It’s hard to think of anything better than a summer morning, especially at the beach. The sun rises earlier, the seagulls are singing, the sky is a beautiful painting of pink, blue, and orange, and the smell of salt is in the air. I feel so much gratitude every morning when I begin my days down the shore (which I learned “down the shore” is not something everything says), and today I want to discuss my Summer Morning Routine!

Personally, my morning routine in the summer varies drastically from my morning routine in the winter. The winter, my mornings are slower, start a bit later, more cozy, and are not as refreshing. In the summer, I wake up with life, enthusiasm, and eagerness to take on another beautiful day.

Today, I wanted to discuss my Summer Morning Routine. My mornings, however, are different each day due to my business, Stride Sea Isle. Stride Sea Isle is a Spin & Fitness studio down at the Jersey Shore. It’s my 4th summer down here and every year it gets better and better. I have classes beginning anywhere from 6:45 am to 8 am, and with that I like to be available to my staff. Reason being, that studio is small and doesn’t have a studio manager, so I like to be on call if I’m not present in the studio. With this, I am also marathon training, which if you read my running blog post, you would know I like to run in the morning. The length of my runs vary each day, and the start time of Stride Sea Isle varies each day, so inevitably the start and duration of my morning routine varies each day.

This used to drive me crazy. Especially when I was planning how my morning routines this summer would go. There were several times I had to step away and rethink how I would structure my mornings to fit everything in.

I truly believe, if you win your morning, you win your day. The days I woke up early and completed a morning routine were always my best days. So I switched my morning routine to less of a time constraint, and more of a pillar system. If I hit each pillar in my mornings, regardless of duration, it would make for a great day! This also allowed for flexibility. So with that, I give you my Summer Morning Routine, pillar style.

LISTEN TO MY SUMMER MORNING ROUTINE:

WAKE UP

This sounds obvious and comical to even write it down, but my morning routine can’t begin if I’m asleep! I typically wake up 90 minutes before my staff gets into open Stride Sea Isle. This is typically anywhere from 5-630 am so I have time to myself before I’m needed to “be on” for the day.

WASH MY FACE

There is something so refreshing and cleansing (no pun intended) about washing your face in the morning. Other than the fact that we need some form of skincare in the morning, more than anything it’s a signal to my brain that the day is beginning. Here is a list of my current summer morning skincare routine.

CHANGE INTO WORKOUT CLOTHES

I change into my workout clothes right away. If I could, I would stay in my pajamas all day so getting out of my PJs and into workout clothes helps me not talk myself out of my workout. It’s funny that I’m in the fitness space because I can very easily talk myself out of a workout. I also feel ready to tackle the day with workout clothes on.

JOURNAL

*outside if possible* Here is where I Journal! Sometimes I will journal multiple times throughout the day, but I especially like to first thing in the morning.

If I can do this outside, I will! I love getting the morning sunlight and the gratitude I feel when I journal on my roof deck or porch.

If you’re confused on how to journal, check out this podcast episode of mine all about journaling. I typically will write down 3 people I’m sending love to, 3 things I’m grateful for, and 1 manifestation disguised as an affirmation, followed by some brain dumping. This takes about 10 minutes and leaves me feeling energized.

STRETCH

I’m currently nursing a shin splint, so this has been big on my list so far this summer. I do basic stretches for running, but even on days I’m not running, it feels good to stretch after sleeping. 

I’ve been really craving back bends for the last few months, I think just from being hunched over on my laptop all day, then laying flat at night, getting my spine inverted feels amazing so I tend to hit some back stretches, shin and calf, thigh, shoulder, really whole body!

MOVEMENT + MORNING LIGHT

This is where I workout! Now my workout varies according to the day of the week. I will either run, spin, walk, or strength train in the form of pilates or yoga. I’d like to begin some strength training but I just get so bored at the gym so I prefer pilates or yoga. 

The workout ranges in time from 30 min – 90 min depending on when I have to be in the studio, if I have a long run programmed, etc. This is when I get morning sunlight in which keeps me awake, avoids an afternoon crashes, and allows me to sleep better at night. If I don’t workout outside, I will go for a quick walk in this time outside to get the sun in my eyes.

SHOWER

This follows my workout. I pretty much wash my hair after any run or yoga class because I get so sweaty I just feel better washing it. I used to pride myself on only washing my hair 1-2x a week, now it’s almost daily! Oh how times have changed.

COFFEE

This is when I make my coffee! I’ve been still drinking a hot latte in my Keurig K Cafe machine which I love and have purchased 3 times now (one for me, one for my parents and one for the beach house). 

Lately I found the Chobani White Chocolate Raspberry creamer and oh my god, it is so good. So I’m using a splash of that in my oat milk lattes and it’s been heavenly. I tend to make lattes in the morning. Recently, any more coffee than a shot has been leaving me very nauseous, even when I eat! So I stick to lattes and feel great.

BREAKFAST

This is when I will grab breakfast to go with me to the studio. I will grab the overnight oats or quickly blend the smoothie and head out. I think I will make a separate blog post all about my overnight oats and smoothie recipes. Overnight Oats you can do anything, but now that it’s summer I really love peaches and cream oo. I load it up with protein to make it a well rounded on the go meal!

If I’m home, I will make my regular breakfast of scrambled eggs with cottage cheese and ham, avocado, pickled onions, and strawberries, all drowned in hot honey. Sounds weird but trust me on it.

COMMUTE

Commute to work! If I’m home this is simply walking across the hallway to my home office, but if I’m at the beach, I hop in my golf cart and head down the island to Stride.

WORK

Lastly, I work. The start time varies daily but it’s anywhere from 630-10 am depending on my workouts, what time classes start, etc. When I get to this point in my morning routine, I feel like I’ve won the day and feel great about the day ahead.

That concludes my morning routine, so while the times each day differ, I have pillars that work and make for a great morning. Thank you for reading and being part of my website. I’ve been loving the Blog Posts and hope you do too 🙂 You can sign up for my newsletter which will be rolling out soon! Have a great day 🙂