I hate running, and you can too.

I hate running, and you can too.

That’s the title of a book by Brendan Leonard. It’s one of my favorites. So much so, the short read has become the theme song of my daily running routine. I regularly remind myself of the lessons you’ll find within. Which are more evident from the subtitle of the book, “How to Get Started, Keep Going, and Make Sense of an Irrational Passion.”

Known for his punchy and humorous graphics (see @semi­_rad) here is one of my favorites from the book, taken from Chapter 5, “Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable”:

Despite the lack of available “perfect days”, I’ve got a bit of a run streak going. 199 days straight as of this post. Before you start to think I’m tooting my horn (thinking you might be thinking that makes me cringe actually), know that there isn’t anything special about my pace or my mileage. The first 100 days of this streak I ran 1 mile. That’s it. 1 mile a day. The second 100 days will have been 2 miles a day. The distance isn’t the win. The streak is the win. Doing it at all is the win. In that streak, the truth is, I’ve been excited about getting out to run maybe twice. While out on the run, I’ve enjoyed myself maybe six times. But, I’ve enjoyed completing the run EVERY time. I lace up my shoes for the joy I know I’ll have later when I unlace my shoes. There is great pride in a job well done – or just done, especially if it’s something one doesn’t enjoy doing. “And,” as Brendan Leonard says, “the more you run, the more you’ll realize that putting in the effort actually is one of the benefits.”

I’ve heard some people, people I like, people with large followings, encourage others to get out and exercise. But I have to tell you: I don’t like some of the advice. We may have to agree to disagree, but hear me out on this one, as I aim to give some alternative advice.

One guy, with over 150K followers in a post-run selfie video said, “if you don’t like running, if you think it’s torture, find something else. Find something active you like and get after it.”

Seems harmless. I understand what he’s saying. But I don’t like it. First, the word torture is almost always misused. Something hard. Something painful is not torture. If you can stop something, at any given point, at your own will, that thing is not torture. That word is the wrong word. It’s lazy verbiage, used only because its usage has become so common in today’s language. However, the implication of speaking half-truths is dangerous. Half-truths are met with distrust, which instantly undermines the point of this message…encouragement. Not cool, guy. Simply pick another word and it doesn’t immediately give someone an excuse not to do something. Because the actual word torture is something you’d never do. You wouldn’t and shouldn’t pick torture. But you should pick something hard. Which leads me to my second problem I have with this well-intended, falsely encouraging statement is the emphasis on finding something you like as a solution to exercise.

The greatest joy and satisfaction you’ll ever get from exercise is doing something hard. “Something you like” and “doing something hard” are not the same thing if you are serious about starting to exercise. This guy knows that. Anyone that exercises knows that. Keep in mind that his statement (and this writing) will not land the same for those who are already active. Its target audience is the inactive who want to be more active. The fastest way to elevate your internal motivation is not through fun. It comes through done. Fun is fleeting and won’t have the lasting effect on your ability or drive to get things done. Set your sights on something hard, maybe something you’ve been avoiding for years. That’s where the magic is. And if not magic, it’s your brain’s way of helping your heart take the lead instead of your stomach.

If you think this is nitpicky, why don’t you see what your friends who are trying to find something fun are doing? Most of them, nothing. Or close to nothing. Why do I know this? Because that was me for 20 years after I quit playing college baseball. From age 24 to 34 I was active, but I had no routines. I had fun, but I wasn’t intentionally seeking hard things. I was healthy, but I was young. From age 34 to 40 I biked to work nearly every day. But that’s it. It was a point A to point B activity. I never translated the commute as practicing doing hard things. Therefore, that activity and the lessons I learned from it didn’t carry over into everyday life or beyond that time. That’s likely why from age 41 to 44 I did even less. My goals centered on the outcome and not on the process. I was in a rut, something needed to change…

Here is my suggestion. Which is free, like the price of this post. If you want to get in shape, lose some weight, improve your cardio, feel fit, have more energy, or play golf when you’re 90 (that’s me), whatever your goal is, do NOT scan for fun. It’s too complicated. Too distracting. And in a weird way, the overstimulation of the endless “fun” options will trick you into not doing it at all. Instead, choose fast, cheap, convenient, and hard. When everyone else is looking left at the latest and greatest way to do something. Look right, and you’ll likely find the road less traveled. That was running for me. It's fast because I could start it the same day I thought of it. It’s cheap because I didn’t have to purchase anything to do it. It’s convenient because I can do it any day, any time. And it’s as hard as I want it to be. I genuinely don’t enjoy it, but I love what it’s doing for me. I chose running, it could be something else for you, but let me explain my running progression…

In April 2023 I metaphorically planted a flag in the ground that said, “I’m a writer, and I’m a runner.”

It’s time. I can’t sit on my hands when I “want” to write, and I can’t handle sitting around when I “want” to run. By “want” I mean I knew I was capable of both, and I knew both would positively benefit me. Determined to finally be a morning guy, I started each day with a “Morning Mile” before the sun came up, and then I wrote whatever was on my mind until my kids got up. Both felt good. In those initial 5 months I logged 60 runs. This was a massive improvement from the 0 runs I did in the previous 4 years. I knew I had to ease my way into it to maintain momentum, but even then, there were plenty of fits and starts. I found lots of ways to be busy or tired or distracted or maybe I’ll just run tomorrow. While adjustments were being made and there were signs of progress, there was not enough commitment to the plan. Without a dedicated routine, all forms of resistance crept in. In fact, after a few months of action I had a few months of inaction. And by inaction, I mean I ran twice in September that year, and took all of October, November, December, January, and February OFF. No…logged…runs. My Garmin app verifies this. Sheesh! I had made some strides but it just hadn’t clicked yet.

