How do you get in the habit of running in the morning when you aren’t a morning person?

There’s a difference between a morning person and someone who wakes up early to get shit done. Gang, I’m not a morning person but I like waking up early because I am far more productive in the morning than I am in the evenings. AND, I am not the type of person who can muster the energy to run after a long day at work unless there is a group waiting for me. (Which is rare.)

So, here are some tips to help you get into the habit of waking up early to run.

1. Habits take time to form. It’s all about persistence, patience, commitment, planning, and baby steps.

   MAKE A PLAN. Take a beat to flesh out why you want to wake up early, what you plan to gain, and why it’s important to you. Then, make it happen but start small! Shoot for consistency and don’t beat yourself up if you aren’t perfect. You’ll get there. BABY STEPS.

2. Stop pressing snooze.

   Controversial opinion here but stop pressing snooze. If you’re the type of person who loves to press snooze, just set your alarm 20 minutes later so you aren’t robbing yourself of restful sleep. Sleep is so important. You won’t get into the habit of waking up by pressing snooze. Just give yourself the one snooze IF YOU HAVE TO, then get your ass up and out of your room as fast as possible. Don’t get back into bed.

3. Try to find a consistent bed time.

   Obviously it’s next to impossible to go to bed at the exact same time 7 nights a week. But shoot for something consistent and stick with it when you can. Your body likes a routine bed time.

4. If you plan to run in the morning, lay your stuff out.

   Have everything you need ready to go. I am not a person who can roll out of bed and go run. I need an hour to drink coffee and go to the bathroom. If there isn’t coffee and a pre-run poop, I’m not running. It’s just how I am. So I wake up even earlier. I’m at peace with it but it’s one of many ways to get into the habit of running in the morning.

5. If you drink coffee, have it on a timer.

   Easily one of the best tactics to make waking up early a part of your routine is to have coffee ready to go when you wake up.

6. Accountability.

   Do you have a friend or two you can meet once or twice a week for a morning run? It’s a lot harder to bail on someone you know is counting on you, even if you struggle to get out of bed. Just remember to always confirm the night before AND DON’T BAIL. Don’t be that person.

7. Don’t run or workout fasted.

   Ladies, you don’t need to eat a huge meal but have something in the morning. A little oatmeal, half a banana, even a glass of milk or nut milk. Just have something before you workout.

8. Keep showing up.

   It took me months before waking up early wasn’t a huge struggle but now, thanks to a semi-consistent bed time, I wake up around the same time every single day without too much struggling in the morning. Just keep showing up. Don’t hit snooze. Get your ass. up and moving as soon as you can.

As much as I love waking up early, the summer is the time when I really work at it because running early before it gets brutally hot is SO IMPORTANT. But remember, not everyone needs to be a morning person. If you have the flexibility in your schedule to run later in the day and hate waking up early, stop trying to force yourself to be a morning person. Do what works for you. If that means finding a way to wake up early to make it all fit, do that. Otherwise, just show up when you can, how you can.

Hope that helps gang! Kick ass, take names.