May 2014

[El Gordo]

I've always wanted to be an early bird. But when push-comes-to-shove I can never force myself out of bed before 7:30 unless there's a pressing reason. Time to have another go perhaps; it sounds like a great time to be out of the house. I would need a mid-morning snooze though.

Maybe not. In my plodding days, the rare pre-work run might deposit me back home feeling like Nick Clegg looked after the Euros. But a bite to eat, a hot shower and some fresh clothes would transform me into some insatiable work monster, eyes bulging and raring to go. Meetings were a revelation. I actually became interested in what other people had to say, and never lost concentration. It must have been even more annoying than usual for colleagues, though for reasons opposite from the usual.

But all that said, yep, it's hard to get out there, especially in the cooler months. You'll have heard this tip before, I'm sure, but the best advice is to have everything ready to go. Kit, shoes, technology (if used), audio preloaded, route decided. The faintest excuse for a delay, the most trivial bit of decision making, even hesitating over which socks to wear, would be enough of an excuse for me to bale out. I had to get out the door as quickly as possible, without thinking. Up and out. That's it.

I'll say this -- that even though the pre-run period might be filled with dread, the post-run buzz was better than anything later in the day.