Today could definitely have got off to a much better start!
Some people like lie-ins and would sleep for as long as possible, as often as they can. I don't mind a planned lie-in for an extra hour or so, every now and again on a weekend / holiday, but generally I like to be up pretty early, every day and especially when there's a busy day at work ahead. Unfortunately that didn't happen today, as the extension lead that my phone charger was plugged into by my bed had somehow become unplugged, so my phone (which was fairly low on battery after last night's run), ran out of battery completely overnight.
My phone is my alarm clock, and I didn't set my backup alarm clock (the iPad) for once either, so this morning instead of at least one, usually 2 alarms going off to wake me up, no alarms went off and I slept in not by a bit, but 20 or 30 mins, but by nearly 3 hours!!!
I got up, dressed, etc. quicker than ever before and somehow got to work 31 minutes after I woke up (the drive itself often takes 30 mins), just 3 minutes before the meeting with my boss that was supposed to be happening at 10:00am!
It turned out that meeting was cancelled, but by then my working day was already pretty scuppered, not least because extra sleep doesn't have the positive effect on me that it seems to on many other people, it makes me feel way, way worse. In fact, I didn't feel properly awake until about 4pm, and the working day was definitely way less productive than it should have been.
I also had to cancel my game of squash at lunchtime in an attempt to catch up, which didn't really work that well as I was still half asleep at that point. Fortunately I did get a bit done before then end of the working day, so it didn't end up being a complete write off, but I did leave vowing not to have another unintentional lie-in for as long as possible!
The end of the day has been much better than the start - firstly with a fun run with Andy Next Door and for the first time, Chris, who I normally play squash with, but had to let down today. We headed down into the back of Arnold, through the "Hubbocks" nature reserve, and then back through the centre of Arnold, up through the park and home. It was quite a hilly run, which made it a challenge for Chris, who usually runs along the river, but he made it without major problems, as did Andy, who is still having some issues with his new running shoes.
In total, the run was only just under 5 miles, but it was definitely one of the more hilly ways to run, and we stopped a couple of times to chat, so the overall pace wasn't as slow as it looked from the RunKeeper trace. I think Chris enjoyed himself and hope he'll come with us again - adding another new member of our unofficial running club would be great.
When I got home tonight I did my "#Plankaday" challenge much later than usual, but clearly it was a good time of the day to do it, as I didn't just beat my previous record, I smashed it, with a new time of 5 minutes 21 seconds - it was really tough, but I enjoyed it, and I think reading Men's Running while doing it helped.
Then to round off the evening off exercise-wise, I did 24 pressups and situps - though they were tougher than usual, following on just after the marathon plank...
The other highlight of the evening has been hearing about my other half, Sarah's first session at her local running club. She had a great time and is planning to become a regular member - she ran 4 hilly miles tonight and felt very comfortable in the group, which for someone who just a few weeks ago was "never going to be a runner" is really fantastic progress.
So, after the pretty rough start to the day, the end has be much, much better and I'm definitely planning to get up on time in the morning to make sure that all the day is better tomorrow!
On that note, I'd better get my alarms (both of them) set, and hit the sack!
2012 summary to date:
Running: 152.79 miles
Walking: 21.04 miles
Cycling: 84.12 miles
Swimming: 0 miles
Total: 257.95 miles
Running streak: 63 days (started 23/11/2011)
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