The Morning Mile Challenge. Are You Up For It?

[spezzy]

I started a new habit this morning, and I'm hoping you'll start it with me.

It's no secret I'm a HUGE fan of walking - I've spent the past two years carless and walked pretty much EVERYWHERE. I wrote about how much important walking is with a little help from Hobbits. I'm also a huge fan of small changes repeated over time until they become permanent habits.

So I challenge you today to join me in the Morning Mile Challenge.This month, I challenge you to walk one mile, every day, when you wake up. Yes, I understand November is cold. Yes, I understand mornings are usually time for snoozing, watching TV, and rushing out the door to get breakfast.

I want to see if you can change that.

I want you to have an awesome morning...and it starts with a morning mile walk:

• This is a habit that takes less than 20 minutes. It should take you roughly 12-20 minutes to walk a mile if you're walking with purpose. Factor in a few minutes to tie your shoes (unless you still have velcro), put on your coat, grab the dog's leash, etc - you're looking at roughly 20 minutes.
  
• This is something that you'll have no excuse not to complete. Because it's the FIRST thing you're going to do in the morning, it's quite difficult to blame your lack of progress on the day getting busy later on.
  
• It'll wake you up faster than a cup of coffee. I'm not telling you to give up your caffeine, but this will help you immediately get out of "snooze" mood and into "I'm going to dominate today" mood. That's a good mood to be in.THEN, you can have your coffee
  
• It'll allow you to plan out your day and be more productive. Use your Morning Mile to plan out how you're going to be MORE productive. What's the first thing you're going to do when you get to the office? What are you going to eat for lunch? What time are you going to work out? What three important tasks are you going to accomplish today?
  

How to be successful

Sounds simple enough.

It's just walking, right?

However, because this sounds like something that's so easy, you might not put forth any effort towards completing it.However, this isn't JUST about walking.It's about proving to yourself that you can start something and stick with it.

I'm going to help you make the decision even easier.

• Make it impossible to miss.Set the alarm on your phone and name it MORNING MILE!Put a post-it note on your alarm clock.Hang a sheet that says "Morning Mile" on your bathroom mirror.Put your alarm clock on the other side of the room so you have to get out of bed to pick it up.
  
• Sleep in your walking clothes or have them RIGHT NEXT to your bed! That way, all you have to do is roll over, put shoes on, and walk out the door.The fewer steps between you and the action = less willpower required = more chance of success.
  
• Have your route mapped out - I use a FitBit to walk a half mile from my apartment, and then turn around and walk a half mile back.If you like to walk the same route each morning, map it on Google and follow that path!
  
• It needs to be the first thing you do.Not after you check email. Not after breakfast.Not after watching the news or playing one game of Doodle Jump on your phone.First thing!Obviously today won't be that first thing, but you still need to get your mile in!
  
• Hold yourself accountable.For every morning that I skip my Morning Mile in November, I'll pay $10 to my friend Evan.How are you going to keep yourself accountable?Do you have a co-worker who will do the challenge with you?Who can help you stay accountable? I can think of 10,000+ people that can help...
  
• Create a reward.Like with our old pal Link from Legend of Zelda, reward yourself with things that reward you back!Buy yourself a new, slimmer outfit, get a massage, or sign up for a class you've always wanted to try.I'll be rewarding myself with a class that'll help me move forward on my Epic Quest of Awesome.
  
• Try something else: Do you have a really good reason why you can't walk a mile in the morning? Maybe you live in a bad neighborhood or in a high tower in Rivendell? Is there a hurricane outside? OK, instead of the mile, try doing a single circuit of The Beginner Body Weight Workout. The important thing here is that you do it every morning, just like you would the mile.
  

I've created a spreadsheet in Google docs that couldn't be easier to join.You put down your name and you add an X next to the day every time you complete the day.Put your money where your mouth is, and make your declaration public!

Join the Nerd Fitness Morning Mile Challenge!

Holiday weight gain?

I need two minutes of your time.

We're going to be launching a new premium product/class late next week on Nerd Fitness.If you've been reading NF since June, you might remember our project that we opened up to a small number of people.Well, we're ready to kick things off again late next week with a holiday-themed version of it for people that happen to struggle during the Holiday months.

I'd love for you to fill out this quick 2-minute survey to help us learn what you're struggling with the most during the holidays.

Walk on!

Start walking.

Yes, I realize I'm posing this in the afternoon; you can do your first mile when you get home today. HOWEVER, when you wake up tomorrow morning, no matter how chilly it is, strap on your shoes, grab your coat, and go for a walk around your neighborhood or block.

Good luck, my dear Rebel friend!

-Steve

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photo: storm trooper walking, black and white walking, fat santa, walk sign

[The Tin Man]

Siiigned up! I'm gonna run some of them though. I do feel awesome when I run a mile first thing in the morning.

[jedi_mind]

this should be fun, i just mapped a walk that is precisely a mile on my street (around a beautiful creek too and i just hit it up this afternoon for my day one X mark. this will serve as a good precursor to my first personal challenge that will be whenever the new ones start up.

