Motivation for early morning training

DriverMad

Hi Folks,

How do people motivate themselves for early morning training.
My days are getting very busy and I planned to go for a run this morning. However I could not get out of the bed. Had the gear ready downstairs, so I would not wake my wife and kids. I went to bed early and all. I dont want to be taking too much time out of the day when I come home from work to go running.

I woke but just could not get out of the bed at 6:15.. How do people motivate themselves?

I will try again tomorrow morning.

Thanks.

DustyBin

DriverMad wrote: »

How do people motivate themselves?

Just remember that you didn't get to run today
And if you don't manage to haul yourself out of the scratcher tomorrow morning you wont get to run then either

If you want to shift to morning only running then outlaw all evening running so as you don't have that option to fall back on

A missed day is a missed day, pretty soon you'll be up and out the door
It's all in the mind, there's no silver bullet

ronnie085

Bright mornings should help, don't think about it, straight out of bed the second you wake and basically htfu

TFBubendorfer

Look at it that way:

If you run in the evening, you have all day to come up with an excuse not to run.

Better to get it done in the morning, then.

forestman

Im usually the same as in I prefer to train in the evening but as I have a very busy weekend ahead I needed to get my long run in this morning. I mentioned it to my usual training partner and it suited him to head out at 6 this morning as well. That was all the motivation I needed as I didnt want to put him to the hassle of it and then not show up. So perhaps find a few people who train early and commit to meeting them, that way you will drag the arse out of the scratcher and get moving. Thats my 2 cents worth anyway!!

Oryx

Just do it. Once you know you have to get this training done, and this is your only time to do it, that should motivate you. There is no magic technique, youve got to make yourself do it.

Dont dawdle when the alarm goes, no 'five more minutes and then....'. Jump straight out of bed. Then take 10 seconds to let the dizziness settle. Know in advance what you are going to do, and in what order: dress (kit ready), eat, water bottle etc ready, go. I know from experience how easy it is to waste 20mins of precious training time fanny ar5ing around because you didnt have yourself ready to go.

It gets easier once your body clock adjusts to early mornings.

n-dawg

I've recently switched to morning runs too and what made the biggest difference for me was going to bed an hour earlier...

Gringo78

forestman wrote: »

I mentioned it to my usual training partner and it suited him to head out at 6 this morning as well. That was all the motivation I needed as I didnt want to put him to the hassle of it and then not show up. So perhaps find a few people who train early and commit to meeting them

+1 you will get out of bed if someone is going to be hanging around waiting for you. After a couple of mornings doing it, you actually don't need that motivation anymore, it just seems like the right way to start the day.

Comic Book Guy

OP I made the same switch from evening runs to morning runs in the past couple of months. Once ya get the first morning out of the way ya will be fine.
Like yourself i couldn't spend the time in the evenings after work cause of a new addition to the family. Just focus on the nice feeling of having your training done first thing and being able to spend your evenings free from missed training guilt!!
Like previous posters said don't hit the snooze button, just get up and Do It!
As the motto goes "the other guy is doing it".

myflipflops

If you need some help, stick the alarm clock on the other side of the room so you have to get up to knock it off. Put your training clothes and shoes beside the clock. If you can get your gear on straight away, you will get out the door.

Habit will form pretty quickly.

PaulieYifter

Just need to get into the habit. The bright mornings should make it easier. You'll feel very smug after it. 6:15 is a lie on by the way!

Dutchie

I've been forced to change to morning runs since my twins were born (3 kids under 3!)

I think its easier to run at 6am if you're a morning person (i am luckily)
I know that if i dont get up when the alarm goes off at 6 i won't get a session in (wifes new rules)

As for motivation- you need to be intrinsically motivated to achieve, nobody can do it for you!

theboyblunder

DriverMad wrote: »

Hi Folks,

How do people motivate themselves for early morning training.
My days are getting very busy and I planned to go for a run this morning. However I could not get out of the bed. Had the gear ready downstairs, so I would not wake my wife and kids. I went to bed early and all. I dont want to be taking too much time out of the day when I come home from work to go running.

I woke but just could not get out of the bed at 6:15.. How do people motivate themselves?

I will try again tomorrow morning.

Thanks.

Three simple steps.

1. Enter and run a race very soon.

2. Get passed out by someone in fancy dress because you didnt train. Maybe a bloke in a mankini

3. Make sure you clearly remember it.

End of problem.


If 1. and 2. fail, then HTFU.

EauRouge79

theboyblunder wrote: »

Three simple steps.

1. Enter and run a race very soon.

2. Get passed out by someone in fancy dress because you didnt train. Maybe a bloke in a mankini

3. Make sure you clearly remember it.

End of problem.


If 1. and 2. fail, then HTFU.

Got passed out by a lasagne in Berlin a few years back at the 41K mark in the marathon! The lasagne ran a 3:15 marathon that day.

theboyblunder

EauRouge79 wrote: »

Got passed out by a lasagne in Berlin a few years back at the 41K mark in the marathon! The lasagne ran a 3:15 marathon that day.

