Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Alarm clocks and Race photos, Round 1

I really don't have a lot to say right now. I had to stay late at work last night finishing something up which made me angry because I really wanted to get to the track since I overslept YESTERDAY morning (I was going to get up SUPER early and finish taxes but then thought 'oh I'll sleep more and just get up for the track workout and do my taxes at lunch'...but then I slept too long.). Then I was supposed to get up and swim this morning but my two alarms still didn't deter me from thinking "I'll just sleep a little longer." I've been asked to please set a more realistic time goal to wake up or I will not be allowed to re-enter the bed once I get up to shut off alarm #2 (across the room). Sigh.

I need this:
"The alarm clock that runs away and hides when you don't wake up. The alarm goes off once, but if you hit snooze Clocky jumps off your nightstand (up to 3 feet) and wheels around your room looking for a place to hide before it sounds the alarm a second time. The snooze time can be set from 0-9 minutes, so if you set it at 0 Clocky runs right away. Nothing like a little hide-and-seek to get you going in the morning."
From http://www.alarmclocksonline.com/Clocky.htm.

Okay, this CRACKS ME UP!! I just start laughing when I think of an alarm clock that runs away from you! I was telling my spinning class about it on Monday morning and we were all laughing about the idea of this clock on wheels that hides from you. I originally heard about it from the WSJ's weekend edition where they reviewed alarm clocks. They liked it well enough, but then they said that it could roll under the bed and get covered in dust bunnies. Dust bunnies? Pssh, my house doesn't have those...right...(maybe that would inspire me to CLEAN the dust bunnies from underneath objects with legs!).

I think I'm just exhausted from last week. I put a good 12 hours in last week, inspired by all of the great people whose blogs I read and inspired my all of the great comments people left, not to mention just determined to succeed at Vineman and have an awesome time. While I don't necessarily think I overdid it, I don't think I've been getting enough sleep, which has lead to some real sleepiness days later. I really need to go to bed earlier.

I'm also just generally annoyed because of bad cramps (sorry male readers). Sometimes it sucks to be a woman. That's all I'll say about that. I don't normally whine about this stuff but then, it's normally non-existent for me, so I'm not really used to having to deal with it. I spoke with my doctor and we're going to try a new Pill. I was trying a new one for the last two months, and clearly THAT hasn't worked so well for me. Hormones suck.

SO anyway, besides the alarm clock thing and fatigue and cramps...that's all I've got for now. So exciting, I know. :) I think I've finally narrowed down my race schedule so I'll be posting that on the sidebar shortly. I decided I am indeed going to do the Sacramento International Tri on Sunday, 4/27. It's not too far away, flat course, and I can go visit my grandparents afterward in Sacramento. I was up there last weekend for my grandmother's 80th birthday and didn't really get to visit as much as I wanted to with so many people being there.

I also wanted to post a few pics from the race...I don't particularly love any of them, but they're still kind of fun for me to see what I look like in race mode and the funny looks on my face when I'm not particularly comfortable.

I don't think I've ever seen anybody who took a great 'exiting water' picture. I just think it's so funny to see myself looking so determined to get up that ramp and into T1...


















Beginning of the bike. This was where I still thought "this is going to be awesome!" ;)


























I like this. The flowers in the background are pretty.





















This one cracks me up. Like I'm thinking "OH THANK FREAKIN' GOODNESS THIS *&(*#$# BIKE IS OVER!" Actually, I can also see how swollen my left knee was at that point, too!





I would say I wasn't too happy about the run. I think though that this is the first lap, because I know by the second lap I was actually feeling a little better than it looks like I was feeling here.














"Please don't take anymore pictures"

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

That alarm clock sounds great! ALTHOUGH, I don't like alarm clocks either in theory or practice, and I'm definitely not a fan of this "snooze" thing. When I do have to use the alarm clock I set it for the latest possible time, and then when it goes off, I get up very soon after. Courtenay is a "snoozer" unfortunately, so I'm learning to deal with that nonsense...are you a snoozer?

Those pictures from the race and the running commentary was hilarious!! Looks like you had a terrificly fun time out there.

The Sac Tri sounds like a good race for you.

Loren Pokorny said...

I don't even have an alarm clock - so I can't use snooze. If you're tired, listen to your body and get some sleep. Recovery is as important as your next workout. I have a coach because I can't trust myself to ever make the right decision, but after spending about $5,000 I figure I'll learn some judgement. You'll see me at Sac next weekend (or actually in about 10 days) - I'll be the fool sleeping. If you think cramps are bad, try being married to a pregnant woman, let alone being the pregnant woman. Now we're talkin about pain.

Courtenay said...

there is nothing wrong with snooze!!! it's a great way to ease into the day!!!!

and loren who on earth gets up at 5 am with no alarm? actually my mom does. you two are weird.

on to the comment i was going to leave sarah: nice photos! lucky! there is a funny photo of loren from this weekend, and a mediocre on of me that basically just features a dangling srm head. i like your outfit.

Sarah said...

Yes, I confess. I'm a snoozer. And in my previous life, when I slept alone, it didn't matter to anybody. As Court said, I could just ease right on into that day. Now I'm getting berated for having an alarm go off at 5:30 for 'NOTHING' since I'm not getting up. I understand the point. I do. It's not just about me anymore.

Sigh...I just love to sleep.

And Loren, I can't believe you don't use an alarm clock! I don't know how you do it in the winter. Summer, I can get - I wake up fairly easily as it gets lighter earlier.

I'll see you and Chris in Sac! Looking forward to that race...

rocketpants said...

The alarm clock makes me laugh. I'm a snoozer myself. But I've been trying to limit to one snooze.

Definitely listen to your body. If you are tired...sleep is the best thing to do. Pushing too much too hard, well that'll just make you sick. I know that one well.

Anonymous said...

Court and I are "discussing" the snooze thing right now as I type. I understand the mindset, it just drives me crazy, waking up for "NOTHING" just like you said. It makes me angry because I love my sleep too!

My scientific argument is sound: you are losing quality sleep with the snooze. The question is, can the snooze habit be broken? Is it even a habit or is it something physical - certain people have a lot of trouble waking up?

Courtenay said...

ok i am retarded and self absorbed and i see now that you are NOT taking time off between jobs :(

this is what happens when i talk on the phone and read blogs at the same time. ineffective absorbtion of details.

Sarah said...

Wait...did I miss something about the jobs part?

When did I mention not taking time off between jobs? Or where did you reference that before?

Hmmm...in any case...no worries!!

As for Greg's comment...I kind of agree about the snooze thing. I have a love-hate thing about it. You're right that it's not quality sleep. I mean, if I COMPLETELY snooze through and don't get up for my workout, then I have definitely just done myself ZERO favors because not only did I miss my workout, those last two hours of sleep were not as quality as if I'd just been realistic and not set the alarm (or just been a man about it and gotten up).

And to answer your question about 'can it be changed?'

As of this morning...yes, yes it can. My phone alarm went off and I was told to 'get up. get up now.' I started to whine about it and Matt said "nope, get up."

Then I proceeded to be pushed out of bed.

Sigh.

If that's what it will take for me to get out of this nasty habit, then that's what it'll take.

Anonymous said...

Ha! "this nasty habit" - thanks for giving me some good verbal leverage with you-know-whom. Also, congrats on getting up when you should!