Tips for Running

For my last blog post, I want to give current runners and future runners some advice from my own experiences and my book. Throughout my book I’ve read over the quarter, Running with the Mind of Meditation, Sakyong Mipham has provided me with excellent tips for running and meditation that have been extremely helpful!

First off, before you become a serious runner or even if you are currently one, you really need to think about injury prevention. If not taken care of properly, a minor injury can become a major injury and stop you from running for weeks or even months. I know this firsthand because during the 2015 cross country season, I chose to ignore my knee pains and it only got worse by the time it was track season. I had to sit out often and was constantly in pain but after a lot of time at physical therapy, everything went back to normal. When I was reading the book, the author explained very well how to prevent injuries. He says that, “If you don’t run symmetrically, you can create un-natural angles that put more pressure on one joint or another. This can result in injury” (Mipham 67). From the book, I’ve realized that posture is so important because having an unbalanced posture when even sitting can lead you to have injuries. This has left me always tweaking my posture by sitting up instead of slouching and running with my body aligned rather than all over the place. It might be a little awkward at first but I guarantee you that fixing your posture one day at a time will benefit you greatly.

Extra tips for Injury Prevention:

1.      Stretch- before and after every run!

2.      Ice/heat your body with ice and heat packs to cure soreness

3.      Listen to your body, don’t push yourself too hard as this can increase your risk of injury

4.      Do hip exercises (clam shells, leg lifts, donkey kicks, fire hydrants)

Secondly, as you can tell from the title, there is a strong emphasis on running AND meditation. I mentioned in a previous blogpost, I have never sat down and meditated but I have used many concepts of meditation while running. Through concepts like breathing, mindfulness, focus, stability, and many more, I’ve found running to be much easier and interesting. Mastering the technique of breathing takes time and patience (I’m not quite there yet), but it is possible. When running races, I recommend keeping your body straight, head up, and breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth. Sometimes it gets hard to do this especially when you’re tired and out of breath but keep trying your best as it will make the intense running easier. Also, keeping a positive and focused mind will make you a better runner automatically. If your mind is stable and you’re using your mindfulness “muscle” also talked about in a previous blog post, your run will have more meaning and will make you want to work harder. These concepts of meditation do not have to be used for just running but can be used for all aspects of life. Mipham has shown me that meditation can be used to cope with stress in a positive way rather than dealing with stress in negative ways like overeating, drinking, becoming unstable, or blaming others. Meditation will immediately help you realize what the mind can and can’t handle and will allow you to further strengthen your mind (Mipham 86).

How to start using Meditational Concepts with Running:

1.      It will be challenging at first but stay as positive as you can. When you’re feeling pain, think about your motivation and stay focused

2.      NEVER put your head down after intense running as the airway won’t get as much air when bent over, stand up straight with your hands on your head to expand the airway

3.      When stressed, think about how you can strengthen your mind

Finally, here are some extra tips to help anyone with running!

1.      Do core exercises, a strong core equals a strong body

2.      Eat as healthy as possible with lots of protein, fruits and veggies

3.      Drink lots of water

4.      Give yourself rest days as you don’t want to tire yourself out

5.      Run with other people to make it more fun (friends, family, pets)

6.      Write down your goals for running

7.      Switch it up with different types of running like sprints, hills, distance, track workouts, etc.

8.      When travelling, try to go on at least one run just to experience a new type of climate and soil

9.      Motivate others to start running

10.   Keep challenging and pushing yourself!

I want to know: Do you run a lot? If yes, how did you get into running and do you have any tips? If no, would you like to get into running? What's preventing you from running?

Mipham, Sakyong. Running with the Mind of Meditation. New York, United States: Harmony Books, 2012. Print.

Finding Your Mindfulness

The book I am currently reading and blogging about is called, Running with the Mind of Meditation. Yet, in all of the blog posts I have written, I haven’t directly talked about meditation with running. In all honesty, I am not interested in sitting down to mediate because I simply don’t have the time for that. I want to kill two birds with one stone so instead, I use concepts of meditation during my runs or any other exercise I do. Breathing, focus, mindfulness, peace, stability, and relaxation are most of the concepts of meditation I practice during exercise.  

Through this book, I’ve learned many new things about running but the most surprising thing I’ve learned is about how connected running and the mind are. Your motivation, your emotions, your hobbies, and everything in between is controlled by the mind. Sometimes when I’m running, I feel like my mind drifts off and I lose my connection with running to the point where I forget to push myself. I’ve noticed that the less focused I am, the worse I run. To fix this, Sakyong Mipham uses the strategy of mindfulness. This is the process of training the ability to focus on an object and maintaining it. It’s like exercising a muscle of the mind because the more you exercise mindfulness, the stronger it becomes (Mipham 64). I want to make my mindfulness “muscle” stronger as fast as possible. That’s why whatever exercise I do, I try really hard to stay focused. If I am at the gym, I keep myself concentrated on my workout by listening to my favorite music because it’s a constant reminder of why I am at the gym and putting my phone on airplane mode because it stops me from wandering on to social media. Right now, the weather isn’t ideal for running so I typically run on the treadmill at the gym or at home. However, when the weather gets better, I’ll start to run outdoors and I’ll really have to work hard to stay focused because I can’t run outside with my headphones since I can't stand holding my phone or putting it in a pouch around my arm. Luckily, my mindfulness will play a large factor in keeping me on track but I’ll need to have a strong willpower to stop my mind from drifting so I don’t miss the opportunity to challenge myself.

Sakyong also informed me that, “If we do not pursue mindfulness, earnestly stabilizing our mind in meditation, we will inevitably never feel the results. Therefore, we might feel disheartened and give up.” (Mipham 66). When I use concepts of meditation during my runs or any other exercise, I feel my body relax to some extent. I still feel a little uncomfortable but normally the pain, soreness, or any other major discomfort eases because my mind is wandering someplace more important that gives me the energy to keep going. Typically, I try to think about the end goal, meditational concepts (breathing, peace, stability, etc.), and how I can better myself for the next track and cross country seasons. The relaxing sensation isn’t immediate nor does it last for very long but it’s a nice feeling to have when you’re sweaty and tired. Mindfulness will help make that feeling last even longer and allow me to place more emphasis on a given exercise. Most of the time before a big race, I feel anxious and become worked up by starting to worry that I won’t be able to finish and will stop in the middle of the race. Although it’s has never happened before, it’s a scary and embarrassing feeling to have. With the methods Mipham has taught me, I can calm myself down and refocus my negative energy to become positive and finish the race strongly. Using concepts of meditation, especially mindfulness, has helped me keep my exercise positive, driven, and focused so my mind isn’t darting here and there, but is rather concentrated on what’s important.

music playlist to keep me energized

Treadmill at gym

I want to know: How do you focus yourself when doing a specific activity and have you ever tried meditating? If yes, do you have any advice on how to improve mindfulness or any other meditational concepts?

Mipham, Sakyong. Running with the Mind of Meditation. New York, United States: Harmony Books, 2012. Print.