Chuy's Hot-to-Trot, and On Being a Grown-Up

This past Saturday I did the Chuy's Hot-to-Trot 5K, which was a last minute decision for me. My biggest lure to sign up? The FREE $10 DICK'S SPORTING GOODS GIFT CARD. That means an addition to my Nike Tempo Shorts collection, of course. ;) The race was on the other side of town, and I had to get my packet before the race, so I made sure I left plenty early. Got there, parked (thanks to the extremely helpful volunteers directing traffic), and got my race packet with no trouble. I then made my way to the starting line via part of a running trail in the area (kinda funny, don't know why).

It was an unusually cool and breezy May morning here in Central Texas (about 65 degrees). I started in the middle of the pack in case they decided to turn off the mats a la the Bun Run last weekend. Started off at a nice pace, and gradually picked it up. The course was fairly flat (as promised), so that was nice. Started to get a little winded with about a half a mile to go, but I was okay with that since it meant that I was leaving it all out there.

Towards the end, I was kinda racing with a guy, and I could tell he was NOT okay with potentially being chicked. :-p I wasn't even planning on trying to pass him, since I was pretty pooped by then. But he kept looking over at me, and then took off. Had I not been trying to finish strong, I think I would have stopped and laughed. Anyway, I finished in 31:35, a PR for me. My slow-poke goal in the future? Break 30 minutes on a 5K! Grabbed a banana and some water, went home, had breakfast, napped, and went shopping for work clothes. Because...

I am now employed full-time.

Before, I was working two part-time jobs (I'm still keeping one of them for the extra funds) . Even though it almost added up to a full-time position, I never really felt like a "real adult." You know, one that gets up, goes to work, does stuff, has lunch, does more stuff, and comes home. This left me feeling a little aimless at times (and still in somewhat of a college/grad student mentality), but it also meant that I could run and workout pretty much whenever I wanted (weather permitting). But now, being a "real adult" and all, I'm going to have to put myself on some sort of schedule, like other real people do. I've got to decide whether I want to chiefly work out in the morning or in the evening, and stick to it. Maybe this fixed schedule will help me get out of a mini-funk I've been in with regards to exercise in the past few weeks. This week, I'll try evenings, and maybe next week I'll try some mornings. I'm not a morning person at all (I sometimes fell asleep in morning classes--in grad school), but it would be nice to have a workout done before starting the day (though it does mean starting said day at 4:40AM. Blech.).

Any thoughts on scheduling oneself?