A short run is still a run

Don't hold out for something that won't actually happen

My part of Pennsylvania tends not to get boiling hot in the summer, but still, if I’m going to run outside, I generally need to do it before about 8 a.m. I’ve been struggling with this recently because, despite writing about other people’s fabulous morning routines, I’m not a natural morning person. It’s hard for me to get out the door before about 7/7:15 a.m.

But it turns out that a short run is still a run. It’s better to run from 7-7:30 a.m., or even from 7:10-7:30 a.m., and actually get some exercise, than to fret that I should be running longer.

Something is better than nothing

Indeed, for a great many things in life, something is better than nothing, and if “nothing” is what happens while you hold out for something better, you haven’t come out ahead.

If hunting for the perfect birthday card means you don’t wind up sending birthday greetings, you’d be better off texting a celebratory emoji.

If not knowing how to cook a fancy meal keeps you from hosting a dinner party for friends, then you haven’t even given them a chance to decide your cooking is terrible! Just order take-out or have people bring a dish and everyone will be better off.

A few weeks ago, my husband and I faced the dilemma of an almost completely open summer weekend. We could have done a lot of things, but in hunting for the perfect big thing that everyone would enjoy, and that would feel doable yet adventurous, we got all the way to late Friday without a plan. There was a very real risk that nothing would happen. So we decided to just choose something (biking one day, fishing the next) and go with that.

Perfect doesn’t happen

Now in some cases, there is a reason not to run short — people who are training for marathons and have specific, aggressive time goals might need to concentrate their miles on certain days, and 30 minutes of doing “junk miles” just raises the risk of injury.

But most of us are not in that situation. For us, a short run is still a run — and if a short run has the virtue of actually happening, then it is the best run of all.