Are you someone who gets upwith the larks to exercise?

[fabulus]

A friend of a friend swims at 6am 3 weekday mornings before work. I don't know her well enough to ask her about the practicalities of this, so I'm asking the Mumsnet hive mind instead.
If this is you, can you talk me through how you get up and out on dark winter mornings without disturbing your bed partner or the rest of the household? Do you set an alarm? Do you brave the cold, or set your heating to come on early, so getting out of bed is more comfortable? On the mornings when you don't exercise, do you lie in or does your body clock kick in an get you up to do other things instead? Any other hints and tips appreciated.

(I'm often awake from around 4.30am, and spend the next 2 hours trying to go back to sleep and thinking about whatever is whirring in my mind, whilst not disturbing DH next to me, and I'm wondering if I could spend that time more productively).

Hmm. I occasionally do it, only is school holidays. Bag packed the night before, I get up go straight to the bathroom, wee, brush my teeth, put on swimming costume with clothes on top, down stairs make a coffee for after swimming and feed the cat then leave the house. I wear a fit bit which vibrates as an alarm so it’s less distributive. The trick is not to think about it and just do it.

sometimes

If you are awake anyway, you might as well

Just have your bag packed ready outside the bedroom door so you can sneak out

Yep, I do. Stuff laid out and ready to go. Have a plan of what exercise you’re doing.

jn the lighter months it is utterly glorious to be doing your workout to the dawn chorus. Lovely stuff.

Absolutely - even when it feels hard in dark winter months I just remember doing hard things helps us know we can do hard things when life gets tough.

Also as an older woman I think it's stopped middle aged spread and menopause symptoms- only started it in last few years as it was the time to myself before kids woke ( dp sleeps through me sneaking out)

Running at 6am at the moment is glorious 😊

I do this precisely because I wake up and the options are lying awake frustrated, doomscrolling on my phone or exercising and feeling like I've beaten the world before 7am

As pp have said I just have my stuff laid out and I get straight up and out before my brain has really realised what my body is doing. My kids are early risers so often up anyway but they're happy to let me go. My husband vaguely stirs and then goes back to sleep.

It's a great way to start the day - as pp said, running early mornings in spring/summer is amazing. If you start now OP then by rainy autumn/winter mornings you'll be in the swing of it and it will feel like second nature (probably!!)

I get up around 530 to exercise before work. I have been doing it since I was 15 and used to go running before school. I am 42 now so it's a very ingrained habit. You just have to get all your stuff ready and laid out so you can slip out the door.

However now I am with DH, he also gets up at this time to go to the gym so there's no need to be quiet.