I’ve been thinking about the role of self-belief, self-identification and growth in my running practice. There is plenty of research that shows they are iterative and mutually reinforcing. The popular weight loss app Noom puts a premium on individuals believing they will be able to lose weight. Not that we are in the enterprise of weight loss, but the premium transfers to running as well. Many runners find it difficult to name and claim that they are indeed runners. Many say things like, “weeeelll, I run, but I’m not a runner runner.” Or “I’m not a real runner.” Please know, this approach is not serving those individuals. If you run, you are a runner. Name it, claim it, be it, own it!

Trial this: Over the next week, write some place where you can see it a couple of times a day “I am a runner” or “I am an athlete” or something to that effect. If feeling brave, put it somewhere where others in your home can see it too. If they ask you about it, let them know that you are working on your self-identity around being a runner and an athlete. Gently start to include it in part of your introduction of yourself. If it feels more comfortable, you can say, “I’m a beginner runner.” The more you (and others) see yourself with this identity, the more you’ll grow into it!

There were years I wished I had a different body. And to be honest there are moments when I still do. Taller, slimmer, less pelvic tilt, narrower ankles, longer legs, more aerodynamic ears :)…basically what I have imagined as the perfect runner’s body.

What I have come to learn and feel is that I have the perfect runner’s body just as I am (ok, with occasional lapses). Because:
I have a body + I’m a runner = I have a runner’s body

If you are reading this I’m assuming you have a body AND you are a runner. Ergo you have a runner’s body!

Voila! Its not fuzzy-logic, slight-of-hand, transitive-property-voodoo. Its TRUE!

Its the body you have. Whether it is carrying you one mile or one hundred, let’s give it the love, respect and appreciation it deserves!

Yearning for a body you may have had in the past makes one sad. Wishing for a particular, different body in the future can make one unsettled. I’d encourage runners to enjoy the miraculous, rock-star of a body you have right now. It helps to ground runners in the present. It allows runners to work with what they have, when they have it.

Trial this: On an upcoming run, believe to your core that you have a runner’s body. Know it. Own it! Feeeeeel it! Thank your magnificently perfect body for the run today. If you have thoughts that come up that have you wishing your body were anything other than it IS, acknowledge them and then gently let them dissipate (or if feeling frisky, kick those thoughts the hell out), and get back to the business of running with your glorious, glorious runner’s bod.

Distillation is a hard, but worthwhile thing to do. It turns grain into whiskey, grapes into balsamic glaze and scattered ideas into compelling concepts. Michael Pollen distilled his entire approach to eating food into this simple statement: Eat real food, mostly plants and not too much. Inspired by that, I developed a related distilled running statement: Run consistently, mostly easy and not too much. The process of distillation has helped me understand and focus in on what is most important and be able to better communicate it with others. It helps me know what I mean when I think about “running”.

Trial this: Try jotting down an idea or two on your distilled approach to running. Share it with a couple of people. Then try distilling ideas in other parts of your life and see what you learn.

If you are alive (presumably, yes) and living in 2022 or later (also I’ll go with yes), than you’ve heard of and maybe even played around with some mindfulness practices. Mindfulness is about focused, non-judgmental attention on the present moment. So really it can be applied to just about anything! Breathing, walking, washing dishes, parenting, toothbrushing. So why not running?!?!

Here are a couple of mindful running practices I enjoy. Feel free to trial them, your own special modification of them, or come up with your own!

Happy mindful running!

Trial this:

1. Thank you, thank you. Yes. YES! Borrowed from renown Buddhist monk and Nobel Peace nominee Thich Nhat Hahn’s walking meditation.
   – On the first in-breath think/feel “Thank you”
   – First out-breath “Thank you”
   – Second in-breath “Yes.”
   – Second out-breath “YES!”
   I generally do this for the first and last 5 minutes of my runs. This easy practice brings out my sense of gratitude for my body, the air, the trees, my loved ones (who may make taking caring of kids so I can go on a run), the resources I have to buy the sweet gear keeping me warm and dry, etc.
   The Yes portion is just the “hell yes” part of running. The pure beauty and gift of being alive doing things we love like running!
2. Body scan: Starting with my toes and working my way up, in and and out, I hold awareness around each of my body parts and say things to it like “I see you! Thank you for allowing me to run today. How are you? What can I do for you?” I also give it weird mental high-fives. I include the inside organs I know about like my heart, lungs, brain, kidney and liver. High-five, pancreas, high-five!

So much attention is paid to running form, that includes cadence, ground contact time, vertical oscillation, foot strike, pelvic tilt, hip rotation and many other fancy and boring phrases. Sometimes when out for a run your head could be filled with things like “head up, shoulders back, knees up, elbows in, short steps, dorsiflex, etc.” Hard to get in the flow when micro-managing every step. Might there be an elegant work-around to all that?

I recently read Matt Fitzgerald’s book The 80/20 Rule. In it, he shares views that its possible that running form is “self-optimizing”. That is, over time, especially if the mind gets the hell out of the way, it will find is greatest efficiency. It means we don’t need to micro-manage our stride. A self-optimizing system requires three things variability, selection and repetition. Think running, evolution or figuring out the best way to drop 3 kids off at three different schools.

This is predicated on the idea that there is NO ONE PERFECT RUNNING FORM, and that each runner’s form is optimized for their body dimensions, type, height, weight, musculature, etc. What does seem to be true is that being relaxed and smooth does promote greater running efficiency. So when in doubt, chill out!

Trial this: Let your mind go, trust your body that it is finding its most efficient and beautiful running form. Just dial into that. Repeat for up to 50 years. Over time, your body will find its most optimal form. Then, with all the mental space you now have while running, you can contemplate on what are other self-optimizing systems in your world!

If you want a bit more mind control, I let go of the specific body cues (like knees high, shoulders back, etc) but lean into more general ones. My current fav is “tall, strong, smooth, relaxed,” in coordination with my in and out breaths.