The Wrinkled Runner
The Wrinkled Runner
Conquering the "Don't Feel Like Getting Ready" Excuse: Kickstarting Your Run
Hey Running Friends!
Ever wake up to a morning, where the bed's grip seems unbreakable? I utilize some strategies that coax me into my running shoes and out the door, no matter how cozy the blankets are.
There's a way to help out with your run—or any daunting task, like that room you've been meaning to paint—and it's all about the setup. Join me as I offer you the same tactics that help me chip away at the pain of getting ready.
By breaking down the preparation into bite-sized pieces, I've managed to transform the start of my day from a mental wrestling match to a smooth launchpad for those pavement-pounding sessions.
Tune in for some actionable advice that will get you out the door with less effort and more enthusiasm.
If you are looking for a coach to help you reach your running goals, even if it's just to start to run, take a look at my Coaching Services page on the website. I do virtual, in-person (Buffalo, NY area) and also offer single zoom sessions for those would just like to chat with a coach one time.
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If you have any running-related questions, please send an email to sherry@wrinkledrunner.com…I answer every one.
As you know, I'm all about running. I love it, it's what I do. It's actually kind of weird when I'm not in running clothes and I'm in normal clothes and wearing makeup and do my hair other than a ponytail. So it's also weird for me that I can feel like I Don't want to go for a run. I don't feel like getting ready, I just want to snuggle under the covers. I live in Buffalo, new York, and so, as you can well imagine, some mornings it is just not the most pleasant thing to have to get up and do. But in order to run with my husband, I have to get up at like 5 30 in the morning to be able to run with him, and that's like twice a week. So, while I wouldn't trade that for the world, I am not a morning person. I'm actually I Don't think I'm an anything person like I don't. There's no time in the day where I'm just Ready and raring to go. Yeah, I'm not a night owl. I Could go to bed at 9 o'clock and be happy, except I'd wake up at 2 and then be up the rest of the night. I'm not a morning person. I'm absolutely not a morning person. I'm more just a not morning person than I am any other kind of person, so it's hard for me sometimes to get up and go out for that run. So, because of that, there are some things that I need to do in order to Psych myself up and get me out the door. So, first of all, the big one is actually having a running buddy. So both of us you know, we might shove a run if it was up to one or the other of us. Having somebody that you're accountable to and that won't go for a run If you don't go for a run can be very helpful. I Realize, though, that a lot of you may not have that. So what are some other ways to get ready to go? Because that is the issue.
Speaker 1:Right Getting it's the getting ready to go part of it. That can be such a pain and can make us not run, and that happens with everything that we do. I feel like any Project. You know, if you're gonna be painting a room, say, you want to paint a room, it's not hard when you get into painting the room, and most rooms will take, like you know, even if you prime it. You could prime, do a coat in one day, do a coat in the next day and you're done. It's the getting ready. That's the paint in the box, it's the pulling the ladder out from the basement to the room that you're going to paint. It's finding the brushes, going to get the paint at the paint store, figuring out what color, moving the furniture, taping the baseboards and cutting in which is horrible.
Speaker 1:But that's what stops us is the thinking of all the things we have to do just to get ready to do it. And so a lot of times I think we feel like if we can't get something done all in one session, we aren't going to do any part of it. So what I've done with the project side of things is I will set the timer for 15 minutes, like during the day, every day, for however many of days that it takes me, and just for 15 minutes I will get things going that I'm going to need to do for whatever project. 15 minutes is time to drag the ladder up from the basement and get that set up in the room. It's enough time usually to tape most of whatever room that we're going to be painting. It's enough time to find the brushes and, you know, the little trays and all the things that we'll do we'll need and take that to the room. It's enough time to move the furniture out of the room. So, anyway, if you do things up in chunks, then before you know it you're ready to roll and get that room painted. And so try to think of all the things that you do in chunks and in segments of time that you can set a timer for just in the getting ready part of things. And I think you're going to find, like I do, that you're going to get so much more done and your projects. You're going to be flying through your projects If you take that approach, rather than feeling like you need to have an entire day in order to get all these things done.
Speaker 1:So that's about projects, not about running, but it does apply. So I get chunks of things done before the actual getting dressed part, which is which can be the hardest part, is the getting ready. So that's why, for me, running in the morning is best, even though mornings aren't when I'm feeling my best, because then I get up, I do it, I'm done, I'm happy, I'm done. I don't have to think about it later on. I don't have to later on. I don't have to think oh, you know, I should have gone for a run.
Speaker 1:So, unless I'm not doing anything for the day and I can just get dressed into my running clothes and then go later in the day, if I'm not running with my husband, generally morning is best, but whether you have to get up and go or have it to do later, check the weather, lay out what you're going to wear. Some people will sleep in their running clothes, but if you're a menopausal or premenopausal like me, there is no way the night sweats will mean those clothes will definitely not be run ready in the morning. They'll just be disgusting. But if you lay them out, even if you have to take them to work with you and change at work, that will go a long way into getting you ready to run. You can come home. You can just get out the door as soon as you can come home and get your running shoes on or whatever.
