I was reading an IG post recently from James Clear who wrote Atomic Habits and he said that the most important thing you have to do that day should happen first. Well I have known since the dawn of time (2016) that running is the most important thing for me to do first each day. I swear, you can actually buy time by exercising first thing in the morning. I not only make better food choices and have a better perspective on my day and on my life, I also feel like I have all this extra time because I'm not thinking about my workout all day, it's just done. It seriously feels like I bend time by running first thing.
So why do a I fight that?! I don't know. Sometimes there have been valid reasons, like time contraints. I don't have a treadmill at home or heavy weights and sometimes my workout was too long for me to be able to get to the gym and do my workout and then get ready and get to work. Except the thing is I haven't gone to work in an office for 2 1/2 years, which is almost 50% of the time I've been running again. I just figured that out in real time while I am writing this. I would like to now, affectionately, call myself a dork.
This morning I didn't go run right out of the blocks because I had a run interval session scheduled with my coach at 10am. So I got a bunch of stuff done, got my food and work stuff ready, and left for the gym at 9:30am. I woke up this morning already dreading my long run on Saturday (it's only Wednesday), an indication of how out of sorts I was. I was also feeling overwhelmed and I am genuinely tired, so by the time I got to the gym I was already emotionally and cellularly out of juice. Before the workout started my coach and I talked about how I was feeling, and then we went forward with the workout. I will insert here something very important, something that is the exact opposite of being a dork: I always show up for my training sessions/workouts with my coach. Always. Always. I think, in six years going twice a week, I've cancelled twice, and that's because I was sick. We've eached missed because of races or vacations, but barring those I show up. I did not want to go today, but I didn't even consider not going. I'm not cancelling--I respect my coach and his time. I'm not cancelling--I respect myself and if you respect yourself you show up for yourself, even on the days you don't want. Maybe especially on the days you don't want to.
And here's what happened, here's what always happens: I started off sluggish and quiet; I ended more energetic and chatty. Grant it, my system is a little depressed and my coach called off my run for tomorrow, and we're doing a play-it-by-ear plan for the rest of the week. But I felt better. I showed up and did something I thought I didn't have in me. I don't know if it was my best workout ever. I know it wasn't my worst. And none of that matters. I got in the car and immediately knew that my day had been reset--my perspective was back in balance. That's what moving my body first thing does for me. Instead of my mind and body and spirit all trying to work things out on their own (and my mind always wins on those days), they integrate. They pull together and work like the team we are meant to be.
So no run tomorrow but, by god I better get myself out the door for a walk first thing. The whole machine of me works so much more smoothly if my body gets what she needs at the start of the day. I've learned this over and over and over. No one ever said it would be easy, but I can attest that it's most definitely worth it. GO (walk, skate, swim, bike, skip, jump, lift, box) Run!