As I have be all adult-like and start working full-time next week, I'm looking into signing up for a couple of early morning skating sessions (5:50 am) a week. I've never skated that early before. I guess I'm wondering how difficult it is. I'm normally someone who gets up to have just enough time for a shower and some cereal before I run out the door.

So, for those who have done those crack-of-dawn sessions:
-How do you wake up enough to do something as athletically demanding as skating that early in the morning? Do you allow extra time for warming up off-ice?
-Do you feel like you get as much done skating early as you might skating later in the day?
-Do you eat breakfast before or after you skate?
-Can you make it through the workday without falling asleep at your desk?

I think I'm looking for reassurance that I'm not completely insane for wanting to sign up for these sessions!

When I wasn't skating I'd get up at 4 am to take my daughter to skate and I'd sleep in the car and be tired all day. Now I get up at 4 am and skate and I'm fine the rest of the day. I don't eat because I get nauseaus when I bend over to tie my skates. My daughter eats toast or cerea and juicel. I do drink coffee before. I don't warm up off ice. Not saying I shouldn't, I just don't. I skate better in the morning than afternoon- I"m tired at the end of the day and don't feel like doing much.

4 am wake-up is about as early as I can handle. This May our rink closed for maitenance and we had to skate an hour away at 5 am which meant getting up at 3 (I need an hour to wake up and get ready) and that was too early. But even then once I got started most of the time I was fine.

It needs to be a habit, you should get up that time at least two or 3 times a week - so that you get in the habit of going to bed earlier. If you only do it once a week, it's going to be harder. This summer we had later morning sessions and now that I'm back to waking up at 4 rather than 6 am, it takes a while to transistion.

I enjoy skating in the morning, it's not as crowded...the more serious skaters are on the ice because you have to love to skate to do it at that hour and it gives me energy for the rest of the day. Even when I skate on my day off and tell myself I can go back to bed, I never do, I'm too energized.

j

I started skating a 7 am to 9 am session last November and I LOVE it! I am a morning person anyway so it wasn't hard for me to shift my hours a bit.

I am out of the house by 5 a.m., an hour's drive to the city, pick up a BIG coffee and a "breakfast sandwich" at Tim Horton's at 6 a.m. - yes, my dietitian says the breakfast sandwich has too much fat but they are SOOOO good and it is just the right amount of food so that I don't get queasy on the ice.

By 6:15 I am at the rink and do my off-ice warm-up, boot up, and on the ice at 7. I take 30 minute on the ice to loosen up and get my edges and my coach shows up for 7:30. After skating, it is off to work until 3:30. I am usually pretty tired by the end of the day and bedtime comes early.

The biggest difference in the early sessions (for me) is the "wakeup" time and the warm-up time. The hour drive gives me time to get my head together and I need at least 20 minutes of stretching and off-ice warm up just to get the ol' bod' moving in the morning (but hey, I'm 58!). The 30 minutes on-ice is usually enough to get me in top form ("top form"? what a joke! )

When I skate an afternoon session, I can do 5 minutes stretching, 15 minutes on the ice and I am ready to go but my skating performance is always better in the early morning.

When I went to my first competition my event was at 4:00 p.m. I tried to compensate for the difference in "peak performance time" but didn't do a very good job of it. (I had my fingers crossed for the 8 a.m. time slot!)

Oh yea, and the 7 to 9 a.m. time slot at our rink is usually a max of 5 or 6 really competitive girls who skate before school so there aren't many on the ice. I also love the way the serious competitors look out for each other and have so much respect for each other. It is SO different from having the normal hodge-podge on the ice!

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Dianne
(A.O.S.S.? Got it BAD! )

When I worked a 9-5, I used to skate 7am-8:20. The biggest issue for me was getting a lot of sleep. If I don't get enough sleep before I skate, I skate miserably, and I'm exhausted and (more) b!tchy at work. I used to shower the night before, and I'd bring a granola bar and banana. I did kind of like bringing my work clothes to the rink and looking all tiffed and grown up when I left.

Thankfully, I work nights now, so I can go to the high-level 2:30pm sessions, which aren't crowded, and get a full 8-9 hours of sleep. It's so much more productive. I am NOT a morning person.