In March 2024 I woke up one day and noticed with fresh eyes that my writer/runner flag had fallen. It was time to put it back up again and guard that goal daily. I saw the positive benefits of doing it, and I saw the negative effects of not doing it. In March I ran 21 days. In April I ran 21 days. In May I ran 18 days. In June I ran 24 days. In July I ran 18 days. In August I ran another 18 days. Fear not dear reader, this stat clambering is nearly done. Its needed to give context, because at this point things were headed in the right direction, and then it finally clicked. Thanks to David Goggins. On August 27, having taken a day off from running, I started his book “Can’t Hurt Me”. I was blown away by his story. His commitment to excellence. And his drive to push himself past artificial limits. On August 28, I got up early and ran. And I haven’t missed a day since. Those 6 months I skipped the year before, I ran every day this year. What seemed crazy then in my fog of laziness, has become a staple of my day today. It’s not the distance, or the time, I’m concerned with. It’s the consistency. And it’s believing I can do more than I think possible.

I heard Dr. Gina Cleo talk about habits recently. Her advice was to not set goals for the outcome you want to accomplish, but instead set goals around the process that will lead you to the thing you want to accomplish. In other words, if you want to lose weight or get in shape, instead of setting an exercise goal, set a goal of getting to the gym. Once you are there the rest will take care of itself. Or at least put you in a position to succeed. We all know what we need to do. Harder than the workout is getting ourselves to become the person we need to be to get that workout done. Make it easier by setting goals and creating a path to put yourself in a position to succeed. As the popular saying goes, “Consistency is the key that unlocks progress.” This resonated with my own experience. I don’t have a “run so many miles in a month” goal. I have a “get up early” goal so that I can run and write every day. To do that I’ve had to replace some bad habits with good habits to be able to do the things I want to do. I wanted to get up earlier, so I had to get to bed earlier. Getting to bed earlier meant I had to give up TV. If my kids are down by 9:00 PM, I want to be in bed by 10:00 PM. That doesn’t leave much time. And for the longest time I would stay up past midnight and wonder why I couldn’t get out of bed in the morning. To close out the day, I replaced TV with a book and I was sleeping like a baby. Planting my flag put things in perspective for me. Do I want to write? Or do I want to watch TV? What do I want to accomplish? What do I want to be known for? When I decided I wanted to write, I simultaneously decided if I’m up I might as well run too. My goal was to get up and lace up my shoes so that I gave myself the best chance to run and to write. That’s it. Every night I leave my shoes and my laptop by the door. And every morning I fight my old habits by rolling out of bed to practice new ones. It’s been intentionally hard, but I’m winning.

For me, getting up early is a win. Lacing up my shoes is a win. Opening the door (rain or shine) is a win. I run and then I write. I’m doing two things that positively impact my life. All because I got up and laced my shoes. The rest will take care of itself.

Here is my advice. Know what you want. Know why you want it. Then set a simple goal around the process to go get it. Maybe you too choose a goal to get up early and get out the door to exercise. Maybe that first day you get out of bed and lace up your shoes and just sip a cup of coffee. Maybe, the next day, you take that cup of coffee for a walk around the block. Maybe after a few days you pick up the pace and save the coffee for after the walk. Maybe the next week you decide to jog around the block. Maybe a month into it you decide an “out and back” jog will expand your potential (and scenery) more than your “around the block” routine so you switch up your route. Maybe that jog turns to a run because you are starting to get the hang of this. And maybe before you know it you end up with a little streak to be proud of, all because you made sure you got up and laced your shoes. Maybe…

Assuming, like me, this is something you want to do but don’t like doing it…just keep going. The best part is finishing the task you didn’t like doing. Celebrate it when you do. Our mind needs an immediate reward. I often do an obnoxious fist pump and a “let’s go!” when I finish just to remind myself what I’ve done. It’s so simple. Yet so powerful. It feels funny to say out loud but our internal motivation needs us to cheer for ourselves. Take care of yourself by rooting for yourself when you do good things. But we also need to push ourselves. Which means we need to keep a keen eye on what we are doing and how we can make it harder. But not too fast. I like to think of it as teetering on the edge of too little and too much. Somewhere between too easy and too hard. Start small, add in more slowly, and try to stay right on that edge of the “this isn’t very fun” line. Because when you finish, ahhhhhh the finish. I promise the sense of pride of accomplishment and satisfaction of a job well done will always be great. Let’s go!

The road less traveled will be traveled by people accomplishing more than they thought possible. You will be inspired by them. They will be inspired by you. And you will be amazed at what you can do. I firmly believe that we can all do more than we think is possible!

I still hate running, and you can too. Because I love how this simple act of doing something hard improves the outlook of my day, makes other hard things (like parenting, coaching, or driving in traffic…) a little easier, and it gives me the motivation and energy to do (and be) more than that I thought was possible.

But you don’t have to take my word for it. Pick something hard and try…one small step at a time.

AP

NOTE: Shortly after I hit the 100-day mark of my running streak I bumped into one of my running accountability partners. He asked me if I was keeping it up. I said, “Heck yah, just bumped it up to 2 miles a day.” Without missing a beat and a smile on his face, he said, “That’s great! I was doing that in 6^th grade. You got more in you.” Which is just the best, isn’t it? It’s perfect. This is exactly the kind of person you want on your team. In one short response he did three things. He was genuinely happy for me, he humbly poked fun at me, and he positively encouraged me. Hey bad advice guy from above. If you ever stumble across this post, replace the word torture with hard. And replace the advice find something else with keep going. I’m certain your followers will be better off in the end. Who would you rather have in your ear? I’ll take my guy every day. Keep it up, y’all! You got more in you. I’ll see you out there…