Now that I’m getting up at the crack of dawn to run in freezing cold weather for the Disney half-marathon, I’ve had to figure out ways to really motivate myself to get out of bed and get going, no matter how much I want to stay under the covers. And as I’m sure many of you who exercise in the morning know, it’s not easy to say the least. I still have those times when I just snooze through my alarm, but I’ve found a couple things that make it a tad bit easier to just do it:

- Remind myself that no matter what, I won’t regret running or going to the gym for a workout. I always, without fail, feel better afterwards, even if it was just a quick session.

- Lay out my clothes the night before. Even though this may seem silly, it makes a HUGE difference. Shaving off those few minutes of sleepy half-awake fumbling to pick out clothes means less time you have to justify crawling back into bed.

- Make a list of the ways exercise positively affects me throughout the day and post it somewhere I see soon after waking up. This is mine: I’m happier, less stressed, have more energy and tend to make healthier eating choices. Win-win!

- Use it as my therapy. I tend to be a bit of a ruminator and have a hard time just letting things go. I overanalyze them in my head and become stressed out. Running gives me a chance to think clearly through what’s going on in my life when there are no distractions or other tasks to juggle. Knowing that I always finish a run with a better outlook makes it easier to go.

Morning exercisers, I want to know: How do you stay on track and wake up when it’s really the last thing you feel like doing? I’d love to hear some more suggestions!

-- Abby Cuffey, Assistant Health Editor