Janathon: Day 14 and a Wake-up Light review

Flickr image from SweetOnVeg's photostream

I didn't get up for my run this morning. It's not the clock's fault, the clock is lovely. It's my lazy ass' fault. But I was determined not to wimp out with another circuits session tonight. As I've said before, I hate exercising at night, and I'm so bad at motivating myself. But my resolve was strengthened when my  boyfriend said he'd come running with me tonight. Suddenly it was out of my hands, there was no question about me running tonight. It was ON.

And then, he changed his mind - 'Let's go tomorrow'. So it was up to me again. Shit. But all the way home, I shouted at myself - what the hell is my problem? I'm supposed to be training for a half marathon, I have a colour coordinated training plan, I've read Janathon blogs where people are running 20 miles a day. GET OVER YOURSELF, KAYE.

By the time I got home, I had about 15 minutes before my boyfriend was due to arrive. It would have been so easy to talk myself out of going anywhere (what's the point in a 15 minute run?), but I put my kit on and headed out. I thought I'd just run to Baker Street and back (2km), but I was feeling good, so just kept going. By the time I got back, I'd done 3.23km in 18m 37s. Nothing that's going to get me to the top of the Janathon leaderboard, but a motivation win.

In other news: For fortnightflo and anyone else interested in the Philips Wake-up Light, here's what I think:

I really like it. I spent about 10 minutes learning how to use it, and it's pretty simple (I have the original version, not the fancypants one that lets you wake up to the radio and bird sounds). So, here's how it works: you set your alarm, and around 30 minutes before it's due to go off, the wake-up light starts lighting up, gently preparing your body for waking up (or so Philips say). It starts off very dim, and gradually gets brighter (you can change the brightness level to suit you). Then, when it's time for your alarm to go off, the plinky-plonky music starts off very quietly, slowly getting louder to wake you gradually (you can set the volume for that too). There's also a snooze lever for those of you who like a little lie-in (it's a 9 minute snooze that you can't change, which is a bit annoying).

Now, Philips reckon your body will be ready to wake up when your alarm goes off, and you'll wake up feeling fresh. I wouldn't go so far as to say I woke up feeling fresh, but it was a lot nicer than being awoken by the manic bleeping of my iPhone alarm app. I had the light set to it's brightest level, and blinded myself a little when I opened my eyes (it's really bloody bright), so I'll be taking that down a few notches tonight. The adjustable brightness levels mean that you can use the clock as a lamp too (which I am), but beware - it gets quite hot, so it's best not to leave it close to curtains (which I have) or any other flammable bits.