Exploring mindful running has been an interesting topic to study.

I first heard of it on a podcast. Instead of music, podcasts keep me company when I run alone.

The concept of being able to run with purpose and mindfulness has been something several runners/authors have tackled in the last few years. There are a number of books on the subject, and the podcast made me curious enough to downloaded one of the books.

Mindful Running by Mackenzie L. Havey

Mindful Running by Mackenzie L. Havey is the one I read. She is a USA Track and Field coach, instructor in the Physical Activity Program at the University of Minnesota in the School of Kinesiology and has training in Mindful-Based Stress Reduction.

This book is very thorough in its approach and includes many exercises and activities to help guide you in mindful running.

The first part of the book talks about bringing joy to your run with mindful awareness and being better able to listen to your body.

The rest of the book gives you a lot of things to do to help guide you on your way to mindful running. Her particular emphasis is on focus-fathom-flow…and what that means and what steps to take for each.

Focus on the Present

When I run on my own, even if I am listening to a podcast, I can still have all sorts of thoughts come into my head. Some are positive, some are negative. Mindful running helps you to focus on the present and allow you to feel what is going on in your body so you can make good decisions about what you should be doing.

When negative thoughts/feelings happen to fill my head, I like that there are actions I can take to bring me back to focus on the run and how specifically my body is feeling. I can then use that information to either work harder or back off.

I really liked Chapter 4: Fathom. Havey really did a good job of listing the things you may encounter on the run like negative self-talk, boredom, and fatigue. The action items for all of these “encounters” are really concrete…things you can actually do.

Sometimes I find books of this nature to be rather vague, and I get through it to be more confused about the concept than when I started. This book was not like that…everything was laid out clearly.

What Should I Focus On

There is A LOT that is covered in this book. It is not one that you will read in one go and know everything at once. I suggest reading it through and taking notes of things you would like to focus on and then writing down the action items and exercises that go along with them.

For example, two of the sections are boredom on the run and brainstorming (daydreaming, mind-wandering). I don’t tend to get bored, but I do tend to think about things that may make me mad…politics, relationship issues, etc. When I run with my husband if we are talking about things that make me mad I speed up… so he is good about steering me to another topic.

If I’m on my own I can go on and on…having conversations in my head that never happened (and never will). The exercises and action items in this section are more useful to me, so that is what I will try to concentrate on.

Note: The idea of brainstorming as you run is presented as either negative or positive and we are encouraged to keep down that path if we are heading in a useful (problem-solving) direction.

One thing that is encouraged throughout the book is the use of a training journal. I have just started using one, and am learning what things I want to keep track of and what I don’t.

It has already proven useful for honing in what I should wear depending on weather conditions, since I log my outfit for the run and can immediately give feedback on it…whether I wished I had worn another layer, etc.

Mindfulness in Practice

After the three steps to mindful running (focus-fathom-flow) are presented, the rest of the book breaks into chapters that outline specific situations to use mindfulness and how to do it.

Racing, Yoga, Meditations are all included.

The last chapter she calls a “crib sheet” to use once you have gone through the book. It’s full of little notes that you can scan to jog (haha) your memory before a run when you want to put mindfulness into practice.

If you are interested in finding out more about mindful running you can go to some of the resources below to learn more about it.

What Actually is Mindful Running and How Do You Do It?– article by Ashley Mateo at Runnersworld.com

How “Mindful Running” Can Help You Run Faster, Farther, and More Peacefully– article by Emily Abbate at GQ.com

What is Mindful Running? Here’s Everything You Need To Know To Get Started– article by Julia Guerra at elitedaily.com

Other books to consider:

Running Journals: