Morning Runs: How Starting My Day on the Right Foot Transformed My Life
Does running in the morning affect productivity?
The short answer is yes. If that’s enough to get you started on morning runs, you may not need to read further. But if you need more convincing, this blog is for you. I plan to talk about how running in the morning has affected me and the difference it made in my life. Before that, I want to give a small shout-out to my club, The Daily Grind. If you haven’t joined yet, feel free to use the link below to become a member.
Background and history
Enough about The Daily Grind, let’s move on to today’s topic. I actually started running a long time ago, during the COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, I think I gained about 10 kg just staying at home — eating, studying for AL, watching about 20 episodes of TV series a day, and sleeping. To be honest, I’m not much of an athletic person. If you know me personally, you know my favorite sports are F1, football, and anything that keeps me on a chair with minimal movement. So, during the COVID period, the main reason I started running was that staying in the same place for a few months was driving me crazy. You all can remember how that feels — no meeting friends, no school, no classes, and imagine spending time with your annoying brother for about five to six months and eating who knows how much jackfruit as well.
If I remember correctly, my thaththa and malli joined me on my first run, and we all wore masks. I like to run on the road, but at that time, I didn’t have the friendship with the neighborhood dogs that I have now. So running in the road was basically equal to running from dogs. In my village, there’s a small ground about 500 meters away from my home, and that was actually a really nice place to jog. In 2020, there was actually no one else there, but after about a year, a few people started coming, and I can remember one day I played soccer with them as well (three guys brought a football with them, and I ended up discovering how hard it was to actually play soccer compared to running). And since then, I’ve done some regular jogging and continued even after my ALs. However, during the last few months, I was unable to go for my morning run because I had to come to uni, but I’m happy to say that about 2 weeks ago, I started jogging again. Now, there are about five or six people who come to the ground (four are from my family, and Amma thinks if she can walk a few kilometers, she can do a 15 km hike), and it’s a good part of my day.
Physical health
But you’ll want to know how this jogging in the morning really affected my daily life, right? Let me start with a small example. After my ALs, I started working in our shop, helping to lift things and assist during deliveries. There’s a small door in the lorry, and to get to the upper part, you have to hang onto two pillars and use your body weight to lift yourself. But before COVID, I distinctly remember there was no way I could jump into that part without hanging onto those pillars. However, after COVID, even though I had gained a few kilograms, my legs were strong enough to lift me. At that time, that was one of my greatest achievements in terms of my physical health. If you know me now and had known me during my OL years, you’d know how much weight I have gained. But even with that weight, I think I’m comfortable because running has really strengthened my legs.
Another example is last year when I went to “Siri Pada.” During that 15 km walk, I always had enough energy, and I could see how others suffered because they couldn’t walk 2 km without stopping. So I think these examples provide a small insight into how running in the morning has affected my physical health. Now, let’s talk about how it changed the studying and working part of my life as well.
Studying, Working, and Being Productive
Life
I personally don’t believe in some of the cultural rituals we have in Sri Lanka, but I still follow them because they provide structure to some parts of our life. One thing I love doing most is being ahead of others through planning. If you plan your day, you know how easy it is to work, be in the moment, and enjoy your life without many distractions. To have that plan, you need to make a habit of things that you complete every day without giving a lot of attention. This means making some things in your life a habit so you don’t have to think about them when it comes to doing them every day. After a few weeks of running, I was able to get up in the morning and get ready for the run without much effort. This small habit gives me the courage to form other habits as well.
Learning and Habits
For example, one of the main reasons I started listening to podcasts was running. At the time, I was not into non-fiction reads, but running in the morning gave me a nice time to listen to music or a podcast without any other distractions (other than Malli asking for the time after every round so he could go home). Listening to the podcast Bookwork (I’ll add the link below) changed my whole life and how I approached things. Having the run planned on the calendar meant I needed something to do after that. So then comes the shower and breakfast. Then I had the whole day left to plan as I pleased. But all of it started with running in the morning. If you haven’t tried it yet, just give it a small try. Try a 30-minute walk/run with your headphones and listen to something. For me, that’s the best time to think of new things and plan things in my head. Because of all the planning, I started journaling, and the actual reason behind my journaling is I listened to a podcast about journaling on a walk on Koggala Beach. Even when I’m not at home (vacation or somewhere else), it has become a habit for me to do a small morning run/walk. Just having one habit changed my whole life.
Studying
For studying and working, you need a calm mind. To achieve that calm state of mind, you can do some meditations or have a mindfulness session. But you can achieve both just by running in the morning. A morning run is one of the calmest parts of my day, and it helps a lot to work after the run as well. How I think that works is after the run, I usually take a shower, wash my running clothes, then have breakfast. After that, I usually sit at my desk and start some work. You would not believe how much focus I have after a morning run, and there’s a huge difference between the days I go for a run and the days I do not.
Summary
I think that basically sums up my journey and how it affected my life in different aspects. Again, if you haven’t tried this, just try one day a week then try to start doing more. Of course, the first few days are going to be difficult, but with time, you will achieve a place where you really love to run in the morning. Actually, I lied a little; during the last few months, I was lazier than I usually am. I mean, during the last semester, there were days I was at the ground at 3:45 AM. So I’m thinking about doing the same. And a small tip before the end, try to have a partner. That always helps, whatever it is you are doing. If you are working on a long-term goal, always try to find someone with the same energy. I really do hope these blogs actually give small insights where you can improve your life, and feel free to let me know what you think about these. Use the comment section or send me a DM through LinkedIn or WhatsApp. Cheers.
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