Wednesday, December 17, 2008

winter (not) waking up

ugh.

seems like every time the temperature heads south i suddenly find it virtually impossible to get out of bed in the morning. and it's not by choice--i'm not even hearing my morning alarm. if i actually could hear it, i'd be up and getting started. but right now, it's like i'm turning into mr. morning hibernator.

here in LA, there's been a cold snap that's taken night temperatures down into the 30s (Fahrenheit). doesn't sound like much to most of you in the Northern Hemisphere, but keep in mind this is Southern California, where we were wearing shorts and t-shirts well into November. this morning there was actually a sprinkle of snow in Pasadena, which i've never seen in my 15+ years of living in this city.

as a result, i've been curling under my blankets and getting comfortably warm every night. which is maybe the problem...getting comfortably warm makes it that much harder to face the shock of morning chill. especially considering that i've been avoiding using the apartment heating system (just trying to save some money).

thing is, i've got workouts to do. and i had some big ones planned this week. right now, it's been 3 straight days of sleeping through the morning alarm (didn't even hear it), and missing the morning workouts. and i can't make them up in the afternoon (traffic, grading, traffic, grading, traffic, grading, especially since it's the end of the semester/quarter and EVERYTHING is due NOW).

i'm starting to get that red alarm going off in my head--you know, that red alarm of paranoia and anxiety over losing conditioning and succumbing to laziness.

i don't have any races planned (off-season, dude). but still, i just can't stand the thought of getting out of shape. and i desperately want to avoid becoming anything resembling that dreaded image in my mind of a fat, slovenly, disgusting blubbery turd. i just need to get off my fat ass and EXERCISE.

i guess this is part of what they mean when they say sports is really about lifestyle--an active one. after awhile, it's not by choice, but really something obsessive-compulsive. it certainly seems that way to me.

all i know is:

i.

have.

got.

to.

wake.

up.

2 comments:

Bob Almighty said...

I think it could be the end of the semester more than the temperature. Granted it has been in the teens in the mornigs up here in the Northeast late night of writing papers have taken their toll on me. But Winter break is finally here.

Sladed said...

The temperature does have something to do with it. Until recently we've had a very mild October and November here in the southland.
Of course it would also help if you had races planned. It was 40 this morning when I started a 3 hour ride. Not accustomed and I thought I was gonna die!