Unmotivated Start

Today I did not feel the excitement I had been feeling about getting out and starting the day with an early morning run. I felt blank and unmotivated. My body seemed to feel a bit of fatigue. Oatmeal, blah, and coffee. Definitely the few days I have established set my routine and I just decided to proceed with it hoping that maybe my state of mind would change. I could have easily turned around at any moment but I knew that I would be sorry later, plus it might set a dangerous precedent and I might be tempted to take more days off and then slump into ending my resolution less than one week into it. I accidently left earlier than I knew and when I set my timer, I saw that I was a full five minutes ahead of the day before. This immediately lifted my spirits because in this mood, I expected to actually be running behind.


Now with a positive under my belt, I wondered how I might use this extra five minutes. So I ran in the opposite direction for five minutes and then turned back around and got back on my regular path. Of course this added potentially ten minutes to my standard thirty minute run unless I made it up a bit. I decided that is what I should do. So I allowed myself to run a little closer to red line for a little longer.

It was the kind of day that I thought I would end up going into work late. But no, the simple action of sticking to the routine caused things to turn around for the better. I ran for thirty five minutes and actually somehow got back to my apartment earlier than the day before. So I made up some more time. But the best thing about this morning's run/walk was that brief half a second eye contact and exchange of "morning!" I had with that gazelle-like girl. That split second changed my outlook on the entire day. In fact it carried right over through the night and to the next morning.