Dave called me at 8.15am and asked if I “still wanted to do this.” The “this” in question was a reference to the 3 mile run we had planned on doing the night before. I had an out if I wanted it, but I suggested we show up, run an easy 3 and call it a day. He agreed and told me to be ready in 15 minutes.

I got dressed, chugged a couple of sips of coffee and then called him back to see if he wanted to bail. Dave said he was en route, and we should just go for it. (Have I mentioned that it was 23 degrees outside?)

Anyway, we showed up at 65th & Greenlake, got out of the car and started our run. I was swearing about how cold it was for the first 3 minutes but after that, settled in and began enjoying the cruise around the lake. We both finished strong and happy that we had decided to get out and show up. Once you’re there, starting the run is easy, and you feel great afterwards; you’re happy you did it.

The hard part is the transition from the happy-cosy-I’m-in-bed stage to the holy-shit-it’s-cold-why-am-I-here stage. Once you do that, the rest flows. This lesson about getting started is crucial in other aspects of life as well. Whether you’re starting a diet, or sitting down to tackle a difficult search problem on your website, often the hardest part is getting started. This is not to say that the problems themselves are difficult, it’s just that once you start, you can typically find a way to make progress.

Just like running. Get dressed, get out there, one foot in front of the next.