I don't practice regularly in the morning anymore, but when I did:

-How do you wake up enough to do something as athletically demanding as skating that early in the morning? Do you allow extra time for warming up off-ice?
I used to wake up at 4:30. I set my clock 15 minutes early so that when my alarm went off and I was only half-awake, I immediately forgot about my clock being set ahead, thought I was late, and actually got up without hitting the snooze 20 times. That, or I set my clock on the complete other side of the room. I made sure I had time to wake up, check my email, the news, etc. to get fully ready. I used to plan to warm up off-ice and never had time, but then again, that's what happened in the afternoon too...

-Do you feel like you get as much done skating early as you might skating later in the day?
I'm a morning person, and I still don't skate as well in the morning. The human biological clock puts peak athletic preformance in the early afternoon, so you won't skate as well. You can work at any time of the day, and if you consistently skate in the morning, you'll still make as much progress -- and you'll be shocked at how well you skate when you do go to an afternoon session. Another bonus -- if you have to compete or test early in the day, you'll be much better prepared than everyone else.

-Do you eat breakfast before or after you skate?
You absolutely must eat before you skate. I used to refuse to eat -- when I started seeing a nutritionist, this was the very first change she made. I could only get down a little yogurt smoothie, but even if it's only that, you need to eat something.

-Can you make it through the workday without falling asleep at your desk?
I didn't (and still don't) work, but I didn't find myself any more likely to fall asleep in class when I skated in the morning, except on the days when I was up late doing homework and consequently didn't get any sleep.

Last year I went to the 6AM session 3 days out of the week. Got up at 5, left at 5:30. Left the rink at 6:45 to rush off to school.

I think I skate better on those early morning sessions, plus there's hardly anyone there ever(specifically on the low level ones) and I don't have to wait 5 minutes to find empty space to do a flip jump like what happened in my lesson today.

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I hate skating in the mornings. Hate it. I have to though because I work full time - I get up at five day of my lesson (sometimes at 7 a.m., sometimes 7:45). If I don't eat something before skating I feel really shaky, so I usually eat a power bar on the way.

I'm a much better skater after 10 a.m.

It's really hard for me to fall asleep early enough, plus I live in an apartment and there are times neighbors have woken me up in the middle of the night, and I worried I'd be too tired to try anything scary on the ice.

Did I say I hate morning skating?

MUST find a way to become self employed

__________________
Revised Official 2010 Goals checklist
Skate __
New boots __
(lowering the bar for 2010 as I haven't skated in a year)

Well, I am NOT a morning person. At all. But due to my work schedule and the impossibility of skating a program run-through on our one very crowded evening FS session each week, I get up at 5:00am and skate the 6:30am session 3-4 mornings a week.

Cons:
1. It totally sucks getting up at 5:00am. But it helped to start off by having a lesson scheduled on my first early morning of the week because I had no choice; I HAD to get up. I started off by scheduling a MIF lesson every Tuesday morning so that I had from Sunday to Tuesday to time shift from 9am to 5am. Also, that first morning I didn't have to skate my program or jump (a little daunting when you aren't quite awake).

2. Yes, you will feel stiffer and yes, it will take longer to warm up, and yes, you will be less energetic and ambitious. Can't lie about that.

3. A lot of times I do get sleepy in the afternoon at work, but lately it's been better. I try to get as much done as I can early in the work day and I try to sneak a nap at my desk sometimes at lunchtime. But I perk up again around 5 pm (I work until 6:00 pm) because, after all, I am *not* a morning person, LOL!

Pros:
1. There will be fewer people on the ice, and those who are there will mostly be the more serious skaters who won't be doubling as speed bumps as you skate your program.

2. You will get used to it, especially on the second and third early mornings each week, when you've time shifted and you are more awake.

3. If you can skate your program decently before 7:30am, you'll skate it even better at 10:00am or later. It's great training for major competitions, where you may have to skate at an ungodly hour.

4. You will become friends with all of the early morning regulars at the rink, especially the really good kids, whom you will enjoy cheering for as they move up the ranks. It's kind of cool having those people as my morning people now (kind of like it used to be when I went to school every morning and saw all the same faces). They sure beat the people I work with!

As for food, my stomach just isn't awake that early in the morning. But I make myself a cappuccino at home and drink it in the car on the way to the rink. It does wonders as far as making me human! I also bring a mixture of juice and water that I sip throughout my practice to keep my hydrated and give me a little natural sugar. When I'm particularly organized, I remember to bring a banana with me on Fridays, which are the days I skate two sessions in the morning and start running out of steam on the second one.

