Runners

JULY 2018 RUNNER’S WORLD 53HOW TO MAKEMORNINGS STICKREWARD YOURSELFTreating yourself to something youenjoy after the run – like the day’sfirst scroll through Instagram,your favourite podcast, or adelicious breakfast – will actuallydevelop neurological pathwaysthat associate the early-morningrun with said reward. Soon,those same Pavlovian pathwaysactivate whether you give yourselfthe reward or not. It’s like yourbrain learning to subconsciouslymotivate itself.``````LET YOURSELF GO SLOWLYFor those used to running in theafternoon or evening, the body’searly sluggishness might bedisheartening at first. “My onepiece of advice,” says coach JohnHonerkamp, “is focus on effort,not pace. The body is slow-movingin the morning, and it needs toget used to it.” The surest wayto abandon your new morningroutine is trying to PB every day.“It doesn’t mean you’re not gettingfitter. Getting out the door is theimportant thing.”``````GIVE IT THREE WEEKSBefore the November Projectbecame a fitness sensation,founder Brogan Graham wastasked with convincing friends,acquaintances and strangers towake up before the sun. Once iseasy – it’s novel and thrilling. Buthow do you make it a habit? “Makea goal of more than one morning,”Graham says. “Your first time isgoing to suck. The second oneyou’ll have a better understanding.And the third, you’ll be lookingforward to getting up.”``````THINK ABOUT FUTURE YOURecall when you first startedrunning. Maybe your ankleshurt, your lungs burned. Yetyou persisted; and looking backnow, you’re better for it. Takethis same outlook for developinga morning routine right now:You’ll be so glad you did. “Ialways regret not going on mymorning runs,” says Honerkamp.“But I never regret doing it.”Howyoufeelinthemorningisadirectresult of all the decisions you made theprevious night. Adopt these small habits,and becoming an early runner will beworlds easier.``````Pull back your bedtime.Perhaps thesingle most important part of getting upearlyisgoingtobedearly.“Alotofpeopletrying to develop a morning runningroutine neglect that part,” says coach MarioFraioli. “As you start to get up earlier, youwill get tired earlier, and listening to thatcueisessential.”Inessence,becominga morning runner is less about forcingyourself awake and more about listening towhenyourbodyneedstohitthehay.``````Trymelatonin–butearlyevening.Melatoninisanaturalhormoneproducedbythebodythatinducesdrowsinessandregulates the wake-sleep cycle. Recently,over-the-counter supplements have gainedpopularity among those who have troublefallingasleepbutdon’twanttocommittoan ‘artificial’ sleeping aid. (You do need aprescription though.) Kristin Eckel-Mahanrecommends that instead of poppingmelatonin right before bed, like you wouldasleepingpill,takeitearlierintheevening,``````whichwillworktomoreeffectively adjustyour body clock. “To shift your chronotype,this is a much better mechanism,” she says.``````Ban blue light.You’ve heard it athousand times: no phones for at least30 minutes before bed. That’s not justbecausecheckingworkemailcan stressyou out, but also because the blue light issignalling to your brain, and thus the restof your body, that it’s time to be active.“The central pacemaker in the brain isprimarilydeterminedbythelight-darkcycle, and is extremely light-responsive,”says Eckel-Mahan. “Abnormal light ex-posure will misalign your clock.”``````Eat dinner early (and don’t eat again).Each cell, tissue, and organ in the bodyhasitsowninternalclockthat producesits own biological rhythm, and in a perfectworld, all of these clocks will be in sync.Just like bright lights signal to yourbrainthatit’stimetowakeup, food tellsthe metabolic organs that it’s time foractivity. That midnight snack you thinkis harmless (you’re a runner, after all), isactually telling your liver and kidneys, forexample, that it’s time to go. “Generallyyouwantyourfoodintaketomatch youractivity phase,” says Eckel-Mahan. “Thatkeepsyourclocksaligned.”What’s more,she adds, eating during your body’s restphase, and thus misaligning your clocks, isthoughttopromoteobesity,diabetes, andother metabolic disorders.``````Don’t bring work home with you.It’s the advice of innumerable productivitymanuals and self-help guides: get yourhardest work done first thing in themorning,whenyourmindistypicallysharpest and willpower strongest. Andyour morning run could also benefit fromit. If you put off your hardest work till theevening, bringing that baggage home withyou, it’s a recipe for stressed sleep. Plus,front-loading your work and running inthe morning (which is shown to improveconcentration and memory) can create apositive feedback loop: run early, feel great,nail your big project, tend to smaller thingsintheafternoon,comehomeclear-headed,fall asleep early, repeat.TO WIN THE A.M.,ACE THE P.M.You get hooked onmorning running. Iget to the office, and``````people are half asleep;they ask me, ‘What areyou on?!’ I feel like I’mon top of the world.”`````` JOHN HONERKAMP, RUNNINGCOACH AND FOUNDER OF THENOVEMBER PROJECT’S FIRSTNEW YORK CITY TRIBE