Why is it so hard to get out of bed?

My name is Iain Banks and I find it hard to get to the swimming pool in the morning.....there you go I said it!

I read a number of other triathlete's blogs and see the training programs for a number of pro's and many state how they get up at 4:30am to get to the pool for a 5:00am or 6:00am Masters Swim. Jeez, I have no idea how they do it and especially on those winter mornings where it is below freezing and the warmth of the bed is way too attractive. I guess that's why they are pro's and I'm not :-)

So from now on my resolution is to get to bed earlier and get to the pool more often for a session before work. It's not even as though I have to get up real early to get to the pool. I can easily rise at 6:15am and get to the pool for a 50 minute swim and then still get to work on time. I am fortunate to have the pool just 10minutes down the road and work is a mere 20 minutes from the gym (25 minutes if I stop into Dunkin Donuts!) It is just that I am a sucker for the warm bed during the winter and hate to rise when it is still dark out.

Summers are a different story and I have no trouble getting up early whether it be for a run, ride or swim.....during the summer the mornings are the best times to beat the heat and humidity of the Washington area. And besides, you always have the more immediate motivation of upcoming races to get you out of bed. When the nearest race is still a couple of months from now and the first triathlon of the season is still over three months away, it all seems like an eternity.

Rest assured though, all those other racers looking towards their "A" races and competing against me are out training and I need to be doing the same. January has been a very solid month for me in training terms (the best in the past three years) and now I need to push on and get that swimming build going for February. You heard it here first.....in the pool at least four times a week, five if the schedule allows.