Seize the Day-The Power of Morning Habits for Runners
“Either you run the day or the day runs you.” Jim Rohn
Getting out for your run before the rooster crows can be a challenge. If you want to rise, shine and run; having good morning habits will help. Many successful runners have put into practice morning routines that get them out the door feeling stoked and ready to tack on the miles.
The Power of Habit
Habit: A recurrent, often unconscious pattern of behavior that is acquired through frequent repetition.
“Champions don’t do extraordinary things. They do ordinary things, but they do them without thinking, too fast for the other team to react. They follow the habits they’ve learned,” says Charles Duhigg in his book, The Power of Habit.
Successful runners tend to accomplish extraordinary things because they do ordinary things day after day. They have gradually put routines into place that result in habits. The types of habits that help them succeed as runners.
Many runners agree that getting in a morning run can take the edge off for the rest of the day.
What other benefits are there to making the morning run a habit?
You’re less likely to skip out. Putting your training off to later in the day increases the chance of it being skipped or replaced by something else that may come up.
Serenity of catching a sunrise. Starting your run before the sun wakes up is amazing. The quiet of the beginning of the day calms your mind.
Cooler weather. Beating the heat of the day is a benefit of running early. A crisp morning run makes it easier to get in speed sessions than under the scorching sun.
Easier to get in a second workout. When your training reaches the realm of two-a-day workouts, or if you like to strength train, running early will help you to be able to accomplish this.
It’s easier to balance calories. An end of the day run can be difficult when you have had too big of a lunch or your digestion is not dialed in. An early morning run is a good time to do a fasted workout or run after a light breakfast.
How to Become a Morning Runner
“Habits, scientists say, emerge because the brain is constantly looking for ways to save effort. Left to its own devices, the brain will try to make almost any routine into a habit, because habits allow our minds to ramp down more often,” said Charles Duhigg.
Habits are routines of behavior that are repeated regularly and tend to occur subconsciously. Many people would love to turn their running into a morning habit, but it just doesn’t happen. They get pumped to run early, and then, it fizzles. Running early in the day can become as routine as brushing your teeth and tying your shoes.
How to make running a habit in 4 easy steps:
Decide to Run: Being a morning runner is decided by you. Decide today, to start running early at least twice a week. This will get you on your way to the morning running habit.
Create a Cue: Habits are created by cues. For example, every day we have cues that spur us on to brush our teeth, drink coffee, eat donuts and turn on the TV. The morning running habit can be cued just as easily as any of these other habits. Choose a running cue. For example, decide to run every morning after your first cup of coffee, set your shoes and running clothes out in the middle of the room or put a note on your coffee pot — Go Run!
The Routine Route: It helps to have a morning running route that you can do mindlessly. The fallback route will be the safety net of your early running habit. When a person has to plan out a route, the run can often fall through. The time and effort it takes to plan out a new route can be enough to make you push your run off to later in the day. The route can be five kilometres, 10 or whatever works for you. After your cue, throw on your shorts, shoes and shirt and hit the running route. Get this route established until the point that you can run it with your eyes closed. Then, add a new route to the routine. Doing this will facilitate your running habit.
Run for the Reward: All habits end with rewards. Whether they are feelings of satisfaction or a physical satisfaction, the reward at the end of the run propels you forward. Some rewards: A glass of chocolate milk, writing your mileage in a running journal, knowing you can relax for the rest of the day and the simple satisfaction of running before most people have even woken up.
The Night Before
If you want to get into the habit of running earlier in the day your preparation should start the night before.
Beginning with dinner you can set yourself up for a good start the next day. Consider what you’re eating and how it will affect your morning run. Get a balanced meal a few hours before you go to bed and try to avoid over eating or spicy foods that could cause havoc during your early run.
An hour or so before bed start a nighttime ritual that involves turning the lights low and avoiding blue light. This is a good time to get your gear ready for the morning run.
The Morning Routine
One aid is to make a date with friends. The accountability of knowing that someone is waiting for you will help you to get out of bed.
Take a minute and analyze your morning habits and routine. Change them little by little and you will be bound to find getting out for an early morning run will benefit you.
As Duhigg says, “there’s nothing you can’t do if you get the habits right.”
Avoid these Bad Morning Habits
Make Drastic Changes. When beginning good habits it is best to start slowly. Don’t try to wake up two hours earlier. Instead wake up 10–30 minutes earlier than usual. Try this out for a couple of weeks and then get up even earlier if you want to.
Sleep Late. Staying up late, equals sleeping late. Burning the midnight oil is the perfect way to sabotage your early morning run. Turn off the TV and internet as these are the usual companions of late nights. Try to slowly go to bed earlier and earlier as you wake up earlier. Don’t skimp on sleep as it will only add up to fatigue and injury.
Keep the Alarm Clock Close to Your Bed. Hitting the snooze button is extra easy when your alarm is within arm’s reach. By keeping your alarm away from your bed you will be forced to get out of bed to turn it off. And, since your up, you might as well stay up.
Lay Back Down after you Shut Off the Alarm. Laying back down in bed is just asking for trouble. Chances are once your head returns to the pillow it will be staying there. So muster up the willpower to turn on the lights and get the coffee brewing.
Rationalize. When you wake up you are at your weakest. Your mind can find dozens of reasons to skip out on the early morning run. Don’t give it the chance to rationalize. Just think, “This run is not optional.”
Have No Reason. Motivation to get out on the run comes with good reasons. Do you have a race coming up? Go to bed with a reason in mind for running the next morning. Consider how hard it will be to fit it in later in the day, or how nice it will be to come home from work and chill with the family because your training is complete for the day.
