head to the car.  It’s 6:15 am.

Driving to work isn’t a big deal.  There are no early morning pile ups and I
zoom along towards the job I hate.

I feel great throughout the day.  I don’t get tired.  I don’t get hungry at
weird times.  I feel relaxed, no matter what stupid things are going on.

I leave work at 4 pm.  I feel pretty darn good, because I can go straight
home and not have to work out.  Traffic is nightmare, however, because they’
ve closed two lanes on a major freeway to paint bridges of all things.  Who
cares if the bridges rust?  I just want to get home.  I spend over an hour
sitting on a river-like parking lot, creeping and crawling ever so closer to
my little house in St. Paul.

I get home at 5 pm, which is earlier than I would have if I worked out after
work.  The whole night is before me as I get dinner going.  My energy level
is still high and I usually have to force myself to go to bed by 9:30 pm.

Since my major schedule change went so well, I think I’m going to keep it.
I’ll work out early in the morning and then go to work.  I’ve been getting
there by 6:45 am, so I can leave at 3:15 pm.  With the bridge painting and
all, I’ll anticipate getting home by 4:15 pm which still leaves plenty of
time to indulge myself in my many ongoing projects, plus cook a good dinner.
And I’ll have the satisfaction that I’m also continuing to exercise
regularly.

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at earthlink.net

http://www.polarispublications.com
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A birthday is just the first day of another 365-day journey around the sun.
Enjoy the trip.

~Author Unknown