How magic happens

As it's a weekend morning I ran a little more than my usual mile-and-a-bit, completing just under five miles.

I was trying to concentrate this morning on my new learning about using my arms more efficiently while I'm running, and half way through my run I realised that my running happiness wasn't that great. In fact I gave it a score of 4 out of 10.

I don't know whether my running happiness score was related to trying to get it right, but I am familiar with the correlation of increasing trying to do something right with a corresponding decrease in enjoyment and fun.

I decided to dig a bit deeper, and while I was running I asked myself how I was actually feeling. The answers that came up for me were tired, frustrated, dejected and a bit hopeless. I guess it wasn't such a great surprise that my running happiness was low.

So, I decided to ask myself for each of those feelings what it would be like if the opposite was true.

What would it be like if I felt energised?

What would it be like if I felt satisfied?

What would it be like if I felt positive?

What would it be like if I felt hopeful?

As I asked myself these questions, I found that I let go of trying to get it right.

As I explored what it might be like to feel energised, I found myself pulling myself up straighter and I realised that my head has been known to tell my body that it's tired when my body was perfectly capable of carrying on.

As I thought about being satisfied, I thought that I was trying to change something that I've been doing differently for a very long time, and that it was only natural that it might not come immediately, and it was also my choice to try the new technique or to ignore it.

When I thought about what it might be like to feel more positive, I immediately felt more positive without specifically trying to do it.

By the time I got to hopeful, I found that I'd already got there anyway.

And what's more, I was doing a reasonable job of using my arms efficiently.

Over to you. What less-than-perfect feeling are you having now?

What could you do to explore it a little and ask yourself what it might be like if you were feeling the opposite now?

Try it. You might find that magic happens.

Make it a game

It was very wet and blustery for my 850th consecutive day of running a mile this morning.

Actually, I ran just over 2 miles today, and only saw one other human being, other than those who were sheltering in their cars, even though it was after 9am by the time I hit the pavements.

After a little while on this morning's run I started to play a game of let's try and jump the puddles as quickly as I can, and see how long I can keep my feet dry. It was quite a challenge this morning! (Yes I know what you're thinking, and I admit that I am a 57-year-old man who still has the mind of a 12-year-old.)

That made me think that although I have been running for many years and have completed four marathons, I have never really managed to conform to the perceived wisdom of training PROPERLY by mixing long runs with speed sessions, hill sessions, interval training and fartlek sessions.

For me it has always felt far too serious.

And while it's still usually a daily challenge to get out of the door, I run because it's fun and I love it.

So the way I mix my training is running on my own sometimes so that I can clear my head and come up with new ideas, then running with others and chatting, running to explore new routes or routes I haven't run for a long time, and then there's making up games as I run.

Now these training techniques may never catch on and be adopted by the Paula Radcliffes and Haile Gebrselassies of this world, but they work for me, and they keep my running fun and they top up my running happiness, which are the most important factors for me.

One thing to say about the running games I make up is that I design them so that I can't fail at these games. I generally see how far or how long I can do something, so they are as much experiments as games, and they also have to be fun while I'm doing them, not only if I succeed at something.

Where can you make a game out of something you're trying to achieve in your life AND make it fun as you're playing it?

Stepping past your boundaries

On this morning's run I remembered that today is a running friend of mine's birthday.

But my friend Graham is no ordinary runner and this is no ordinary birthday.

Today is Graham's 80th birthday and yes, Graham does still run.

But Graham doesn't just go out for an occasional half mile jog every few weeks. Graham still runs marathons and takes part in races probably more weekends than he doesn't.

I also understand that Graham still does rock climbing.

For me, Graham is an inspiration who proves that we don't have to accept society's expectations of us.

I don't think you'd be surprised if you saw a person in their 80's walking with a stick. My guess is that you'd be much more surprised seeing an 80-year-old marathon runner.

The most positive message of Graham's story for me is that if Graham continually pushes way beyond what other people expect from him, it implies that we could all push way past others', and even our own, expectations of us.

What boundaries do you stay behind because you think that you shouldn't be able to go past them?

What if you stepped past those boundaries?

Balance and the art of focus

It was actually in the shower after my run, rather than while I was running, that I had my idea for today's blog post.

I've noticed when doing post run stretches before, and this morning I was balancing on one leg washing my other foot, that focusing my eyes on one point allows me to stay balanced whilst standing on one leg.

If I look around I will lose balance and have to put both feet down or fall over.

Losing balance in life creates a danger of becoming stressed. It's rather like that feeling you get on a bicycle when you know you're going to fall.

Why is it that focusing on one thing should help us to achieve balance? You'd think that keeping a general view on everything would more likely lead to balance.

But here's how I think it works. If you're trying to concentrate on the act of balancing, it becomes too much. There are too many things to focus on. It all becomes too complicated.

Focusing on one thing (like the point on the bathroom wall I was using in the shower) shuts out your inner critic and thoughts of falling, and therefore helps create stability.

What one thing could you focus on today that is most likely to help you improve your balance?

The emotional first aid kit

I felt great on my run this morning, the one that completed 27 months of running a mile each day.

Two thoughts crossed my mind that sparked today's post: the first was the first aid introductory course I attended a couple of weeks ago: and the second was remembering that I hit a real low a few days ago, which had me struggling for a while.

Then I thought that when I help out with Sarah's Runners, I always run with a portable first aid kit strapped round my waist. Wouldn't it be useful to have a portable emotional first aid kit to carry around with me to deal with emergencies or mishaps of an emotional kind?

I spent the rest of my run compiling my own first aid kit. Here's what I plan to keep with me at all times in my emotional first aid kit:

• a run, walk, or anything that involves vigorous movement - getting the blood pumping and flowing round my body always helps generate more energy, which is what I need when I'm down;
• a laptop or small notebook and pen - just writing everything I'm feeling and thinking for at least 15 minutes without pausing often helps me create more clarity and come up with new ideas;
• an inspirational book or article that inspires me - it's not that important if I've read it before. It just needs to be something that allows me to see more possibilities;
• uplifting music on my laptop or smartphone - certain music creates a fast track to my emotions, but it needs to be energising rather than melancholic;
• access to environments that energise me - certain coffee shops or outside where I can see a big expanse of sky, trees, grass and, even better, water, whether it's a stream, river, lake or the sea;
• a reminder of my core values - to help me see which of my values are not being fulfilled right now so that I can think of something to do to increase that fulfillment;
• memories of high points of my life when I felt happy, in control and powerful - it's always worth spending time logging these memories, so that I can bring them back & remember them in detail and feel what I felt like then;
• reminding myself to "act as if" I feel happy, powerful and in control now - standing tall with a strong posture, smiling and moving purposefully helps. Changing my physiology positively affects my mood;
• the ability to reconnect - whether that's to someone I can talk to, someone who makes me feel positive talking to them, or even just to the bigger picture of my life & what's really important.

That's my first pass at my first aid kit.

What would you have in yours?