[weirdquark]

Last challenge I was lifting every other day, running 5K once a week, and walking a 1.6 mile loop on the other days. I stopped because I started lifting every day and didn't have time for both. Also, it was too dark when I was getting up. But daylight savings will fix the latter, and I may cut back on my lifting days because I want to keep up the 5K running so I don't lose my ability to do it, assuming I haven't already.

In conclusion, not going to be walking every day, but I do do at least 20 minutes of something first thing every morning.

[Webster]

I started to skip out on this because I'm the exact opposite of a morning person. It's about all I can do to drag my carcass out of the rack to just barely get to work on time. Of course I realize I'm not alone here which is why this is, you know, a "challenge". I'm in.

[Lachy]

Thinking of adopting this, but not for walking. I think morning mobilty work every day would be good for me. Getting very tight and sore lately, 20 minutes of rolling and stretching each morning would do wonders I think.

[UberMoM]

Me and the moms in the play group that my son and I go to are all going to be doing this. We even started a FB group to keep each other accountable.

[Pat G]

Woke up, read the article, walked 2k barefoot. Dawsy would be proud.

[Gobnait]

Can't do this first thing in the morning since I can barely make it across the house when I wake up. Foot-fisting can get me part-way mobile, but sometimes I just spend half of the morning tottering around like a arthritic 70-year old until everything loosens up. What I can do is try to get on the treadmill before morning has passed.

[cracked_belle]

dammit, Steve. it's 5am when I exercise in the morning. and O live on the highway. and it's dark and cold outside. ::le sigh:: oh well.

the things we do for the Rebellion..... XD

::puts on her reflective gear, warm clothes, and her Vibrams::

[The Tin Man]

Woke up an hour late.

Crap.

[BeckyBuckeye]

Well, I missed the first couple of days, but FINE. I hope you know it's cold here and I'm only doing this for me.

[LRB]

I'm in! But with a few modifications: mine will be a daily mile, rather than a morning mile, and I will jog/run as much of it as I can.

Rationale:

(1) My husband does the morning walk of the dog (it keeps them both sane, and I wouldn't want even to TRY to take that away from him) while I get the kids up and moving. We can't both be out of the house at the same time in the morning, and I have ZERO interest in getting up even earlier than I already do just to be out and back before he heads out.

(2) I suck at running. My one-mile time is about 11 minutes. I have no speed, and no endurance. If I've learned anything from NF, it's that the question of "how do I get better at X" is best answered with "do X." So - to get better at running, I must run. The block on which I live is .97 miles, according to google pedometer so I'll just do that -- once around the block, once a day, no matter what.

Although it does raise interesting questions about the weekends we'll be away -- I'll have to plan ahead with the Google.

[jimmie65]

I'm in, with a slight modification. Non-running mornings, I will walk or jog a mile right after I roll out of bed. On run days, it will probably take a little while longer to get out the door - I'll need some water and some coffee before heading out for a longer run.

[bigm141414]

Do I haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaave to? Gah, suck it up bigm. For the Rebellion!!

[SkiBlue]

FOR THE REBELLION!

Totally doing this. Even left my car at school last night so I'd HAVE to get my butt up and out this morning first thing to go retrieve it. Got breakfast and lunch goodies from the grocery store on the way home.

Going to be a fun month! Can't wait to take my dog with me when I visit home.

[CalvinHobbes]

Did I cheat by brushing my teeth first?

Definitely woke me up, but from now on before work I'll be doing the bodyweight circuit (outside). I don't feel safe walking at 4am here.

[BeckyBuckeye]

Did I cheat by brushing my teeth first?

Definitely woke me up, but from now on before work I'll be doing the bodyweight circuit (outside). I don't feel safe walking at 4am here.

Yeah, I'm wondering how safe I'll feel tomorrow morning when I leave at 6:20 and it's still dark outside. I mean, it's a pretty safe neighborhood, but still.

[Elastigirl]

If it is light, I'll do a morning walk. Don't really feel safe if it is still dark. If it is dark I'll do some mobility work/yoga in the backyard for 20 minutes. How easy is it to do yoga while in a parka?

[magi192]

I'm signed up and ready to go. This challenge is just what I need. Walked 3 mi/5 km today to make up for yesterday and the fact that they were at night instead of in the morning. Tomorrow, I'll be walking/running first thing in the morning! RAWR!

[Guest shaka-spirit]

Signed up and putting on my running shoes to do todays mile even though its the afternoon I'm looking forward to this!

[Relic]

ooohh!!! I can't believe I missed this. Starting it tomorrow. Morning body weight circuit.

[Jaksavage]

Very well Rebellion....I am in! Small change...the loop I walk my dogs on is 2 miles....so I'm just gonna do that every morning. Me and the pups will do our best. (my best really....they do better than me usually lol)

[ook]

Day 3 - so far so good.

[Red1263]

2 Mornings 2 miles, I'm feeling good!