COULD MINDFUL RUNNING HELP YOU GET FASTER, RUN FURTHER, REMAIN INJURY FREE AND ENJOY EVERY RUN? SIMONE SCOTT FINDS OUT

MENTAL WELLBEING

Last year, I experienced that dreaded runner”s triple whammy of feeling my love for running ebbing away; a huge dip in performance; and accumulating injury upon injury. I followed all the usual advice: rest, cross-train, massage and a whole host of other “cures”, without improvement.

During that time, I took a trip to India to complete my yoga teacher training, as I reluctantly shifted thoughts of running to the back of my mind. I seriously thought it was game over and time to find something new to obsess about. I checked myself in with the school”s resident sports therapist, UK-based Steve Bracken, fully expecting a lecture on the perils of running.

Thankfully, I got the opposite, with Steve supportive of getting me back to doing what I loved. I left the session feeling optimistic for the first time in a long while. Through yoga training, I gained so much awareness as to how my body moved: noticing the sensation of the soles of my feet on the ground, my thighbones gliding in the hip sockets and the length of my spine. Following a couple of hands-on realignment sessions from Steve, just a week later I attempted my first jog, with a commitment to myself to run “mindfully”.

This run was unlike any I”d experienced before. Every step felt comfortable and controlled: it felt easy and enjoyable! Thoughts of my club”s away weekend to the Vienna Marathon, just 12 weeks ahead, fizzed in my brain.

MOVING MINDFULLY

With so much to squeeze into our days, many of us pound the streets as we strive to tick off training runs. We hurry home, often viewing the results of our efforts with disappointment. Our attention is more often than not drawn to pace, distance and time. Not on how we felt. The stick comes out as we berate ourselves, our negative self-talk telling us we need to do better next time.