By Christie Aschwanden, Photo: Keith E. Morrison, The New York Times, January 19, 2022
I was so tempted to skip the run. It was a Thursday afternoon in early December, and by the time my five Zoom meetings were done, it was getting dark and the sky was spitting sleet. Still, I headed out the door, because my last call of the day had been with a couple of professional runners, each with multiple national championship titles in distance running under their belt. Physician Megan Roche and her husband David had encouraged me to think of my workout as recess after a long day of work, rather than another item on my to-do list.
“I struggle with motivation all the time,” Mr. Roche said. What gets him over the hump is finding joy in the activity itself. Sometimes it helps to get a little silly, he said. “It sounds ridiculous, but if you’re running down a slight hill or even just tired, put your arms out like you’re an airplane and suddenly everything become less serious.”
It did sound silly, but when I tried the airplane arms trick, my dark, cold run became surprisingly joyful. Here are some other ways you can find inspiration and maybe even a little glee in your daily workout.
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