Running *to* a Destination Keeps Me Running

I run to coffee shops on the weekends, and it has become my most inviolable routine.

I love running—but only when I have somewhere to run.

I’ll start by saying that I’m not really a good runner. I’m slow. I don’t want to train for a marathon. I’ve had long-time knee problems that have been resolved with many early mornings in physical therapy. Honestly, I’m just grateful that I can run at all.

But I love running because it’s one of most reliable antidotes to the life claustrophobia that creeps in when I’m on the road for work or when I’m trapped inside small, dimly lit apartments in the winter. Nothing sloughs off ennui faster than lacing up sneakers, stepping outside, and just…knowing that moving with your own two feet is enough.

I love running mostly because it’s at once insanely easy and frustratingly difficult. The rhythm is repetitive and punishing, but also meditative and euphoric.

And all it takes is strapping on sneakers and going, right?

Except that any runner will tell you that getting past the starting line is the hardest part.

Running through Hasenheide park in Berlin (2019).

The way I’ve learned to do it is temptation bundling.

I listened to an episode of the Freakonomics podcast a few years ago called When Willpower Isn’t Enough about how to muster the motivation to build and maintain healthy habits at any time of the year (not just January 1st or Monday morning resolutions).

Of all of the tactics the episode mentioned, temptation bundling stuck with me the most: If you want to complete a task you don’t particularly like, bundle it with something you do like.

For example, if you planned to hit the elliptical after work, but really want to watch the next episode of the latest show you’re binging, then download the episode and watch it while you’re exercising at the gym. If you need to fold laundry, but really want to drink a beer, then you can only drink the beer while you fold.

By bundling the two behaviors, you can stick to the less desirable one—and even enjoy it. Because it won’t feel like such a drag if you pair it with something you love.

This is what I do with running.

When I want to exercise, but I also want to be out and about exploring the city, drinking a great coffee while I read or write in a cafe, I just combine the two.

Instead of setting a tedious there-and-back or loop route, where I’m bored to tears for the entire second half, I choose a coffee shop that’s 4k to 7k or 30 to 60 minutes away from my house. That way, I’m motivated to run to somewhere.

Sunday runday arrival to Cafe Espera in Berlin (2019).

The goal is to actually be excited about finishing my run—to use my body as transport, to arrive somewhere I’m thrilled to be. And to like the sport enough to do it over and over again, because running is a sport in which you can meaningfully improve simply by running more, running better, and running smarter.

This is also a fundamental tenet of

Coach Bennett

's audio coaching on the Nike Run Club app, which I love and is free! He has great perspective on How to Start Running…and Keep Running and how to get out of the cycle of running so hard every time that you start to hate it and can’t stick to a regular routine. The goal is to love running, to cross more starting lines more often and improve.

When I go for my weekend runs now, I run to cafes that I wouldn’t frequent in my normal routine, and that I’m excited to try.

I started doing this when I lived in Berlin in 2019, to the edges of Neukölln, Schöneberg, or Moabit, or on I-don’t-feel-like-a-run runs to Espera, Five Elephant, or Isla when I didn’t have enough gas in the tank.

And when I moved to Paris, the goal was to weave in sweeping scenery of the Seine if I could. To cross the Seine more, I aim for left bank destinations far away from home (I live on the west side of rive droite). So I run to Coutume, Partage Cafe, Saint Pearl, Cafe du Clown, Good News, or the Noir on the Île Saint Louis. When I want something different, I run up the big hills of the 18th to finish at Clove, Two Doors, or Atelier P1.

Running to coffee in Lisbon, LA, San Francisco, and Paris

I’ve done it in Mexico City, Chiang Mai, LA, and Edinburgh on vacation, and San Francisco, Lisbon, and Cologne on work trips. All running safety rules still apply, but if the city is runnable for me, then it’s usually run-to-a-cafe-able.

Sure, I arrive sweaty and unseemly, visibly winded and desperate for sustenance. But once I get over the momentary embarrassment, I order a cappuccino and a fresh juice, take a seat, and read whatever newspaper is on the counter or open the Kindle app on my phone to read a few chapters of a great book.

I’ve even started running to quieter museums where I don’t need advanced tickets and I’m happy to see whatever is on, gems like the Musée de Montmartre or Jacquemart-Andre.

By the time I head home—on the metro, by walking, or by treating myself to a taxi—I feel like I did everything I wanted to. I took advantage of the daylight. I carved out me-time to relax on my own. I got to check out the new cafe or exhibit I made a mental note to see. I spent time outside, even in winter (shoutout to my goofy running headband and gloves—they help!).

Most importantly, I get past the starting line on another run—something I’m always proud of.

And it’s another Sunday runday in the books, running to a destination I’m genuinely excited to reach.

Post-run coffee at Coutume in Paris (75007).