Waking up is hard to do. It’s even harder when you’re not a morning person and you know you have to go for a run right after the alarm rings.
7:56 a.m. Four more minutes.
8 a.m. Snooze.
8:09 a.m. I pull back the curtain, hoping it’s raining outside so I’ll have an excuse not to run.
No such luck.
I’ve been a runner for years, mostly in the Northeast, and have grown accustomed to running outside in the early evening. Since moving to Dallas last month, though, I’ve found it’s too hot to run outside. I’m not willing to drop the money for a gym membership just yet, so I decided to try running in the morning. Doing so means changing how I live my day-to-day life. No more running after work. No more staying up until 2 or 3 a.m. No more sleeping in.
After four days of failed attempts to get up early and run, I crawled out of bed recently at 8:10 a.m., put in my contacts, quickly got dressed before I could change my mind, and stepped outside into the morning light.
Surprisingly, I felt strong when running and didn’t have to slow down, stretch, or “tie my shoelaces,” a.k.a. look for an excuse to stop running. Aside from barking dogs and the occasional car radio, the streets echoed a tale of silence. I turned my focus to the rhythm of my running and the beat of my feet. After about three miles, I made it home. Maybe waking up early and running isn’t so hard to do. We’ll just have to wait and see if I still feel the same way tomorrow.
Check out a related blog post I wrote for The Dallas Morning News’ fitness blog.
How do you motivate yourself to get up early and run?
Word on the Street 