Cramming workout time into my routine

I got up 10 minutes earlier than normal this morning so I could get in a 5000 m rowing session. I usually get up and shower before I wake up my kids, but I just got dressed and headed downstairs today. I was on the rowing machine 10 minutes after my alarm went off. That's pretty good for me. It sometimes takes me 30 minutes to get out the door for a morning run. I wasn't feeling superb during the rowing, but I stuck with it and got in the full distance. I felt better at the end than I had in the first 1000 m or so. The shift in how I started my day didn't cause any issues with my parental duties. I woke my kids up after I finished rowing and managed to get them to their daycare (schools are still closed from Saturday's snow) on time. I even dragged myself into work 30 minute earlier than normal for a meeting with my boss. This bodes well for incorporating an additional workout into my weekly routine. An extra 50 or so 5000 m rowing sessions will net me an extra 250,000 m over the course of the year (I will miss weeks that I'm on vacation or doing other fun family stuff). 

The workout fit in well with the must get done parts of my day, but my reading time did get squeezed a bit. Reading volume is really nothing more than a reflection of time spent reading. I lost about 10 pages of reading this morning. It's more important that I take care of my body than grab a few more pages of reading. It's not as much about the progress I'm making in my book of the moment as it's about breaking a habit. I've been reading in the morning after my kids are on their way to school (or at their daycare in the summer) for a couple of years. Breaking that habit is the real challenge. I'm focused on the reading aspect of it because I have this compulsion to finish books (and spending more time reading gets me to the end of a book faster), but the challenge is really about modifying the way I start my day. 

It's critical that I maintain my current habits while establishing some new ones. I went to the gym today at lunch after almost talking myself out of it this morning. My desire to lift was low, but it was hard to justify not going when I realized that I would just go out for lunch if I skipped the gym. Spending money and skipping a workout is hard to justify when I have a lunch ready to eat in my car. The no book buying rule for this year also plays a role in maintaining my lunch time trips to the gym. Visiting a book store is my preferred not going to the gym at lunch activity. I have no reason to visit a book store if I'm not buying anything. I almost talked myself into going so I could shop for books to get on Audible, but that became a non-issue when I convinced myself to go lift at lunch. 

I'm not totally immune to temptations and cravings. I did hit Taco Bell to try one of the double stack tacos after my workout. After avoiding beer all weekend, pushing myself to the gym, and settling into no book shopping (which includes losing the Daily Deal email, a fun little part of my morning for the last couple of years), I felt alright letting my willpower recovery for a moment. The fact that I will allow myself to eat all kinds of not so healthy food next week also played a role. Why push so hard to resist my taco urging today when I'm going to be eating all I care to eat breakfast buffets and countless desserts and small treats while walking around Disney next week? So I tried the taco. It was very good. I enjoyed it tremendously.