To run or not to run?

I’ve been avoiding the run for a couple days.  I don’t know if it was the letdown after our trip to State Cross Country or if the change in weather had something to do with it, but I’ve had trouble getting out the door.  The fact is, now that cross country season has ended, I don’t have an obligation to run each weekday afternoon.  I have told myself that the afternoon practice kind of interrupts my day and I look forward to running in the mornings again. When the opportunity came, however, I was back to making a decision – every day. I decided to skip it for a couple of days! 

Parma Girls XC Team 2013

I made the decision last night that I would run this morning.  Morning came and I began to assess the weather and determine if I had a head cold that was bad enough to keep me off the streets.  This was silly because I have often gone for cold weather runs and I am a believer that a little exercise lessens the severity of a cold. I wasn’t completely committed to a morning run, but I chose to don my running gear while I went through the motions of my morning routine – making the bed, cleaning up the breakfast dishes, doing some laundry, checking to see how many views my recent blog post has earned, and so on.

Parma Boys XC Team 2013

I knew that this simple act would bring me closer to the front door.  Just as muscle memory workouts help us perform better in competition, the look and feel of my running clothes helped my mind prepare for the next step.  It worked!  I went for a run and it was great!  It wasn’t my longest or fastest run, but it was effective and I felt better afterwards.

I do this with other aspects of my life.  It’s often easy to talk myself out of any given project because I don’t feel up to it, or it isn’t convenient, or it might be uncomfortable.  When I simply dive in and get the job done, it often proves to be satisfying and not nearly as difficult as anticipated. Sometimes just going through the motions is the jump start I need.

What helps you tackle those things you would rather not face?