Winter means bike trainer season…

…which means pedaling away on my bike on a stand in the living room when it’s too dark to ride outside.

…which means it can be really, really hard to motivate myself to do it some days.

I used to wake up early and then procrastinate about actually hopping onto the trainer and doing the workout. Until I found the one thing that keeps me from messing around and actually gets me on the bike: Coffee.

I happen to love/need coffee in the morning. I also happen to hate the taste of coffee that’s been warming on the burner for longer than about three minutes. So I’ve learned to set my coffeepot timer for 3 minutes before I’m supposed to be finishing my workout.

That way, I have to get up, dressed, and on the bike in order to finish my workout before my perfect coffee turns into gas station swill. The last moments of my workout are filled with the amazing scent of coffee, and when I’ve poured it in my cup and am waiting for it to be a drinkable temperature, I stretch. I’ll be the first to agree that working out is its own reward. But sometimes, you need a nudge to get out there and do it. And you’ve got to go with what works.

And fellow indoor trainer peeps, don’t just bang out your workout at the same speed the whole time—do something interesting!