I find that when I first start a run I can sometimes feel like a steaming pile of dog poo, especially if I have been away from running for a bit. But I also know that if I keep on going, the lousy feeling usually goes away and I start feeling a lot better.
This study, by way of the blog Barking up the Wrong Tree, demonstrates that a lot of people feel that way, and that people consistently underestimate how much they will enjoy exercise because they focus too much on that first, hard part. In other words, when people are asked beforehand how much they will enjoy exercising, and then afterward are asked how much they actually enjoyed it, they usually liked it more than they imagined.The authors call this “forecasting myopia.”
The authors say this gets in the way of exercise, and that people can increase their motivation to exercise if they consciously place more emphasis on the later stages of exercise.
A pro runner once told me that everyone –everyone–hates to begin the run, but that serious runners get out and do it anyway. That sometimes helps me get past my own resistance and hit the road. The other thing that works for me is to make a conscious effort at the and of the run to just soak up and remember that good feeling, knowing that if I don’t I’m likely to forget.