What motivates me

Coffee?  It would motivate me if I could seriously make the commitment to not have it unless I ran since I drink coffee every single morning.  I couldn't live by that rule though.  First thing in the morning I get my coffee, grab the computer, get back into bed to read and study and slowly wake up and begin my day.  It's my time alone and in quiet.  It would take a Herculean effort for me to postpone my coffee until after a run.

So what motivates me?  I am reaching back here, since my "new" running program is just 6 days old.  In the past, the following things kept me motivated to get out the door:

1. A commitment with a friend to run together
2. Having an actual training program where I had a goal and a plan each week and monitored my progress.
3. My dogs--wish this one still worked
4. Telling myself---"I'll just go out and do a mile, and if I don't feel better, that's ok, I can come home".  This works well for me.  I hate feeling boxed in, so having the option to change the plan took  the pressure off.  I recently read this quote on runnersworld.com "Give yourself 10 minutes to warm up... "A good warm up helps you let go of stress and allows the chemical changes to happen in your brain that change your mental state from no to yes," he says. "That's why those first few steps are often the hardest. Your mental state hasn't warmed up to the run yet."  This was often true for me.   Usually I kept going for whatever distance I had planned for the day. But sometimes, I just did the mile or so and let myself go home.  
5. A beer

FYI, I got my run in today!