All Aboard!

The last thing I wanted to do after waking up was climb aboard The Pol-R Express for a trip around town. Baby Pol woke up squawking at 3:45 a.m. and it took nearly 30 minutes to fall back to sleep. The week has been tiring, and there was some serious contemplation of just resetting the alarm and going back to sleep.

And then I climbed out of bed, put on my cycling clothes, filled a water bottle, and headed out while my wife and daughter slept in the recliner. Baby Pol likes to go right back to sleep after these early morning feedings. As the garage door opened, it was apparent that long sleeves had been a good choice.

A quick check of The Pol-R Express's mechanical systems (in light of what happened to Nancytoby on Buttercup) and we headed out from the station. It only took a few minutes for the "stay in bed" mentality to clear, and the cool morning air helped to wake me up. The clear skies, empty roads, and minimal breezes held promise of a good ride.

And it was a good ride. It took right at an hour to complete the 19 mile ride, making average speed easy to calculate. Toddler Pol was just waking up, and was there to help me get out of my cycling clothes, including putting the shoes away. He loves that my cycling shoes have velcro straps, though the ratcheted strap slows him down. After a bit of play, I got some breakfast ready for him and hit the shower.

These early morning training sessions can be challenging. It is tough to wake up after a late night caring for the children. But the time spent with the kids, both after training and later in the day, makes it all worth the effort. And like they say, if you do something for just a short period of time, it becomes habit. If you've been considering early morning training but feel you are "not a morning person," give it a try for a few weeks. You might just find that you ARE a morning person. Especially when you find your afternoons and evenings suddenly wide open.

Enjoy the weekend and good luck on all your races.