I find that it helps to think of this 5:00am wakeup time as 7:00am, but in a different time zone. After all, if you moved east two time zones, you'd be regularly going to bed earlier and getting up at that time within a week and you'd be just fine. I live in California so I just tell myself I'm living in Texas and somehow it makes it easier. I know, I'm weird. :p

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"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

I'm definitely not a morning person either, but exercise in the morning always energizes you for the day. It's scientifically proven! And it helped me too (in high school i had dance fofr PE and i ended up with it first period one semester - i think that was 7:50 am - and i definitely had way more energy that semester... except on the days we'd sit around and watch a movie or whatever in that class lol)

In terms of breakfast, (I find it hard to eat in the morning despite how hungry i am when i wake up), I typically have a granola/cereal/power/protein bar. (whichever seems more appetizing at the time lol)

I've never skated THAT early, but I think having warm up time would be helpful in this case with it being so early. some days when i don't warm up(haha like yesterday and my weird 3 turns) it takes me 15 minutes or more of bad skating to be able to do anything well lol (and that was at 10:50!)

You should definitely do the 5am sessions if you want to! I commend you for being so motivated to!

When I used to skate in the mornings, I had another adult friend where we would "Pinky Promise" to meet Wednesdays at 6 am to practice. I would arrive about 20 minutes before the session because 5:30 was about the earliest I could make myself get up. Having a friend help you be accountable is a good thing. My lessons were tuesday and Thursday mornings and It was all too easy to blow off a day of practice in-between. So as my friend and I parted after the session was over, we would "Pinky-Promise" to be at practice Wednesdays the next week.

I actually felt energized in the mornings after a skating session. The energy and good skating vibes are so much different during freestyle sessions.

I am currently skating on the weekends maintaining skating fun with a few group lessons here and there. Life is happening where I am not as able to be devoted to skating as I once was. but I still enjoy it very much.

And like Doubletoe said earlier even the more advanced and serious skaters you encounter will become your friends. The early morning regulars even provided me with a lot of inspiration and I love to cheer them on as they progress and as I progress.

~sk8pdx

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"Occasionally in life there are those moments of unutterable fulfillment which cannot be completely explained by those symbols called words. Their meanings can only be articulated by the inaudible language of the heart." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

I never could have been a competitive skater. I wouldn't get out of bed at 5 am even if it was on fire My sister used to get up at that hour to skate when we were kids. It would be a weekday morning in the middle of the winter and about 0 degrees outside. To this day I don't know how she did it.

The earliest I skate is 10 am on thursdays when I have a lesson. My coach thinks I'm a wuss when I complain about what an ungodly hour it is. It's almost always my worst skate of the week because I can't move or bend. Conversely, my best skate is almost always at night.

Kevin

Last year I was doing a session at 7.00am once a week. I got up okay, and beloved husband made me breakfast. The one thing I still don't understand is that my weird vestibular system didn't like spinning so early. I got dizzier than normal, and it didn't get better through the one hour session. Weird.

I liked the fact it was limited to 6 skaters on our tiny rink, and that everyone there worked really hard non-stop, getting the most out of that hour. All working very seriously, and no music!

On the downside, our rink doesn't have shower facilities, and I would be so late getting to work that I didn't have time to shower once I got there. It was always a rush and I felt disorientated for most of the morning. After that though, the endorphins kicked in, and I was on a high, floating for the rest of the day.

So for me there were pros and cons.

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Karen

I skate - therefore I am

I used not to be a morning person, but then I had a job that required me to get up at 5:30 am, so getting up at 6:00 am to skate isn't too difficult (although we didn't skate this morning, which we had planned to).

Husband usually has a small bowl of cereal or slice of toast before we go; I just have a cup of tea, then when we get there we each have a banana, and I take a large travel mug of coffee with me to be drunk during the session. Afterwards I have a cereal bar.

I find a hot shower really helps first thing - loosens me up a treat. I certainly couldn't skate without one!

These days I far prefer skating in the morning, and am rather dreading next week when that isn't going to be possible and we'll have to skate in the early evening.

