Wish You Could Be A Morning Person? It's Never Too Late!

Wishing you had more time in your day for both yoga AND running? A few shifts, and you're there!

When I was younger, I couldn't think of anything worse than getting up early to practice. I would go to sleep in my leotard so I could roll out of bed and into practice, squeezing every second out of my time in bed. By the time I was in college, I did everything I could to schedule my earliest class at 10 AM. I was approached to be the crew coxen when I was in college because I'm small, loud and kind of bossy and was really interested until I found out practice started at 6 AM on the river. To think I let such a neat opportunity pass me by just because I couldn't wrap my head around getting up early is something I regret to this day.

Fast forward 20(ish) years, a career, a very busy husband and two small children later, and I'm still sleeping in and scheduling my runs in at lunch or after work after my husband is home. I was making it happen and living the dream. I worked through a demanding career, my husband's demanding career and not one but two kids.

But no one anticipates pandemics. And that's what it took to convert me to an early morning person. It's not like I was inspiried all of the sudden. Unfortunately, I had no choice. My kids were both in daytime care at that time, so running or yoga was always scheduled for lunch. Until school and preschool was closed - and then my precious daytime running schedule was obliterated. My day was not only filled with work, but it was also filled with teaching, changing diapers and making lunches again. Either of my kids had any interest in riding in the BOB when it was pouring rain, and I couldn't leave them alone. If I had any chance of maintaining fitness, I had to train myself to get my miles in first thing.

It was painful. It took several months to click in. It took a long time to figure out nutrition. But I did it, and I can't imagine ever going back to my old schedule.

Here are some helpful tips to help you transition to early morning activity

1. Start with a soft launch!

   1. Getting up at 5 AM and knocking out a tough 90 minute power vinyasa or expecting your body to carry you through a 10K tempo within your first week may be more than your bod wants to deal with. Try with a few times a week when you can start your mornings a little later, and doing 20-30 minutes easy. Each week, start moving the clock back bit by bit and then start to add days from there.

2. Find your morning friends and make plans

   1. Nothing will drive you out of bed than the fear of being late for a friend.

3. Lay out all of your items the night before

   1. Set out everything that will go on your body, including headphones, reflective gear/headlamps, heart rate monitors, and watches. Lay out a quick breakfast and your fuel. Set your shoes and jacket by the door. If you are doing yoga at home, set up your space the night before so you can go straight to your mat. If you are traveling, put everything in the car if you can. Make your morning as plug and play as possible.

4. Start out extra easy - make your first mile light. Take an extra few minutes going through warmup sequences in the morning. Be gentle on yourself first thing!

5. Save the more enjoyable activities for the morning, it will be much easier to roll out of bed when you are doing something that you are looking forward to

6. Make it a ritual and routine

   1. Listen to your favorite podcasts or music

   2. Wear your favorite gear

   3. If you are outside, take in the quiet of the morning

7. Reward yourself when you are done

   1. Grab your favorite coffee

   2. Eat your favorite breakfast burrito

   3. Take a hot shower and jump into your favorite sweater

8. Take on the identity of being a morning person

   1. This sounds a little silly, but once you start to think of yourself as a morning yogi and runner, you are then a morning yogi and runner.

It's going to take time, and probably more time than you think it will, but pivoting to getting workouts done in the early morning will free up hours of time at the end of the day so you can spend more time with family and other hobbies. If you are training for a race, it will make an early morning wakeup on race day much more palatable, and your body will thank you for getting it used to early morning running - most road races start early too!

You've got this.