Becoming a morning person at 2.13 an hour

Runner's World published an article in their October issue designed to help us average Joes and Janes develop the right habits and routines to transition to working out in the morning. I can certainly speak to the benefits of getting a workout in before breakfast, but one thing RW failed to acknowledge is that for some of us, it's not as easy as turning in 10 minutes earlier each night until we're turning off the lights at 10:00 PM. What about us 2nd-shifters??

Besides downing several big-ass cups of coffee, I got nothing. I'm loving working out at 7:30 but when that alarm goes off thirty minutes earlier I want to throw it at the wall.

I wonder if I can enter some sort of meditative state (think "Office Space") in which I'm working, but I don't feel like I'm working, or care that I'm working, thus conserving some amount of energy for the run I have scheduled the next morning.

Although I have to say (and I'm sure I've said before) that I am certain running improves my energy and focus at work, and the work improves my stamina during a run. It's like, during a long run I'm glad I'm not working a double and scrambling to stay out of the weeds. During a hectic shift, I'm glad to be getting somewhat of a workout without completely busting my ass.

I'll tell you one thing, though: While we're all working for different reasons, it's annoying as HELL when you hear a 21-year-old complain about her feet hurting her. Especially if you spent your morning running, chasing a toddler and taking care of chores. I'm sorry? What did you do all day before work? Oh, that's right, you skipped your morning class because you were hung over, spent the entirety of your next class text and Facebook-stalking your soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend, made yourself late for work because you just HAD to catch up with the Kardashians, and now you're frazzled because you've been here for, what, 4 hours and you're tired and ready to go home? Yeah. Talk to me when you have real problems.

OK, I know it's not fair to uphold everyone to my ridiculously high standards, but I do think dragging my ass out of bed at the crack of dawn is more than just a fun way to develop an "Intervention"-worthy caffeine habit. I think it builds character. And it doesn't matter who you are or what stage of life you're in; we can all benefit from a little personality workout. Especially servers!