Why I love training before everyone else has woken up.
As a student-athlete for the last few years, rowing training and working (pre-crew class obviously Tooler would not dream of paying us!!!) I have had my share of 5am starts. Weights in college every morning would start at 7am on the dot and training on the water would often start around 6am (when we did not have weights sessions) to allow enough time for rowing, showering, eating and the very heavy cycle to college for a 9am. When I was 19 staring down the barrel of this rather unforgiving schedule I would wake up cursing myself for committing to this dreaded sport. Over time though a habit developed. The initial pain of the alarm was very quickly replaced by the rush of endorphins after a session, a feeling of accomplishment that I know my friends would not possibly feel anytime before midday let alone mid-morning. I was set up knowing that the hardest part of my day was over. I had pushed myself harder than I was going to be pushed by the rest of my day and I knew that if I did end up being overrun with work, college or life I had made use of the time that no one else had a claim over to get what I needed done for the day. Setting the habit of getting up early and working out is a hard one to set I know but for me it is my fail safe. I know that no matter what happens in the rest of my day I have already trained, any other training I do in the day is a massive bonus. If I ever doubted the benefits of getting up early and getting a session done all I would have needed to do is watch the change in peoples demeanours between the start of a crewclass session and the end (once they get their breath back of course 😉). Despite the physically demanding work they have just done crewclassers leave happier and walking taller than when they arrived whether they know it or not, and when paired with a sunrise swim in Dun Laoghaire in the RSGYC it is hard to make an argument against getting up early and starting the day right. If you are someone who has only done the evening sessions why not challenge yourselves? Take advantage of the early morning sun while we have it and get a session in before everyone else has woken up? Can not wait to see you all bright and early this week!