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Mrs Redboots
~~~~~~~~
I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

I have to catch a 5:15 train to get to my 7am lesson in manhattan, which means getting up at 4:45. I have to be in bed at 9, I really really need eight hours of sleep. I can't get up earlier than that because if I go to bed at 8. I'll have zero time with my husband who keeps a later schedule. He's usually still in bed when I leave for work even mornings I don't skate.

So, to make it I shower the night before and set out my bag for work, bag for skating, clothes to wear and work clothes to change into. I keep a protein bar in my skate bag and buy a banana and a cup of coffee on the way. The 10 minute walk from the subway to the rink is a great warmup because I get stiff sitting on the train so long. I've also got a few minutes for stretching and waking up when I get there.

Practice mornings I go to a more convenient rink and sleep in till 5:15. Dive into my skate duds, rustle up some cottage cheese or a banana and into the car. Since I don't have the walk, I need to warm up, keep a jumprope in my skate bag.

Practice 6am-7am. Change into work clothes, or at least jeans, drive to the subway, park on street, get to work, hot sweaty mornings shower at office.

I'm a morning person, but I skate better when I can get to an afternoon or evening session and I'm awake with a full tummy. As someone said though, if you can do it under the worst circumstances, you'll be better for those afternoon tests and comps and if they work out to the early am at least you'll be used to it.

I skate from 6 am to 8:30 usually as yes unfortunately I have to go to work too. Getting up isn't a problem to be honest which is quite strange as I have problems getting up at half 7 when I just have to go into work. I am much more of a get up late stay up late kind of girl. So I get up at 5am and I guess its because I know I am going to do something I really like, I just get on with it. When I get to the rink I do about a 10 min warm up - mostly stretching, and no I don't eat breakfast. Its quite unhealthy to eat before you excercise as digestion a process for which your body requires more energy then any other so often after eating you feel tired etc - having said that I know some people who can't skate without eating, I guess you should see what works for you. I do love skating in the morning as you find the same people there and I do get a lot done, probably because I am not tired having just gotten up. And I do get tired at work around 4 pm, especially towards the end of the week, but that is more because I tend to sleep less then 5 hours on the nighs before skating - like I said, I am not one to go to bed early!

I think its a question of getting into a routine, once you do you'll be fine I am sure.

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The hardest thing about ice skating is the ice.

I don't care how many tests and scientists came to that conclusions that is absoulutely not true in my case. Afternoon is my peak nap time, certainly not athletic performance. And when I do skate in the afternoon I'm not shocked and I dont's skate as well as I do in the morning.

The amazing thing about the human being is that we are all different and you may or may not find the above to be true for you.

j

I used to skate early morning (6:45AM on the ice) 3 days a week. Now it's one day a week, plus 2 off-ice gym training sessions each week that start at 6AM.

I get up between 4:45 and 5AM on those days and have a breakfast that includes protein (usually a whole can or pouch of tuna fish) and complex carbs (shredded wheat or shredded oats cereal). Then I clean up and go to either the gym or the rink.

Can usually make it through the work day without being too tired, unless we have an extremely boring presentation at one of the 2 almost half-day meetings I have to attend each week. Then I sometimes get the bobbing head.

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American Waltz... Once, Twice, ???? ...

Q: How many coaches does it take to fix Jen's Dance Intro-3 Problems
A: 5 and counting...

Sorry, but this is definitely not true. You shouldn't eat three slices of pizza before you skate and you shouldn't be eating the minute before you go on the ice, but you need to eat something -- a handful of cereal and nuts, a yogurt, anything with a small mix of carbs and protein (hopefully as soon as you get up, to allow yourself the max amount of time to digest it). It kick starts your body into burning calories, thus giving you energy and "waking up" your muscles. Otherwise, your body will be forced to burn fat reserves, which isn't necessarily a bad thing; you just dont want to start off your workout this way because the low blood sugar from it will make you feel even more tired than you are! And if you absolutely cannot eat, you can always drink 100-200 calories when you get up -- a smoothies, drinkable yogurt, or even a sports drink (though this is probably the least ideal, and only ok if you're skating for less than an hour).

