what has gone wrong with the morning routine?

Time for a little honesty now. I hate getting out of bed in the dark and as such my morning routine has really suffered. For over four months I was getting up before the rest of the house, going out for a run and getting back in time to do some writing before the children woke up.

Now though, the running has taken a back seat. And that back seat, is on the back of a bus, somewhere a million miles from here.

I still am out of bed every day before the kids get up, and that’s still an achievement. A lot of days, I’m able to get some writing done before they are awake. But selfishly, I want more than that.

It was much simpler when I woke up, threw my running gear on, and ran a mile or two before working. But now that I’m not doing that, there’s a horrible feeling of guilt that I’m not doing enough. I understand that this is normal and doesn’t mean anything of the sort. The reality is that I’m up and about, looking after the kids, going to work, and still making good daily progress to by novel. All of this is good stuff. I shall make a note.

Good stuff.

Let’s see what tomorrow brings.

running update

I am still running. Admittedly not as often as I was when I started the new habit. In April, I started off by running every day, and this continued until probably the middle of July when I started allowing myself a day off here and there. Right now, I'm getting out about four times a week. The biggest hurdle has been the darker mornings. I hate getting up in the dark as it is, and getting up to go outside when it all sounds a bit miserable out there - well on some mornings that's been just too much. However, I have been out in the dark and wet, and once I'm out there and running I can't say I really notice it. The aim has never been to get fit; I have no plans to take part in any races. The point of the running was to get me up in the morning and find that bit of 'me' time before the house wakes up.

Even if I choose not to go running, I don't lie in bed. I'll get up, grab a coffee, and sit down to do some writing. This new morning routine has been hugely impactful on my happiness. Every day, even if I get no time to do anything else that I might want, I know I've had that little bit of time in the morning to write. This makes it so much easier to commit to time spent with the family, playing with the kids, being present for them. And when it comes to the crunch, that's what I want to be. A dad who was present.

still running

There have been few changes in my running routine since I started the daily run. The most significant has been allowing myself to take a day off if I want to. Giving myself permission to do that didn’t open the floodgates to daily excuses like I thought it might. Instead I’ve found myself taking one or two days off a week. What I haven’t changed is that even if I don’t go out for a run, I still get out of bed at pretty much the same time. In almost three months I haven’t got out of bed later than six a.m.

The early mornings are important to me and I hope they will form the keystone for my morning routine forever. Waking up before the children tell you its time to wake up gives you that little bit of a head start on the day. I’ve at least downed a cup of coffee and got showered before anyone else wakes. Small victories like this help keep me in a good mood for the rest of the day.

What to do with that head start though? I’m a writer so my first priority should be to contribute something to my writing day. However, I still haven’t identified when my muse is most productive. Rarely at six a.m. do I find it easy to crunch out a thousand words. But I’m equally struggling if I write very late before bed. I have a feeling, I’m most productive at around mid-morning but that is extremely inconvenient when you’ve a full time job to commit to. I guess it’s actually a bit of compromise and I’ve trained myself to write when I can.

simple running update

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I was taking a different approach to running. This time it was going to be more about cultivating a running habit than building up to longer distances or faster times.

So three weeks on and how are things going? I’m pleased to report that I’ve been running every morning since I made the commitment. That means for the last three and a bit weeks, I’ve got up at shortly after 5am, to go for a run. I haven’t taken any music, or attempted to track any of my runs. And it’s been pretty good.

I know that things would have been more difficult if the weather hadn’t been so great, yet there have been mornings when it’s been raining, and I’ve still managed to get out of bed. Leaving the gadgets at home has speeded my getting out of the house.I find that I don’t miss the music, and to be honest, it was becoming an extra chore to find something I actually felt comfortable running to. Those ten to twenty minutes each morning, are a good time for me to ponder on what lies ahead for me that day. It’s probably as close to meditation as I’m ever going to get.

If I continue this until Tuesday, that’s a whole month I’ve been doing this. I’d wish myself luck, but right now, I don’t feel I need to. I know that I can keep this up.

simple running

I quite enjoy running. I’ve been an on/off runner for the last ten years I suppose. It probably started around the last time I was a member of a gym getting fed up with the membership prices, then seeing others running around the neighbourhood with all the freedom you could believe.

I wanted that.

And I’ve had it. But it comes in bursts of enthusiasm before petering out. If i were forced to put a label on it, I’d say I was a summer runner, finding it much more difficult to pull my running gear on when it’s blowing a gale outside in the black of a winter’s morning. But even that description isn’t quite right either. I’ve managed to lose my enthusiasm in the middle of long summer months, and reduce my running efforts to once or twice a week, before dropping them completely.

But I’m not a fool. I know that exercise is good for me. Especially so for someone who spends so much time sitting down in his day job; I need to get off my butt and lose a few calories. So, I’ve decided that from today, I’m starting running again.

Now what website should I use to track my runs? What mobile app should i use on my iPhone to keep me motivated? What’s the best music to get me through hard stretches?

Those were seriously the first things I thought of. Not how great it will be to get some fresh air on my own, or won’t it be nice to be able to eat without feeling quite so guilty. It’s sad isn’t it? But once I thought a bit more I realised it was these same things that are meant to motivate, that are actually holding me back. I want to go for a run. I don’t want to enter a marathon. I want to be alone with my thoughts. I don’t want to listen to some dance tracks with a good running beat. i want to put my running shoes on, and be out the front door in five minutes. Not faffing around the house, grabbing my iPhone, making sure the app is running, stopping when a GPS signal is lost, getting home and uploading, then following a rigid training plan.

No. i don’t want to do that. So I’ve decided not to.

I’m going to run. Simply. Run.