I’m a certified night owl. I’ve always been able to stay up into the wee hours and function on minimal sleep, but as of late, I’ve fallen into a pattern of working really late at night when there are no email/G-chat/social media/text distractions and hitting the sack around 2-3 a.m. (or later, ugh). I’ll still make it to Flywheel classes at 9:30 a.m., but NO EARLIER. The thought of a 6 or 7 a.m. sweat sesh gives me anxiety.
Until today.
A Flywheel-obsessed (girl)friend of a friend was in town from Charlotte, reached out to me about Atlanta’s Flywheel, and I said I’d love to join her for a class. She chose the 7 a.m. class, and I was like, “Oh. Thanks, girl.” But Cara was teaching and I figured it was about time to check “crack of dawn workout” off the ol’ bucket list, so I signed up (gulp).
My alarm went off at 5:50 a.m. (#FML), I reluctantly rolled out of bed, stumbled around getting my clothes on (no really, I actually tripped over my dog), made a cup of coffee with my eyes half-closed, and drove across town in the pitch-black, rainy morning. Although, I did make record time because there were about six cars on the road in the entire city.
I got there (still in the dark and still half-asleep) and Cara had to drag my ass in.
But once I got on the bike and the lights went down while the music went up, I was able to totally get in the zone and “win” the class.
Who…would have thought?
It felt amazing to be done with an intense workout by 7:45 in the morning. And of course you know what that means–the “afterburn” effect of interval cardio, where your body burns calories quicker for the rest of the day. SCORE.
I’m not saying I plan on making this an everyday thing, but I truly did enjoy it and it’s made my Monday much more productive than usual (Coincidence? I think not). If you can barely stomach the thought of an early a.m. workout, just try it ONCE. Have the coffee pot ready for brewing, make sure your phone/alarm clock is across the room so you have to get out of bed, and if you can, plan on meeting someone so you’re accountable.
You might just surprise yourself…
LYLAS,
Ashley