Morning Run: Hero's Journey, Serotonin & MriyaRun Logic
Three years ago, any enthusiastic stories about waking up at 6 AM, sunrise runs, and the "miracle morning" induced nothing but a gag reflex in me. I felt a strong urge to smack the next cheerful "morning person" I met with something heavy. I was firmly convinced: everyone has their own biological rhythms, changing them is impossible, end of story.
I was a professional "Night Owl" with over 15 years of experience. Night shifts, office work, freelancing, raising two kids—whenever possible, I turned into a nocturnal creature, and the rest of the time, I suffered from an unfair world designed for "Early Birds."
But three years ago, I started running in the morning. I became one of those "disgusting" morning people and concluded that the whole Owl vs. Lark division is total nonsense. It's all in our heads.
Life is a Marathon, Not a Sprint
In the MriyaRun community, we often talk about life being a long-distance race. And like any marathon, it's not the sprint at the start that counts, but the proper distribution of energy.
The human body is a brilliant adaptive machine. We can adjust to almost any condition. The main question is "Why?" This is the search for meaning that Viktor Frankl wrote about, and which we discuss in the context of emotional intelligence. If you don't find your honest answer to "why should I crawl out of my warm bed?", your brain will stage a sabotage worthy of an Oscar.
Real-life example: when my office job started at 8:00 AM, for years I hit the snooze button ("just 5 more minutes!"), panicked while getting ready, and only truly woke up after my third coffee at 11:00 AM. "Have to" is weak motivation. "Want to" is fuel.
The Hero's Journey and Battling the Dragon of Laziness
Joseph Campbell described the structure of myth as the "Hero's Journey." Every morning when the alarm goes off, you face a choice: stay in the Ordinary World (under the blanket) or answer the Call to Adventure.
My adventure began at Volodymyr Hill at 6 AM. I saw an empty, sleeping Kyiv and said, "Wow!" That became my Elixir. I realized I wanted to run not because it's "healthy," but for that feeling of owning the world while others slept.
But what happens at the biochemical level? Why does it work?
The Neurochemistry of Happiness: Serotonin & Discipline
We often perceive discipline as violence against oneself. But from a mental health perspective, discipline is a safety framework for your psyche.
When you overcome morning resistance, your brain rewards you with Dopamine (the goal-achievement hormone) and Serotonin (the hormone of confidence and social status). A morning run triggers a powerful cocktail:
- Cortisol Reduction: You "burn off" accumulated or anticipated stress.
- Energy: Paradoxically, by spending energy on running, you generate energy for the whole day. It’s like a dynamo.
- Mental Resilience: Regular sports teach the brain that discomfort is temporary, but the result is guaranteed. This is the best vaccine against depression and anxiety.
By the way, this is exactly what our emotional intelligence journals are about—learning to track these states and manage them.
6 Reasons to Go for a Morning Run (Besides "It's Healthy")
- Right Rhythm and the Winner's Checkmark. Accomplishing something important before the world wakes up gives you a feeling of a "cleared" head. When it's 10:00 AM and you already have a workout and breakfast under your belt, you feel like a superhero. This fundamentally changes self-esteem.
- Fewer Excuses. We are all lazy. During the day, a thousand excuses arise: fatigue, family, work, bad weather. In the morning, the gap between "opened eyes" and "put on sneakers" is too short for the brain to invent an excuse. You just act on autopilot.
- Time Compression. Days feel longer. The "Early Bird" schedule structures the day: you waste less time doom-scrolling in the evening because your body simply shuts down, demanding recovery.
- Time for Yourself (While the Family Sleeps). For parents, this is often the only chance to be alone with their thoughts. The evening is family time; the morning is your sacred time.
- City Aesthetics. Historic centers, waterfronts, and parks without people are a different planet. It’s your personal tour into a world of silence.
- Travel in a New Way. Running in new cities means seeing them without the tourist tinsel. Jeffreys Bay in South Africa, sunrise over the Indian Ocean, morning mist in the Netherlands—these moments are priceless.
How to Turn into an Early Bird: A Survival Guide
If you think changing your regime is impossible, you are mistaken. But you need a strategy.
- The Brutal Method is Better than Gradual. Attempts to shift my schedule by 15 minutes failed. Only "shock therapy" works: wake up by the alarm, suffer through the day like a zombie, but pass out on time in the evening. In a week, the body adapts.
- Prep Your "Armor" the Night Before. Clothes, sneakers, and gadgets should be laid out so you can get dressed without turning on your brain.
- The Next Step Rule. When you feel incredibly lazy, trick your brain. Don't think about 10 km. Think: "I'll just wash my face." Then: "I'll just get dressed." Then: "I'll just step outside." And then, you’re running.
- Give Yourself Time to Wake Up. Don't start abruptly. Take half an hour for coffee, bathroom, and calm preparation. The first kilometers are a slow jog. This is respect for the body.
- Sleep is Sacred. You won't become an Early Bird if you go to bed at 2 AM. Sports teach you to respect recovery just as much as the workload.
The Finale: Your Inner Transformation
Morning running is not just physical education. It is a daily practice of victory over oneself. It is an investment in your resourceful state.
Try this experiment. Perhaps there, beyond the comfort zone of a warm blanket, the best version of your life awaits, full of energy and inspiration. And if you need to dig deeper into motivation, check out MriyaRun and use the tools for mindset work.
See you on the run!
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