Dr BB's perscribes: more early morning runs! :-)

DriverMad

Thanks for all the replies.
I got our alright in the morning but did not like it as much a running in the evening. Do people drink water before bed? Bring water with them.
I felt like crap, half asleep going down the road. Did not enjoy it all.

What kind of routine do people have in the mornings?

TakeaBowSon

I've been trying to get into this habit with some success over the past month.

Its definitely getting easier and I agree with previous posters that habit and organisation are key.

Definitely the way forward!

TFBubendorfer

DriverMad wrote: »

What kind of routine do people have in the mornings?

Get up, get dressed, go to the toilet, have half a litre of water, go out. It takes about 15 minutes and works entirely on autopilot. I'm usually 2 miles down the road before I wake up.

scriba

TFBubendorfer wrote: »

... entirely on autopilot

The key words for me too, if I have everything laid out the night before where it's supposed to be, then I can be out running before I have a clue what the hell's going on. Sometimes with a t-shirt on backwards...

tHE vAGGABOND

The first step out of bed is the hardest - after that its fine.

Like many people, to fit running into a busy day I had to start running in the morning, and now prefer it that way to be honest as Im often wrecked at the end of the day.

Again, like a few others, I have become a morning person.

Naos

Possibly open to abuse here, but I always thought this was good:

http://www.menshealth.com/fitness/working-out-matthew-mcconaughey/page/3

...Actually, it's the kind of morning that makes you want to stay in bed -- fortysomething degrees, the sun still behind the mountains -- but McConaughey has already invoked his motivation mantra, the one phrase that gets his butt out the door for both work and a workout: "Tie your shoes," he says. "It's that simple. You tie your shoes, man, you know you're gonna do it."

Good interview, worth the read.

b.harte

I did it!
Saturday morning, before work, up at 05:15, on the road for 05:30 and found it a great way to wake up.
Just me, empty country roads, a few foxes and a lot of bird-song when dawn broke.
It was a fantastic experience and one I would recommend.
I went to work (on-time) awake, fresh and full of beans.
Looking forward to doing it again soon.
The best bit?
I got a 17.5km run, showered and fed / watered before work so was able to come straight home to see the kids before they went to bed (12hr shift).
A happy wife, happy kids, and no excuse.
That's motivation enough for me.

hot to trot

Re ye all young/flexible? when I get up in the morning it takes me ages to loosen up enough to walk normally and put my shoes on . I would be concerned that i would waste so much time trying to warm up and loosen up and that I would either get injured or not get a proper run.

is this cos I am old and decrepit:(

Running Fool

I managed to slip in a few runs last week and again yesterday, was home before 9am!

But am i right in saying that early morning runs are more suited to a steady or slow 5-10miles? And not suited to speed work/intervals/tempo runs.
At least I definitely don't feel like it anyway!

TFBubendorfer

hot to trot wrote: »

Re ye all young/flexible?

I'm neither, but what kind of excuse is that not to go running in the morning"!

hot to trot wrote: »

is this cos I am old and decrepit

Is there any possible way to answer that in the positive without being put on your kill list?

You certainly did not give the impression of either being old or decrepit in THAT race in Belfast.

Murta

Running Fool wrote: »

But am i right in saying that early morning runs are more suited to a steady or slow 5-10miles? And not suited to speed work/intervals/tempo runs.
At least I definitely don't feel like it anyway!

I recall reading somewhere that late afternoon/evening (4-7pm) is best for speed work something to do with core body temperature and flexibility.

Early mornings restricted to recovery/easy runs as body is least flexible and glycerin levels down from overnight fasting. Altought body can be trained / adapts over time so regular early morning runs should eventually get easier.

huskerdu

Running Fool wrote: »

I managed to slip in a few runs last week and again yesterday, was home before 9am!

But am i right in saying that early morning runs are more suited to a steady or slow 5-10miles? And not suited to speed work/intervals/tempo runs.
At least I definitely don't feel like it anyway!

That is very true for me. I don't know if it is the same for all runners.

I used to hate running as soon as I got up. However, sometimes it's the only time I have to run, so I just decided to HTFU and get out there.

However, I avoid all speed work/intervals/tempo runs. Works for me.

Peckham

It's like everything else with running, it's all about building the habit then it just becomes second nature. In terms of adjusting to early morning running, I found it easiest to make my alarm go earlier by 10 minutes each week - i.e. I get up at 6:20 for work, so in order to fit a run in I pushed that back to 6am one week, then 5:50 the following week and so on until I was getting up at 5:20 which would allow me to fit in a 6 mile run and get home by my my normal waking time of 6:20 (and did this twice a week during my most recent training cycle).

As others have mentioned, having the kit laid out the night before is paramount. I always did this right down as far as having the front door key off the key ring and in the front door waiting to be turned!

Lock

I've always struggled trying to establish a morning run routine. Last week I only got out once for a morning run. But I loved it! It was so good to have it done that early. The rest were all PM runs.

Haven't ran in the morning yet this week but I'm trying to go one better than last week and get 2 or maybe even 3 AM runs. I'm going to try improve week by week as I really have to start soon. It would make training a lot easier.