Running Away With Your Thoughts

Phil and I had only just been talking a couple of days ago about the psychology of running.  I even found a book in a store this week called 'Running with the Pack' which covers this area.  I'm very much looking forward to reading it.

`Most of the serious thinking I have done over the past twenty years has been done while running.'  Mark Rowlands has run for most of his life.  He has also been a professional philosopher.  And for him the two - running and philosophising - are inextricably connected.

It is basically an area that I feel I need a lot of work in if I am to become a better runner.  My mind is far from focused at times and too easily distracted by thoughts of things to do and worry about.  I figured that I should really be concentrating on the running and getting 'in the zone' instead.  Isn't that what all serious runners do to improve their running? 

Phil then found this short film and sent me the link.  It is a really clever little idea of a film that made me realize that running isn't just a means of getting physical; it's also a 'mental space'.   I've been thinking it's wrong to let my thoughts 'run riot' but really it's totally normal and as important in some ways as the physical side of running.  Sure I would love to reach some form of zen meditation whilst chasing a PB but if all the other stuff chooses that moment to have some personal counselling instead then who am I to argue with myself?

The head is a funny place to be in when you are running. Hopefully the zen bit will follow in time.

A film by Matan Rochlitz and Ivo Gormley

Pounding the tarmac through the seasons, a band of runners are brazenly challenged with intimate questions as they pace their routes.  Liberated from responsibilities, their guards drop dramatically, releasing funny and brutally frank confessions, and weaving a powerful narrative behind the anonymous masses.