Better Than Nothing

This was one of those weeks where I felt I had more to do than hours in the week to get it done. And while I hate to admit it, these are the situations when I have far too easy a time crafting excuses not to run: “I need to save my energy for other commitments”, “I deserve a few days off”, or “I just can’t find the time”.

But this week, as I started assembling my arsenal of excuses, it finally dawned on me that I’ve been needlessly practicing an “all or nothing” approach to running—if I couldn’t run my usual distance, I would take the day off all together. Why do I have this mentality towards my workouts when it’s not how I pursue other commitments? Take work for example: If I have a doctor’s appointment and need to miss a few hours of work, I don’t just decide to take the whole day off. Or if I can’t make the beginning of a party, do I decide it’s not worth going at all? Generally, no. So I decided to extend this same mindset to my running.

When my 8AM meeting on Tuesday left me with only 30 free minutes in the morning, I opted for a quick 1.5 mile loop around my neighborhood. And my only chance yesterday was jumping on the treadmill for just 20 minutes before heading out to Chicago for a few days. Both times I was really happy with myself afterwards—not only did I avoid defaulting to excuses, but I also appreciated the therapeutic benefits of those runs even more than on any other given week. So the next time I find myself concocting reasons not to run, I plan on applying my newfound “better than nothing” approach.