Let’s face it, mornings are not always easy. Some days it is hard to be motivated to get up and start moving let along getting ready and going for a run before starting the rest of the day. Busy schedules, late nights, and many of life’s other factors can make mornings feel like a chore rather than a wonderful beginning.

Mornings are also one of the best times to get your runs in. The world is calm and peaceful. You are fresh and don’t have a whole day of stress behind you. Traffic and other people are less of a worry. And of course, if you get your run in right away it removes all those opportunities for making excuses.

Even so it can be hard for someone that is not a morning person to reconcile with this and get their morning runs in. Fortunately, we have compiled a few tips to help you get the most out of your runs and become a morning runner.

Don’t Think Just Move

This is really the biggest things that you can do to improve your success with mornings in general and to get more morning runs in. When your alarm goes off, don’t hit snooze, don’t wait a couple of minutes, get up immediately, start moving, and get your day on the go. The hardest part about mornings is getting started, once you are moving and the blood is flowing your brain will naturally start to kick in and wake you up. The longer you laze in bed the more you are signalling your brain that this isn’t really the right time to wake up. Don’t think about it, just move and get started!

Warm Up and Reduce the Risk of Injuries

I know I know we just said got up and get moving, but don’t go running out the door just yet. If you are running in the morning than your muscles are more likely to be stiff since you have not been using them recently. Spending a few minutes stretching and warming up properly will help reduce running injuries and make your run better all around.

Get to Bed Early

It is kind of common sense that if you get more sleep it will be easier to get up in the morning, but that does not mean we always listen to this. To make being a morning runner more enjoyable getting enough sleep is important. This means focus on getting to be a few minutes early so that you can get your rest. Try to find other moments in you day to get things done a little ahead of schedule so that you are free to put your head down on the pillow in lots of time.

Go to Bed In Your Running Clothes

If you have trouble getting going in the morning every obstacle that you can remove makes it that much easier to get out the door. Put your running clothes on the night before and that way in the morning all you have is get out of bed, put on your running shoes, and you are ready to start your warm up routine.

Put your Alarm out of Reach

This comes back to the fist point of just getting moving. If you have your alarm our of reach, or even just outside the bedroom door, this means that you have to get up to shut it off. Now you just got up, DO NOT go back to bed. You are moving keep it going and get your day started, be a morning runner, and have a great run!