Last weekend we had our DASH Half marathon / half marathon relay race around Lake Kampeska. It was a gorgeous day for a race and many good memories were made. 

One thing that keeps popping back into my head, however, was a comment a lady made while she was watching runners cross the finish line. I was announcing names as runners finished, so she and another lady were standing close to our table. I couldn’t hear their entire conversation, but I did hear the one say: “whoever wakes up at 4:30 to work out is f*cking stupid and needs to get their life in order.” 

I bit my tongue and kind of laughed to myself because I’m one of those stupid people who wakes up 4:30 – multiple times a week even – to get a workout in. I think MY life is in pretty good order! 

If working out is something you find important, unfortunately sometimes that means waking up before the sun and getting it done. My life is pretty busy, and I imagine people who have kids and a million other obligations are even busier yet. Sometimes those hours before the rest of the house is awake is the only time to get it done. 

I’ve said it a million times before – but it goes back to all these people who claim they just don’t have time to work out. And I get it, sometimes there are days where you truly can’t fit it in. But I strongly believe that a majority of the time, you DO have the time. 

If you are serious about wanting to get healthier and fitting extra workouts into your routine, it’s not something you do only when you have nothing else to do – it’ll never happen that way. Working out takes commitment, and sometimes you have to adjust your daily routine to fit it in. 

I’m not going to lie, waking up at 4:30 isn’t always very fun, and there are plenty of days where my alarm goes off and I definitely don’t want to get up and work out. It takes some getting used to, getting up that early. But now that I’ve been doing it for well over a year, I find it a lot easier to get myself up and go. 

It’s kind of like that first few seconds after you jump into the pool for swim practice. You know it’s going to suck, but it’s so brief and once you’re going, it’s totally fine. Once I’m out of bed and moving, there’s no going back! And there has never been a single time where I haven’t finished my workout and immediately feel relieved that it’s done and I don’t have to worry about it later in the day. 

So, in response to that lady’s comment: yes, maybe I am stupid. But I’m also happy, healthy, and in the best shape of my life. I want to be around for a long time, and I plan on grinding until I physically can’t anymore. And if that makes me stupid, then so be it! 

Hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day weekend and spends some quality time with friends and family! 

Until next time! 🙂 

Megan Reiffenberger