First, how about a Twainism:

There is that. Also, if you want whiny navel-gazing, read on…

This is a little vent ’bout something I’m frustrated with. It’s my fucking alarm clock.

(yeah, me and a billion other people, right)

Okay, here’s what happens. I’m running 4X a week right now. Finally, after most of the summer hitting the road once or twice a week. Now I much prefer to run in the mornings before getting ready for work – it gets it out of the way, it boosts my mood, it’s cooler, there’s less traffic, and the kids are still asleep, or at least they are supposed to be.

This is all well and good, but to get up and run at 5:00 AM requires an alarm clock, most mornings. And guess who is a light sleeper? My poor wife.

Yeah, she is pretty fuckin’ thrilled at my alarm going off at 4:51. And 5:00. And 5:09. and… Seriously, many times I do not recall at all that the alarm has gone off once or twice, and I finally wake up after hitting snooze a couple of times. Then I finally get up and get going. (wanna see her get pissed? Hit snooze four times and then announce that you aren’t running this morning, because of whatever. Fun, fun fun.)

Sometimes, I can wake myself up at 4:30 or so, and then I turn off the alarm before it goes off. I did this on Monday, in fact. This is, I think, the best thing for us, because then at least it isn’t my alarm going off that wakes up my wife (dog, cat, kids, etc.). To make this happen, though, I just about have to go to bed at 9:00, which seriously cuts into time to do other crap – watch movies (a favorite pastime of mine), do chores, read a book, whatever.

Should I just take my effin’ alarm clock and go sleep on the couch? That would probably still wake her up (“light” sleeper, really), and I don’t sleep so well on the couch. Should I run at night after the kids go to bed? Not a bad option, other than the traffic (drunk people or whatever), which isn’t really that bad, but there is just no comparison to 5:00 AM. And if I run at 10:00 at night, it’s still a little warm out (one of my big reasons for running early in the AM) and then after I can’t fall asleep, so maybe that would be a good time to watch the movies I love. Perhaps this is what I’ll do this winter, after it cools off. I’ll have to think about that.

I’ve tried setting an alarm on my watch (much quieter) but it’s really easy for me to just stuff it under a pillow and keep on sleepin’ on.

Finally, this rant is NOT anger at my wife or kids for waking up at my alarm clock going off. It’s frustration that I can’t wake up myself, or at least do it quieter. I don’t want my exercise routine to cost my loved ones any sleep or cause discomfort. I think it’s on my mind because this morning as I was leaving and I said I was sorry for waking her up, my wife said “it goes with the territory.” And ya know, she didn’t sign up for that. Love, honor, cherish, and let her sleep if she wants, I think that was all part of the deal, and I shouldn’t be waking her up just to go run around.