It is 6:15 a.m. Kindly hush.

Usually, 5:45 a.m. on my clock radio means I am either coming in from a good night out or I’m snug as a bug under my mountain of covers in the midst of one of my crazy dreams.

But today, when my alarm went off at 5:45 a.m., I immediately shot out of bed like a cannon. Mostly because the bleep scared the shit out of me, but also because I was about 1 percent excited.

Today was my first early morning at the gym in weeks. I’ve been going after work when I actually do go, but it’s just not working out for me. It’s so hard to make myself go after a long day at the office or if there’s just a better option like, say, dinner or shopping.

But there I was on the first of what will be my three-day minimum at the gym this week, shivering under the still-out full moon as I listened to my half-frozen car make an off-putting chirping sound as I drove.

I claimed my favorite treadmill and settled in. The freezing cold did wonders for waking me up and I was raring to go — so raring I will have you know that I set the speed higher than I usually do to give me an extra push.

I start booking it, alternating between trying to read lips on CNN and ESPN and getting lost in my thoughts of the day ahead. Until one dude starts causing a ruckus, that is.

It appears he’s a regular who knows all the other morning regulars that he was shouting this and that to, but he was just annoying me with his yelling. He reminded me of a school boy who disrupts class because he feels like it.

I’m all for being pumped in the morning; it is rather admirable, but seriously, it was 6:15 a.m., what’s with the shouting? Not being someone who is technologically sound enough to have one of those newfangled MP3 players or an iPod strapped to my arm, I proceeded to listen to his carrying on.

I guess I am going to have to break out my archaic Discman if I am going to become one of the morning regulars. But at least I was annoyed enough to push it a little harder, so thank you Mr. Too Loud in the a.m.