Mindful Running — A Novice Perspective
Mindfulness?! It’s never been something I’d see myself doing. The word Meditation feels a bit awkward to me and conjures up images of people who don’t wear shoes and grow their own barley.
I am hearing the word Mindfulness more and more recently as it seems to be really catching on in the mainstream, so thought it was about time I checked it out.
What exactly is Mindfulness?
I googled it. According to the NHS website;
Paying more attention to the present moment — to your own thoughts and feelings, and to the world around you — can improve your mental wellbeing. Some people call this awareness ‘Mindfulness’. Mindfulness can help us enjoy life more and understand ourselves better. You can take steps to develop it in your own life.
Mindful Miles
I had one of those emails that I usually delete, about how Nike Running had introduced Audio Guided Runs in a collab with Headspace. This time I had a quick read and thought that would be a perfect way to give Mindfulness a go. I’d be running anyway, so I didn’t have to find extra time to read a book or commit to attending a class. So I downloaded the Nike Run Club app.
I went for the ‘Mindful Miles’ option. The guided run starts with the Nike running coach, Coach Bennett, introducing Andy Puddicombe; the co-founder of Headspace and a former Buddhist Monk! and Colleen Quigley; a USA Olympian in the Steeplechase (they’re all on Twitter and Instagram and worth a follow). Once you get past the very American (no offence to Americans) drawn out and over-enthusiastic intro (I have a low cringe threshold and I hate the word Awesome), it was actually really interesting.
Andy tells you how to not focus on trying to clear your mind, but as thoughts enter your mind, acknowledge them, and let them drift off — your positive thoughts, your negative thoughts, fears and worries, just let them come and go. Concentrate instead in how your body is feeling in the moment, your arms swinging by your side, the rhythm of your feet hitting the ground, how your clothes feel, and how the air feels around you.
He also talked about how to deal with feelings of stress and anxiety in day to day life. Anxiety is something I’ve been luckily enough not to suffer from in my life, however in recent months I have been experiencing an unexplained panicky sensation coming over me at random times and it’s quite unpleasant. Andy pointed out that two people could be experiencing the exact same physical sensation and one could interpret this as excitement and butterflies, whilst the other could feel a sense of anxiety and fear. The feeling is a ‘thing’, and it’s about changing your perception of the ‘thing’, not the ‘thing’ itself.
They dip in and out of Colleen’s story which of course is really inspiring. She talks about how it’s really important to stay relaxed before big races. Nerves are normal but if you focus on the nerves they will drain you and it’s a needless waste of energy. She talked about how she’d been injured in the lead up to the Olympic trails. She felt she hadn’t done enough, she wished she’d had more time to prepare, and to do a few extra workouts. But, in the days before the trials she accepted the situation. She knew what she had and what she didn’t have and made peace with it. She turned up fresh and with a relaxed focus (and finished in 3rd place qualifying for the Olympics!).
So how did my run go?
Well, I’d had a really bad cold last week so I thought the run would would be a struggle. But actually, by listening to the guidance I allowed myself to think about how I was feeling (sinusy, tight chested and weak), and without realising I was doing it, dramatically decreased my pace so I could deal with it. I ran at an average 11m21s per mile (10m -10m30s per mile is my usual really comfortable pace). I’m sure if I hadn’t been listening to the guided run I’d have been looking at my watch and pushing myself to run much quicker, which absolutely would’ve been a struggle! Slowing down got me through the run and I felt pretty good afterwards.
It’s definitely given me food for thought. My thoughts usually run in a continuous loop when I’m running solo. I’ll definitely try focusing on the moment much more and really relaxing into it. It will be interesting in my next race when usually all I can think about is the finish!
And working on the perception of the feeling of anxiety, rather than trying to force it out of my mind, makes perfect sense to me. Instead of worrying about what could happen, change it to the excitement of what might happen.
I’d definitely recommend giving it a go. I’m still holding off on the barefoot barley growing though 😉