Speaker 1:In addition to laying out whatever clothes you're going to be wearing, make sure your shoes, your jacket, your hat, your belt, your lights, your watches, your earphones everything is by your exit, ready to go. That way, if you're missing a glove, you're not finding out about that at six o'clock in the morning or at night when you get home from work and you still have to make dinner and everything. But you are going to get out for a run. If you find that you can't find your glove or can't find your hat, or your shoe is soaking wet from the night before, all those things can contribute to you actually just deciding you're not going to go. So if all that stuff's ready, you don't have to even think about it.
Speaker 1:Earphones are charged up. I remember one time I left for a 20 mile run I was training for a marathon and my wireless earphones died about half a mile into this 20 mile run. Like I was far enough away from home that there was no way I was going back, but I was close enough that I had so much farther to go. And if I'm on a long run like that, I like listening to podcasts or music and it was not only non-motivating and just kind of made me mad for the rest of the run, but it was also a pain in the butt because I had these useless earpieces in my head for 19 and a half miles. So make sure things are charged up, make sure they're ready to go, make sure you know where everything is.
Speaker 1:Another thing for me that makes getting up and out more doable. Is this sounds nuts, probably, but is I have a coffee maker in my room? Sounds crazy, but I am a caffeine fiend and so I have one of those quick cup makers in my room that use K-Cups and while I get dressed I can have a cup brewing before I even leave the room. Now our regular coffee maker I set up before we leave. I grind the beans, we turn it on as soon as we get back so it stays hot because ours doesn't have like a heater underneath and that's a whole thing, because my husband roasts green beans and everything that he does when it comes to coffee is quote, unquote, optimal. But sometimes I just need a cup of coffee before I can get out the door, and especially on mornings where I run with my husband. I drop him off at home and then just run past the house and go run with my son, and that'll be several hours before I can get back and actually get into my morning coffee. So I need that cup of coffee before I go, and having a coffee maker in my room so that while I'm getting dressed it's brewing helps immensely and it helps me to roll out of bed when that alarm goes off, which is another thing too.
Speaker 1:When that alarm goes off, if you're getting up for a run in the morning, especially if you have to go to work afterwards get out of bed. I have a lamp on my nightstand. As soon as that alarm goes off, I roll over and I turn on that light to start getting me waking up. And I get out of bed as soon as I can and get that coffee going, because if you snuggle down if I think about it too much, of course snuggling down in the sheets sounds a lot better than getting up and moving. When that alarm goes off, roll out of bed and start your process. So, for longer runs, when I need some nutrients and carbs before I head out, I keep that next to my bed, actually along with a bottle of water, and I sip the water through the night to stay hydrated Again.
Speaker 1:Insomnia is just part of my no pause, but I'll eat the snack as soon as I get up and then I don't have to drag downstairs. I'm allowing enough time between when I wake up and when I run for that snack to get into my body. My husband takes a long time to get ready in the morning he has this whole thing, and so when we get up at 5.30, we're actually not getting out the door until a little before six. So if I can have that snack ready to go, if I'm going to drop him off and then do a longer run, then I can eat that immediately, even before I get out of bed. And so then that starts to work through my body without having to go downstairs and be like oh, what do I want? Do I want a bagel? Do I want this? Do I want that? You know it's all set up the night before.
Speaker 1:So there are a bunch of excuses why we can't go for a run, but not feeling like getting ready for it does not have to be one of them. Eliminate that barrier and then you can decide about the weather, or if your body needs a rest day, or if you have a niggle that maybe you should be rehabbing instead of going for a run. Those are all good reasons to not go, but just because you don't want to get dressed or because you have to go in your closet and dig around for socks, that should not be one of them. Later in the day you are going to be so happy that you got out the door for that run and you're not going to kick yourself Because you didn't go, just because you didn't feel like it, even if you run on it. Oh, my goodness, I am having to stop and Be silent and wait for these cars to go by every like 30 seconds.
Speaker 1:I live in the city, so like that's not that unusual, but we don't have that much traffic I feel like during this time of the day, but the trucks and the buses and the speed at which they are going by has been insane this whole time I've been trying to record. So if you hear a bunch of traffic, that's why it's not enough today. So anyway, even if you run so I'm talking about even if you run on a treadmill in your basement after that Rant, or if you have to go to the gym, get all that stuff ready to go, pack your bag. I have a hoodie, my basement is cold. My house is like was built in 1900 or somewhere thereabouts, so my basement stone walls, very cold. I keep a hoodie down there that I just put on and To start my workout and then I can throw it off, because the thought sometimes of going down there where it's really cold Is just not what I want to do, but pack your bag to go to the gym. Have that by the door ready to go.
Speaker 1:Whether you go before work, after work, whatever, have all the things that could possibly be an excuse ready before Beforehand. Whether you have to do it the night before, whether you're going to go Later in the day, so you do it in the morning. Whatever, getting ready is key to making sure that your runs are getting done. So, to condense this episode, identify all the things that are in your power to get ready. Figure out how to set up your evening or morning routine or whatever to make it as thought free as possible and get whatever you can ready beforehand and then keep it up. Keep getting ready as consistent as the consistency in your runs, and I think that will go a long way into finding that getting out the door is easier and much more pleasant.