Also, because you're skating in the morning and have to keep up your energy throughout the day, it's extra important to eat well after your workout. If you're going straight to work/school, pack a "breakfast" that's a good mix of carbs (at least some starchy) and lean protein, and eat it 15-20 minutes after you get off the ice.

Disagree - we are all basically machines and the machines need fuel. I wouldn't want to skate after pigging out at the buffet at my favorite Indian restaurant (done it, not good, wanted to sleep on the ice) - but people need something if they haven't eaten since dinner the night before.

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Revised Official 2010 Goals checklist
Skate __
New boots __
(lowering the bar for 2010 as I haven't skated in a year)

I skate once or twice a week early, getting up at 4:30 to get to the rink for 5:45. I have a 30 minute lesson on one of these.

I found that to begin with it did take me a while to warm up, usually I didn't feel fully warmed up until after my lesson, however now I don't think anything of it, I guess I am used to it. The worst thing I have is that I skate Tuesday night until about 9:15, so am never home much before 10:00pm and then have to be up at 4:30! It can be a killer. However I am now enjoying skating early so much I am considering swapping the Tuesday evening session for another morning one. At my rink there are so many benefits of it, no hockey skates, usually decent ice, is reasonable quiet and it is cheaper!

I always have light cereal before I go, however by the time I get to work by 9am I am starving! This isn't as bad as it used to be, and I overcome it by eating fruit. I only get sleepy if I have really overdone it on the previous nights skate, and then I just drink lots of tea and energy drinks!

You will probably find it will soon become second nature. I don't think twice about it anymore and my bf ribs me about it because I would sleep through an earthquake yet can do a skating lesson at 6am!

I don't skate in the morning, but when I have to get up early for a competition or a test, my favorite things to have are a banana and a hard-boiled egg, and maybe a small slice of whole-wheat toast with peanut butter, and a small amount of orange juice. If I skip breakfast, I feel sleepy all day and distracted on the ice when my stomach is growling...

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I skate in the mornings 5 days a week (W-Su) with a 6AM on ice time. I get up at 4:30. Work days, I shower, pack my clothes for work, let the dogs out, eat a little something (you need something - a power bar, a banana, a granola bar, toast with a protein on it), stop and get coffee and get to the rink around 5:45, warm up for 10 minutes and then get my skates on and get out there. On weekends, I brush my teeth, get dressed, let the dogs out, eat a little something, and then leave, pick up my coffee, etc. In the winter, we sometimes start on Saturdays and Sundays earlier (~5A) so we get in 2 hours before hockey starts at 7.

The nice thing about skating in the early morning is the cognitive side of my brain is still snoozing and I rely on muscle memory for elements that I have consistently and I get to new things around the time my brain wakes up (6:40 ish). I also get 2nd lesson now (6:30), so I can remember how to do the new things we work on.

I have a hard time skating in the evenings (after 6P) so I picked up a session on Monday nights over the summer and am looking for a fall session in the evening that doesn't conflict with off-ice on T/Th and the class my husband and I are planning on on Monday evenings (since the rink I was skating at on Monday nights isn't offering the same session in the fall! )

I've always hated skating early in the morning, but I force my self anyway ( to get ready for the competitive season) Waking up is usually easy, I just hate being so cold which makes me want to go back to sleep. But on the upside the ice is much better so what ever floats your boat

I've skated on morning FS for about as long as I've taken lessons with my secondary coach. One thing I'll tell 'ya... it took a while for me JUST to master the art of "sleep-skating" (as opposed to "sleep-walking" ) And no, we're not talking about doing jumps and spins but just to skate around!!! My usual line when my secondary coach asks me "How are you?" is "Awake?"

This is definitely me in the morning:

I'm so NOT a morning skater!!!

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Cheers,
jazzpants

11-04-2006: Shredded "Pre-Bronze FS for Life" Club Membership card!!!
Silver Moves is the next "Mission Impossible"
(Dare I try for Championship Adult Gold someday???)

Thank you for the support, you guys!!!

I skate twice a week in the mornings (when our rink is open). I get up at 4:45, do some chores, eat yogurt and tea, and get to the rink at 6am.

I don't like high activity skating (jumps, etc.) that early in the morning, but the ice is almost empty if I wanted to jump. I can do whatever full-ice move I desire - which is very, very nice.

I get a little more sluggish in late afternoon at work, but nothing serious. But I HAVE to get to bed by 9 pm the night before I skate, and usually want to also the evening after a morning session. For me, staying up late is the one thing that's a killer for morning sessions.

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Bill Schneider