My goal all last winter was to keep running rather than fall into the pseudo-hibernation routine I’ve had in previous years. Because I had a goal and a training plan for the marathon I was motivated to get up and get going. Only a few mornings of extreme temperatures or winter storms kept me in bed, but otherwise I was out running in the dark and the cold and loving it. There is something about getting up early and starting the day with a work-out that makes me feel as though I’ve started the day on the right foot. By the time I start working, it’s rewarding to think about what I’ve already accomplished in the morning simply because I went for a run or to the gym.

In a perfectly balanced world I would get up at 5:30a.m. and get in a run or a spin class or a strength session and go on with my day, eating three perfectly balanced and healthy meals, and tuck myself into bed around 10p.m. only to start over the next day. For whatever reason, I have utterly lost that balance and those routines. Do you know that feeling? Where all of a sudden life takes over without you even knowing it and all the time you spend trying to catch up actually makes you fall farther behind? Or, at least it feels that way. Continue reading →