Friendly Motivation

“Beep beep beep beep* (roll over, hit snooze) two min later, *beep beep beep beep* … It’s Monday morning and my meticulously set iPhone alarms are blaring every two minutes.

It’s 5 a.m.

Courtesy to my apartment neighbors forces me out of bed to turn off the phone alarms for good. They can’t hear it, but I’m up. Running shorts get put on, shirt and socks.

Couple of coffee sips in and my eyes fully open and joy begins to build …. it’s “Monday Runday” with some of my friends.

Normally, I’m not an early-early runner. My usually timing lands more around 7:30/8 am and not 6 a.m. Our meeting spot isn’t even open at 6 a.m. But, nearly every Monday, here we are, removing the sleep from our eyes and heading down the streets of Elmhurst for our morning five.

This group keeps me going. And everyone needs a motivating group of friends to help achieve their fitness goals.

“Regulars” as we call them in FITT-RX classes play the same role. I know that if I show up to a Tuesday morning 5:30 am class, there will be consistent faces working hard to get a sweat in before their day begins. We may not be outside-the-gym friends, but the common bond of breaking a sweat at the same time each week brings everyone together for a common goal – fitness.

So next time you see that familiar face across the room, or you grab heavier weights because you see another regular is going heavy that day, give them a ‘good work,’ a ‘good to see you’ or just a little fist bump after class because deep down, having others to workout with and recognizing those fellow fitness fans helps motivate you just that much more to show up and get it done.