Alarm clocks today are easier than ever to sleep through – a smartphone that is proffering the gentlest ringtone you can download goes quiet with an easy swipe – and soon enough, the next sound to come out of the phone is a call from eight teammates and a coach standing on a dock with the boat in the water wondering where you are.

If you are having having trouble getting your feet on the ground before morning practice, a new product currently on Kickstarter could help give a, erm, kickstart to your morning – Ruggie, an alarm-clock-in-a-rug that will not stop sounding until you stand on it for at least three seconds.

It works pretty much as you would expect – you set an alarm which goes off at the designated time, and it keeps going until you get out of bed, stand up, and put your full weight on the rug.  The siren call song of warm blankets and soft pillows will be pretty much silenced by the time you also silence the alarm rug.

No more failing to hear a wristwatch alarm that is buried under the covers, or swiping your phone alarm silent then re-crashing, or putting a fist through your alarm clock with almost no memory of it.  We've all been there.

If you continue to struggle, put the Ruggie across the room, with your rowing gear on top of it – that way, to get the alarm to stop, you will have to get up, pick up your rowing gear, and end up standing up with your gear in your hand.  From there, you're good to go, and the likelihood of a sweet sunrise and morning glass await you.

Worst case, it is hard to spike a rug onto the floor, almost by definition.

Of course, if you have a non-rowing roommate, they might not appreciate the approach, even if you use one of the Ruggie's more soothing alarms, such as jungle birds, cowbell (might be good for Lucerne), rainfall, running water (make sure the bathroom is clear), etc.  – but that is another issue for another post.

And even rowers might not buy into the feature that appears to have the rug utter motivational quotes after you wake up, ooof.

row2k doesn't specifically recommend or endorse the product – we just thought it was clever and funny.   Just don't forget to turn it off on days with no practice.