Today’s run: 5.15 miles, 59 minutes. YT: 27.60. My father likes to count things. People in line to vote, trick-or-treaters, the postcards he sends on a given vacation. He also likes to cut and paste and may well have missed his calling as a kindergarten teacher. (He’s a historian.) Today in honor of my father I counted the number of people who crossed my path. 27.
* * *
Someone asked me the other day, “What on earth do people THINK about when they’re running for an hour?” I told him I used the time to write: blog posts, headlines for work, imagined scenes from books I would write. On my run the next day, I realized I had only told him half the truth: About 50% of my run is spent writing in my head. The other 50% I spend obsessing about guys. Honestly, nothing passes the time quicker.
The point here is this: Give your brain something interesting to think about during your run. Otherwise, when you first get started, here’s how your mental dialogue will go: SUFFERING. GRUELING. EXHAUSTION. SWEATY, SWEATIER, SWEATIEST. Your run will feel like the longest 30 minutes of your life.
Instead, give your brain an assignment. Organize your day, ruminate on health care, consider the past three months of your relationship. Make a mental list of important people in your life, and who you need to catch up with. Think about your favorite book, or the last movie you watched. Joyce wrote the other day she thought about her favorite Dali painting.
Just don’t think about your run. If you run on a treadmill, I recommend covering up the display so your mind is free to wander. Eventually, when you start working on pacing, you may need some more focus on how you’re moving your body through space. But at the beginning, just let your imagination dance.
Usually, I have the opposite problem. I can’t get my head to Shut Up. It is jammed full of detritus as I begin to run.
I think though, that people who experience running as, “ugh, pain, panting, labour” are running too fast. It’s really very difficult to let your mind wander much less dance, when your body is past a modest level of discomfort. So to them, I suggest they slow down to a shuffle for just a minute or two. Suddenly, all kinds of distractions appear.
For me, when my head is nattering on and on, I speed up just a little until I’m out of breath. That shuts everybody up. Then, I back off the pace, and my mind is free to wander.
That’s so interesting. I’ve been going back and forth over whether the goal of my mental state while running should be focused thoughts versus mind wandering. Right now I do a little bit of both.
As for beginning runners… I was slow when I started and relatively slow now. I guess I’m an extreme case, but it literally took me a year of running to stop thinking of it as grueling. Maybe if I had less to carry around… :-)
congrats on the launch sara!
i’m not a runner, but i know that i focus obsessively on the LED display when i’m riding an exercise bike. at least until i use a book to cover it up.
looking forward to hearing about your holiday…
Sara,
At first, focus tends to be on the physical effort it takes. As you further build your endurance, that will fade.
I think your mental state should be whatever you want it to be. If you like to wander, let it wander. If you like to focus, do that.
For me, a good run is sort of a zen-like experience. Especially on a really good long-distance run, it’s feet and legs and lungs and heart and mind all coming together as one and as one with the trail. The rythmn of footsteps and breathing with the view of the scenery going by… Sound crazy?
I can never stop thinking about my pace, my time, my heart rate, my intervals. I really would like to think about some other stuff some times. Still need to work on that.
I used to think obsessively about the calories and time, etc., but now I find myself (whether running or on the elliptical) thinking or /replaying conversations (real or imagined or projected) in my head. It’s a chance to unwind.
And counting people is a great way to pass the time. The blog’s looking great!
Vern, zen-like doesn’t sound crazy at all. That’s exactly how you’re supposed to feel in yoga practice. I still seem to be very “thoughful” in my run – but i enjoy that.
Thanks Tim :-)
Hi Liss, I do a lot of the projected/replayed conversations thing too. Thanks!
I run for a lot of reasons, and pace, and calorie burning are on the list. It IS very easy to obsess with those aspects. I fall into it too. Moments when I can put those aside, remember that the biggest reason I run is for the joy of running, and just surrender to the run for the sake of the run– those are the moments that are special…