This morning I woke up at the ungodly hour of five, and promptly realized that I wasn’t going to be able to fall asleep again. With shockingly little self-convincing, I headed outside to run – and got in four-miler before the sun finished rising. I had so much fun at the 200 mile relay this weekend that I’ve decided to take this running thing a little more seriously. (At least that’s what I’m telling myself). Really, I had a great deal of fun at the relay and I completely destroyed my sleep cycle, which is why my body thought that waking at 5 was a good idea. It’s a terrible idea. Terrible. Except for getting things done and enjoying the blue hour (not this blue hour, but I enjoy that too.) A large part of me still wants to sleep in every morning – I figure it’s conflicting impulses like these that make my days exciting.

That top picture there is the Charles River, looking out to Community Rowing – which, I might add, was hopping at 6 in the morning. Rowers really love exerting themselves in the wee hours. There are some days I think I’m going to just bite the bullet and get back into rowing, but I’ve yet to adequately convince myself, mostly because it’s an expensive sport, but also because I still have recurring nightmares of my college roommate waking up at 4 every morning to get to practice, and having to set the loudest alarm on the face of the planet to do so. (I can wake up from the gentle buzz of my Jawbone or my cell set to vibrate, so this was particularly jarring for me.)

This week my meal plan looks like this. A small part of me feels like I’ve failed my most basic comforting ritual of feeding myself, but hey, sometimes life is about flexibility. The key will be to avoid making every night an excuse for takeout, which sometimes happens when I don’t have meals planned in advance.

Sunday: Fish dinner.
Monday: Something with pork tenderloin.
Tuesday: Out with the team at work.

What happened? Well, usually I do my shopping spread throughout both weekend days, and spend a gleeful hour or two making the list. (The planning part is quick, the flipping through dozens of cookbooks and getting sidetracked on recipes for charcuterie or Martha Washington’s layer cake is not.) On Sunday I spent a large part of the day affixed to the couch, and ended up doing a 15 minute trip to the store for some basics. I picked up some Bluefish at Whole Foods, which I pan grilled, served with sautéed spinach, mashed potatoes for Devon, and a baby challah roll from the holiday to sop up the mess.

Dinner tonight was pork medallions, and brussels sprouts with teriyaki sauce – a very quick, one pot meal. At some point, I’ll get my act together, but for now – i’m heading to bed.